Preface

In order to build cloud-based systems, you must understand the pros and cons of your decisions. You can use the AWS Well-Architected Framework to help you maintain a balance between the pros and cons. Using the Framework’s six pillars and SAFe strategies, you will learn how to design and operate systems that are reliable, secure, efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. This book sheds light on the importance of enterprise architecture, how it fits into AWS, and its relation with SAFe. By the end of this book, you will understand how to apply SAFe with enterprise architecture principles on the AWS cloud and achieve/apply the best practices with an EA setup, in conjunction with the cloud and SAFe.

Who this book is for

This book is a reference for both experienced and non-experienced IT architects who seek to understand the real-world application of EA with SAFe methodologies in the AWS cloud. If you are an IT professional who is interested in learning how to apply EA principles to the AWS cloud, especially with an agile approach, then this book will prove to be extremely useful.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Core Foundation for Building an Enterprise IT Architecture, provides a basic understanding of the EA core foundation and the need for it. It looks at how a core foundation can help to realize business value and how organizations can achieve the highest business agility and a core foundation role. We will further explain the building blocks of an architecture to derive solutions building blocks. By the end of this chapter, you will have an insight into achieving operational efficiency with core EA components. 

Chapter 2, Defining Core Foundation and How to Get It Right, delves into the basics of EA ownership, roles, and responsibilities, paired with a leadership principle overview that derives the EA practice. The ways to manifest an ineffective core foundation, building, optimizing, and executing the right core foundations for your enterprise. IT engagement model, setting up the EA goals, and priority. Lastly, we will understand what is involved in realizing business value from EA assets.

Chapter 3, Applying Enterprise Architecture to the AWS Cloud, looks at the role of EA in the cloud and its alignment with AWS. It can have a positive impact on cloud adoption and any project related to cloud adoption. This chapter is about the EA principles applicable to cloud and architecture domains and how to proceed in setting up AWS services in support of EA and what roles and responsibilities of EA play a major role in AWS..

Chapter 4, Available Frameworks for an Enterprise Architecture, focuses on the importance of knowing where and how EA can be implemented, which frameworks are available today, and when to use them. In what ways does EA contribute to the industry, and what are its objectives? We will discuss the tools and software used by EAs, including application portfolio management and EA tools. The identification of the current, targeted, and transit state of architecture will be followed by an explanation of EA in the context of digital transformation.

Chapter 5, AWS Prescriptive Guidance Frameworks, covers prescribing the frameworks for enterprise to ensure that EA is kicked off and moves in the right direction, and we will identify the EA areas of weakness. This chapter focuses on understanding AWS prescriptive guidance frameworks, including MRA, CAF, and WAR, and aligning with frameworks such as TOGAF. The readiness assessment process, the prerequisites, and the next steps are also discussed. 

Chapter 6, TOGAF Framework in Action with AWS, explores TOGAF architecture domains and cloud ecosystems in the context of AWS, along with a review of reference architecture and models. This chapter looks deeply into the ways to approach each phase of TOGAF ADM in AWS cloud transformation. We will determine non-functional aspects of the system, including security, reliability, operational excellence, performance efficiency, and cost optimization. 

Chapter 7, Align and Scale Agile Framework with Enterprise Architecture, examines selecting an IT initiative across your enterprise and digging deeper into a strategy that drives your architecture building blocks and solution building blocks. This chapter discusses and explains approaches to infrastructure, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid implementation and application. Furthermore, we will talk about SAFe as a good fit in EA, aligning EA and SAFe for any business, and how it caters to AWS cloud customers. 

Chapter 8, SAFe Implementation for AWS Cloud Migrations, takes a deeper look into cloud migration and where an organization should start its journey from. We will look at the meaning of the cloud with respect to a specific industry and figure out whether it would be the right choice or strategy to adopt. When it comes to cloud transformation, how does adopting agile or SAFe help? This chapter further narrows down to steps that can ensure cloud migration is a success with SAFe agility. 

Chapter 9, Setting up an Enterprise Architecture Practice, focuses primarily on EA enablement readiness. This chapter is about understanding the process and flow to establish EA practices. Furthermore, owners are identified, and a workflow is determined for each of the owners along with roles and responsibilities. This part of the book also explains EA modeling languages and gives more details about ArchiMate, along with the best practices and architecture principles that will drive an EA roadmap for a business.

Chapter 10, Conclusion, targets to summarize all previous chapters. It relates the flow of chapters in the sequence and aligns it all together. This chapter also highlights key AWS Framework, TOGAF 9. x overview with ADM and how SaFe aligns with TOGAF and AWS.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/F31q9.

Conventions used

The following convention is used throughout this book.

Tips or Important Notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message.

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Share Your Thoughts

Once you’ve read Realize Enterprise Architecture with AWS and SAFe, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.

Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering excellent quality content.