Enterprise Architecture and Management
Semester 2, 2015
Assignment 2: Investigating Implementation Issues of Enterprise
Architecture and Management
Issue Date:
Wednesday 02 Sept 2015
Value:
This assignment is based on marks specified but it contributes to 20% of your final assessment in
the unit.
Submission Date and time:
Week 12, Monday 19 Oct 2015 by 4 pm
Type of Assignment:
Group (2 members per group) assignment for all on-campus enrolled students (Caulfield and
Malaysia). Final Assignment 2 mark is determined by all 6 questions’ answers (assessed by the
marking rubrics) out of total 100. You are to inform your tutor the name and ID number your
group member, wherever possible from your same tute group, by COB Friday 11 September
2015.
Individual assignment for DE enrolled students or student approved on special consideration.
Final assignment 2 mark will be determined by the best of the two answer sets (assessed by the
marking rubrics) for either Q1, 2, 3 & 6 (out of total 60) OR Q4, 5, & 6 (out of total 70).
Submission Guidelines:
Caulfield-Malaysia campus and DE students:
Please follow this 2-step submission process:
a) Before submitting your assignment, ensure that you have first completed the Individual or
group Assignment Cover Sheet, which is available at:
http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/assignments/
In the case of group assignment each member has to indicate his/her percentage of
contribution in whole group assignment. Only one group report is required.
b) Submit an electronic version (in MS-Word format) of the assignment to submission site for all
enrolled students in the https://moodle.vle.monash.edu.au. Use either Times New Roman font
size 12 or Arial font size 11 and 1.15 line spacing.
Warning:
Plagiarism is not acceptable – any students suspected of copying other students work will be
referred immediately to the relevant University disciplinary committee.
Extension Policy:

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Note the extension policy in the Unit Guide. When an extension is to be requested, students
should consult the lecturer in person, and submit all works done as at the date of request for
extension. All request for extension must be supported with acceptable document evidence (e.g.
MC, birth-dealth certificate, etc.). Extensions will not be granted due to last minute “technical
problems” such as an inability to connect to the Internet, PC problems etc.
Late Submissions:
Late submissions will be incurred a penalty of 5% (i.e. deduction of 5 marks out of actual
assignment mark awarded) per working day late.
Other Questions:
Please contact your tutor / lecturer should you require further clarifications.
Evaluation Criteria:
This assignment will be assessed in terms of the following broad criteria:
a) Completeness (contents addressing the key areas)
b) Correctness (demonstrating research skills by identifying and using relevant sources)
c) Presence of relevant information (showing cognitive skills: analysis, evaluation)
d) And clarity of expression (showing writing skills: structure, expression, presentation)
More specifically, assignment 2’s marking guides will be used.

Assignment Aims and learning objectives
This assignment is designed to evaluate students’ understanding about the importance of issues
that are to be considered in the implementation of agile enterprise architecture. Please note that
the terms the services, business cases, scenarios and views in enterprise architecture and business
architecture (business plan and model) are used in their broad senses.
Specifically the assignment focuses on the “What”, “Why” and “How” aspects of an Agile EA
and its underlying fundamental concept, principle of practice and theoretical complexity issues.
In particular, the assignment requires students to critically think about the relationship among
enterprise IT architecture and business strategic and operation goals. Students are also expected
to understand how various factors may influence formulation and subsequent implementation of
enterprise architecture in organizations. Students are required to consult prescribed e-text books,
YouTube and tutorial class presentation materials, published EA articles in the literature,
electronic sources (including FIT5133 lecture notes) on enterprise architecture and management.
For each question, at least one more reference in addition to textbook, lecture slides must be
included. Consistent referencing is required throughout the assignment.
Some Specific Resources:

1) Read the “IT transformation at DELL” case study download using this link
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oea-dell-case-study-1521201.pdf.
2) For Q6 you need to refer to An Enterprise Architecture’s Guide to Big Data
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/entarch/articles/oea-big-data-guide-1522052.pdf
Attempts all six questions
1. Why did Dell decide to take an EAM approach in managing its ICT infrastructure and resources in
the early 2010s? (5 marks, suggested length 0.5 page)

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2. What are Dell’s strategic capabilities? How does Dell integrate them into the Oracle EA framework
and guide the development of EA artefacts? (15 marks, suggested length 1.5 pages)
3. How do you think Dell used its reference architectures to choose ICT projects for funding? (10
marks, suggested length 1.0 page)
4. Describe Dell’s first experience in setting and operating an EA program. (The case study has no
details about Dell’s EA program, which means you need to research and find out the specifics).
(20 marks, suggest length 2.0 pages)
5. Discuss the 2 governance approaches used in EAM. (20 marks, suggested length 2.0 pages)

6. Today’s enterprises generate and receive big data in their operations. Big data should be
regarded as enterprise’s digital ecosystem. How enterprise architecture can be integrated in
the big data platform provides evolving challenges to IT professionals and business decision
makers. Refer to the DELL case study to discuss: (30 marks, suggested length 3.0 pages)
a) What are the issues relating to four “V”s (i.e. volume, velocity, variety and Value) of big data
DELL are likely to be confronted in its digital transformation?
b) Discuss the three key principles used in big data platform, which aim to achieve performance,
scalability, availability, and management. You may use The conceptual model for Oracle big
data platform for unified information management and big data (see figure below) to guide your
answers

(Source: Oracle Enterprise architecture white paper, May 2015, p.27)

*****The End*****

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Marking Rubrics for Assignment 2 (individual)
Assessment Criteria

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6 (a &
b)

0- 30% – Contents Relevance Measure
Each answer identifies, researches and applies the relevant
concepts / key words mentioned and additionally required by
each question.
0 – 30% – Critical thinking Quality Measure (raw score over 100%)
Reader can readily infer critical thinking logic in each answer from
clear organisation structure of section-headings and/or paragraphs
Good use of paragraphs and section-headings to give reader clues
to seeing critical thinking logic behind the writing

0 – 20% – Research Quality measure (raw score over 100%)
Relevance & depth of research outside text books
Optimal and relevant quality references used in validating claims
in each answer
Reference citations and descriptions are in correct format for the
chosen reference standard eg APA, etc.
Allocate 0 to 30%
0 – 20% – Writing Structure & Readability Measure
Grammar syntax – eg compliance to good grammar rules, correct
spelling and use of punctuation. Rule of thumb: 90% or more of
contents should show sound grammar, spelling and punctuation
correctness. (~5%)
Correct & clear contextual interpretations of concepts and
research findings reflected in sentence, and student uses (~15%):
o paragraph and meaningful section-contents to :
Make reading easy to follow
Describe and group key points so that reader can
understand what the answer is and the thinking
logic in developing it .
o Easy to follow visual communications or graphic
organisers to clarify complex text explanations.

Total % marks per question
% Adjustment to pro-rata final Q score
Calculated pro-rata score per Question

20%
–

Calculated Total Assignment Score / 100%
No of working days late (without permission)

–

Less calculated Penalty of 5% per working day

–

Calculated Adjusted Assignment 1 Score over 100

–

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20%
–

Grade

10%
–

10%

10%
–

30%
–

Marking Rubrics for Group (Pair) Assignment 2
Assessment Criteria

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6 (a &
b)

0- 30% – Contents Relevance Measure
Each answer identifies, researches and applies the relevant
concepts / key words mentioned and additionally required by
each question.
0 – 30% – Critical thinking Quality Measure (raw score over 100%)
Reader can readily infer critical thinking logic in each answer from
clear organisation structure of section-headings and/or paragraphs
Good use of paragraphs and section-headings to give reader clues
to seeing critical thinking logic behind the writing

0 – 20% – Research Quality measure (raw score over 100%)
Relevance & depth of research outside text books
Optimal and relevant quality references used in validating claims
in each answer
Reference citations and descriptions are in correct format for the
chosen reference standard eg APA, etc.
Allocate 0 to 30%
0 – 20% – Writing Structure & Readability Measure
Grammar syntax – eg compliance to good grammar rules, correct
spelling and use of punctuation. Rule of thumb: 90% or more of
contents should show sound grammar, spelling and punctuation
correctness. (~5%)
Correct & clear contextual interpretations of concepts and
research findings reflected in sentence, and student uses (~15%):
o paragraph and meaningful section-contents to :
Make reading easy to follow
Describe and group key points so that reader can
understand what the answer is and the thinking
logic in developing it .
o Easy to follow visual communications or graphic
organisers to clarify complex text explanations.

Total % marks per question
% Adjustment to pro-rata final Q score
Calculated pro-rata score per Question

20%
–

Calculated Total Assignment Score / 100%
No of working days late (without permission)

–

Less calculated Penalty of 5% per working day

–

Calculated Adjusted Assignment 1 Score over 100

–