TheE-ZFramework

The Zachman Framework is both powerful and flexible. There are several extensions and variations of the Zachman Framework available in the marketplace. In fact, it can be used as a form of 'meta-model' to map the features of two models.

Mapping the FSB Criteria to the E-Z Framework

Mapping the three model qualitative reasoning concepts, Function, Structure and Behavior ( "FSB" ), against the six categories of the Zachman Framework produces a sort of 'main sequence' of shared characteristics, running from the top left to the bottom right.

This diagonal mapping implies that subjects will tend to group themselves according to the FSB criteria. A paragraph above said that "things of basically the same type need to be shown at roughly the same level" of the model - the 'types' correspond to the FSB criteria.

For instance, in the example of a customer ordering a product, the subjects on the right are mostly functional subjects rather than structural or behavioral. If the subject were production planning, the subjects would be mainly structural descriptions, such as product configuration, raw components and sub-assemblies, inventory locations, highly structured production schedules reflecting aggregated lead-times for processing steps, etc. At a lower level would be behavioral descriptions of specific processing steps, such as stamping or lathing, mixing chemicals and maintaining a certain pressure and temperature for some duration of time.

Mapping between Subjects, Relations and Modeling Levels

Each E-Z Framework model will show a type of subject and interactions between them. Each will also have aspects of all six categories of questions within them - even a lower level manufacturing step has a 'why' associated with it. But a processing step is primarily a behavioral 'how' and 'when' and not a functional 'why', it would be modeled properly on the same level as other behavior entities, rather than mixing up it with functional and structural entities.

Tags:   Conceptual   Frameworks