什么是企业？

作者简介

Gavin，程序员、软件架构师、企业架构师，关注智能制造。

本文是专栏《智能制造系统架构》中的文章，其它文章请参阅入坑智能制造系统架构。

企业架构中所指的企业并不是通常在商业环境中所定义的企业，直接引用Togaf 9.2的定义吧， 企业架构中的企业指的是具有共同目标的组织集合。

例如，一个ENTERPRISE可能是

• 整个公司或公司的一个分部
• 政府机构
• 单一部门
• 或由共同所有权联系在一起的一系列地理上相距较远的组织
• 共同创建交付物或设施的国家或部门
• 业务合作伙伴，比如联营企业或供应链

术语“ENTERPRISE”在“Enterprise Architecture”背景环境下，既可被用于意指一个完整的企业——包括企业的所有信息和技术服务、流程及基础设施   也可以意指企业内一个特定领域。在以上两种情况下，架构跨越企业内多重系统和多重功能组。

“ENTERPRISE”的演进本质经常引起混淆。现今，扩展型企业往往包括合作伙伴、供应商和客户。如果目标是整合扩展型企业，那么企业就包含合作伙伴、供应商和客户以及内部业务单元。

业务运行模型概念对于确定组织内企业架构的本质和范围是非常有用的。大型公司和政府机构可包含多重企业，并可开发和维护应对每一个企业的若干独立的企业架构。然而，每个企业的信息系统常常具有许多共同之处，并且在使用共同架构框架过程中通常会获得巨大潜力。例如，一个共同框架可为开发针对模型、设计和基线数据的整合和复用的架构库提供基础。

The TOGAF standard considers an "enterprise" to be any collection of organizations that have common goals.
For example, an enterprise could be:

• A whole corporation or a division of a corporation
• A government agency or a single government department
• A chain of geographically distant organizations linked together by common ownership
• Groups of countries or governments working together to create common or shareable deliverables or infrastructures
• Partnerships and alliances of businesses working together, such as a consortium or supply chain

The term "Enterprise" in the context of "Enterprise Architecture" can be applied to either an entire enterprise, encompassing all of its business activities and capabilities, information, and technology that make up the entire infrastructure and governance of the enterprise, or to one or more specific areas of interest within the enterprise. In both cases, the architecture crosses multiple systems, and multiple functional groups within the enterprise.

Confusion often arises from the evolving nature of the term "enterprise". An extended enterprise nowadays frequently includes partners, suppliers, and customers. If the goal is to integrate an extended enterprise, then the enterprise comprises the partners, suppliers, and customers, as well as internal business units.
The enterprise operating model concept is useful to determine the nature and scope of the  Enterprise Architecture within an organization. Many organizations may comprise multiple enterprises, and may develop and maintain a number of independent Enterprise Architectures to address each one. These enterprises often have much in common with each other including processes, functions, and their information systems, and there is often great potential for wider gain in the use of a common architecture framework. For example, a common framework can provide a basis for the development of common building blocks and solutions, and a shareable Architecture Repository for the integration and re-use of business models, designs, information, and data.

参考资料

• 《Togaf 9.2》