Enterprise Architecture with a difference
The 8 factor approach	Return From Information (RFI)	Information First
Life Cycle of Intellectual Assets	Knowledge Scape	Information FrameWork (IFW)
History of Enterprise Architecture	Information Coaching	Information Obesity

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The Evernden Eight - the most important 8 factors or dimensions of information architecture							Introduction
Categories	Understanding	Presentation	Evolution	Knowledge	Responsibility	Process	Meta Levels

the 8-factor approach to enterprise architecture

Background

Most popular enterprise architectures (such as the Zachman framework) have a fixed structure and are depicted in a two-dimensional table or diagram.

My research shows that instead of two dimensions there are actually eight key factors (the Evernden Eight) that must be considered in every information-related project. Furthermore, the use of these 8 factors is not fixed and rigid, but flexible and adaptive.

How can this help you?

Restricting an architecture to a rigid 2-dimensional framework appears to make it simpler, and therefore easier to understand and use. But in practice it severely limits the architectural scope by overlooking other vital factors, and makes the architecture confusing and incomplete.

With my approach you start with detailed checklists of the eight factors to select factors that are directly relevant to you. This not only makes the architectural framework specific to your real needs - it also provides a flexible framework that is easily extended and adapted as your needs change. Furthermore, links between the eight factors provide a much richer tapestry of tools and techniques than a basic two-dimensional framework. The detailed checklists that I provide for each factor provide a solid foundation and a jump-start to any project.

The Evernden Eight has transformed the way that leading organisations manage information, resulting in more relevant changes, faster results, better returns, and significantly better use of organisational information.

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The Evernden Eight

The eight factors are the key features or aspects that are needed to describe or analyse the use of information. They are used to explain the traits, characteristics or nature of information. They are an integral part of any information architecture because they identify the eight areas that we must analyse in order to manage information as a corporate resource.

Download and use our overview of the Evernden Eight as a PDF file.

I first recognized the value and usefulness in making the eight factors explicit when I was lead architect for the Information FrameWork (IFW) project. IFW is commonly shown as a 50-cell grid structure, comprising 10 columns and five rows. I wanted a way to describe the differences between the columns and the rows. Because IFW was shown as a two-dimensional table or matrix, I assumed that there were just two "factors" - one for each dimension of the framework. But in using the concept of dimensions or "factors" to explain the IFW I soon realised that there were more than two dimensions - which led to the idea that each information architecture is actually multi-dimensional. This may not sound like a great revelation, but at the time most information architectures, such as IFW or the Zachman framework, were only two- or three- dimensions (probably because it is much easier to show in a diagram]

The 8 factors are as fundamental to information as the dimensions of space and time to the experience of our everyday lives.

For common purposes, height, width and length are quite adequate for measuring a room or a cube, but more accurate and sophisticated analysis requires further dimensions. Discoveries in the twentieth century provided a four-dimensional description of an object's location in terms of space (height, width and length) and time. In astronomy, science and mathematics further, more abstract dimensions are used. Multi-dimensional analysis has proved to be a powerful tool for understanding complex subjects.

By using the eight factors we can extract more meaning and value from the available information.

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My research has identified and documented many techniques and detailed checklists for exploring and using each factor. Only a few examples are shown here on the web site, but the detailed set of eight factors together with their checklists provide a very comprehensive toolkit for any information management project.

Contact me to find out how the Evernden Eight would help you or your organisation.

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What are the eight factors?

1	Categories	5	Knowledge
2	Understanding	6	Responsibility
3	Presentation	7	Process
4	Evolution	8	Meta levels

You can quantify or qualify a factor by measuring it, or assigning values to it. For example, categories are defined as different types of information, such as information about "customers" or "products"; knowledge can be explored as "tacit" or "explicit".