Rating: 
Summary: elementary, long-winded and off-topic
Review: Apparently this is a student textbook aimed at the freshman level. It's full of long, off-topic "asides", vocabulary lists and cartoons that have nothing to do with the Zachman Framework, but are intended as a very elementary background to the general field of business. I opened the book at random and found as a typical example:
Physical symptoms of culture shock include:
* Too much or too little sleep
* Eating too much or having no appetite at all
* Frequent minor illness
* Headaches This sort of thing goes on for nearly seven hundred pages. Only a couple of pages directly address the Zachman Framework. I ordered the book before it was published and chewed through a couple of chapters before deciding that it wasn't worth any more of my time. I did skip read through the rest of it to make sure there's nothing of value here. There isn't.
Rating:
Summary: elementary, long-winded and off-topic
Review: Apparently this is a student textbook aimed at the freshman level. It's full of long, off-topic "asides", vocabulary lists and cartoons that have nothing to do with the Zachman Framework, but are intended as a very elementary background to the general field of business. I opened the book at random and found as a typical example:
Physical symptoms of culture shock include:
* Too much or too little sleep
* Eating too much or having no appetite at all
* Frequent minor illness
* Headaches This sort of thing goes on for nearly seven hundred pages. Only a couple of pages directly address the Zachman Framework. I ordered the book before it was published and chewed through a couple of chapters before deciding that it wasn't worth any more of my time. I did skip read through the rest of it to make sure there's nothing of value here. There isn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Innovative and Helpful
Review: Assigned as reading in an MIS class, this book is an interesting read and helps define enterprise architecture and describes how EA contributes to corporate value. This book illustrates how to develop a broader perspective of architecture potential and also gives plenty of examples. Chapter 4 includes a number of practical examples of how to work with people who affect decisions on EA implementation. Enterprise architecture is rarely discussed in university management programs and yet there are many opportunities available to those capable of aligning technology and business requirements. Chapter 7 gives a detailed explanation of the Zachman Framework and includes definitions pertinent to a greater understanding of enterprise architecture. The book explains that all the cells of the framework do not have to be completed to make a difference for your organization, and shows how to begin an EA effort one step at a time. The articles on the cd included in the back of the book supplement the comprehensive topics covered in the book itself. I strongly recommend getting this book along with John Zachman's eBook if you want to increase your own personal influence and effectiveness at helping others in your organization understand EA concepts and begin to implement.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughts from a business analyst
Review: Finally the topic of enterprise architecture is addressed in a way that is easy to understand. This book is easy to read. It's a lengthy book, maybe too lengthy, but a path in the table of contents gets you through the 'meat'of the book quicker. The questions at the end of the chapters help you think about what you just read. For those of you familiar with other enterprise architecture books like Melissa Cook and Steven Spewak, you will find that this book covers all 36 cells, not just parts of it. The framework presented is meticulously explained and described toward the end of the book. The commonplace case studies throughout the book show you how to reduce complexity by sharing information in a very methodical manner, piece by piece. The author clearly emphasizes how to document this communication by creating models for each cell of the framework. The last chapter in the book actually shows you examples of ways to implement. You'll recognize everyday occurrences of just trying to get the work done. Other books have sections containing information about the Zachman framework, but this is the only one I've seen that is totally based on it. It's a good read and well worth your time if you are interested in architecture and you want to get started somewhere. If only they'd taught this stuff when I was in school.
Rating:
Summary: Business Knowledge Manager
Review: For four years I have been fighting an up hill battle to get my senior management to understand the need for a good knowledge management system. The Executives have all the standard answers about why we can't do it. The CEO could see no immediate payback.
I read the book, was taken completely by surprise by its content and depth. I managed to get the CEO to commit to read just the first three chapters. He read the whole book, in four days.
I have been given a fairly liberal budget to put the Framework in place. This is amazing in the health care industry.
What the book accomplishes, in great depth and much proof, is why enterprise architecture has become a matter of corporate survival. The author uses the lessons of history to make the points and further emphasizes how we see major corporations present themselves through the eyes of the framework.
An must read for you and your bosses to make the case for enterprise architecture.
Rating: 
Summary: Verbose introduction to subject but lacks depth
Review: I have been a business systems analyst for many years and used some elements of the Zachman framework succesfully in fairly cutting edge projects. I was hoping to gain a deeper perspective across the whole framework (all 36 cells) to round out my understanding and to provide additional techniques and methods I could use.
Unfortunately the book wholly failed to meet this expectation. I think it is worth 2 stars for introducing people to the overall concepts of the Zachman Framework, but don't expect any useful methods that can be applied in practice. The Zachman Framework IS the defintive approach to enterprise systems architecture, but unfortunately there is still scant practical resources available for practicioners.
Rating:
Summary: Grateful to have a book, not just journal articles
Review: I have been learning about the Zachman Framework for several years through seminars and journal articles. This book pulls all the important concepts together for management and serves as a good reference to introduce individuals who are new to the topic. Spewak's and Cooke's books address John Zachman's framework, but this book covers all cells. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs to create buy-in for their division because the book shows how walking through the framework one cell at a time creates value for the organization. Another added bonus is that a cd with an introduction to John Zachman's book is included.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction
Review: I have just finished reading this book, after starting it back in May, 2003. I found the book to be just what my team needed. The fast path was useful, but I think the overall length of the book is excessive. However, its content overrides the length. My role as systems analyst in a mid-sized metal fabrication plant requires me to make many decisions that a lot of people don't understand, let alone agree with, because most people in my organization are only looking at and focusing on their own individual area. I would imagine that is a common occurrence in many organizations. Case studies in this book have helped my team begin to understand the concepts of enterprise architecture and its importance. I highly recommend this book to teams that are trying to create an architecture for their organization that aligns IT with business requirements. What some of this book's previous reviewers seem to gloss over is the fact that the Zachman Framework is about communication. This book tells how to think about a problem using a classification schema. This book clearly explains ways to communicate with others who are viewing a problem in a different way-hence the framework's six rows labeled planner, owner designer, builder, subcontractor, and functioning enterprise. The different viewpoints are represented in succession in Chapters 2 - 7. The three people on my team have been able to use some of the examples in this book to help
our organization learn how to understand other department's ways of looking at a problem. The authors explain that rudimentary steps to thinking, encouraged by enterprise architecture, begins with a list. This book explains how questions like 'what is the difference between employees and people' can be answered by viewing the question from the six perspectives and asking the six questions listed across the top of the columns. I have heard John Zachman explain the answer to that identical question at a seminar. The book addresses governance within an organization, a timely topic considering accountability in strained economic times, and
includes many case studies that show how to measure to see if standards and guidelines are being met. The book explains how current issues such as governance are addressed by asking the six questions in the framework-what, how, where, who, when and why--thus simplifying the communication process and enabling the organization to come up with a common focus or goal. I
would also recommend this book to managers who need help in classifying things within their problem domain because it shows the reader how to view the organization more broadly.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasted my time on this book
Review: I'been doing software architecture for over 9 years now. Started enterprise architecture work several years ago and wanted to learn more about the Zachman Framework. I'm sorry to say all of this since I do feel authors have put a lot of work into this, but this book did not have any more details than a picture of the Framework itself. If you want to read hundreds of pages about Egyptian pyramids, Boing 777 construction, Napoleon's failure in Russia, and all kids of things that have nothing to do with architecture - you may like this book. To me this book had no value. I agree with other reviewers (see "I want my weekend back", etc.). Not even sure if this 715 pages book has enough content for a journal article...
Rating:
Summary: Disapointing
Review: On the plus side, it's entertaining and, unlike most other books I read descriptions of, applies the Zachman framework to general business processes rather than only technology driven ones. On the minus side, after six hundred pages I still don't understand the Zachman framework (take the labeled fast-track through the book to shorten it). This book is definitely not for practitioners and is of questionable value to beginners like myself. It's filled with entertaining examples and is fun to read, but I found the explanations inadequate. If you're the type who can read examples and have that "ah ha" moment where the lesson leaps out at you without being explained this book might be perfect for you. If you have more of a linear approach to learning, I suggest looking somewhere else. The largest problem though is that the framework itself doesn't make sense. The book (and attached articles by Zachman) makes a big deal out of each cell being complete in and of itself and not duplicated by any other cell. But then the definitions and examples (both by O'Rouke et al. and in Zachman's articles) blur the cells into each other. For example, along the top of the framework there is Who, What, Why, When, and Where, each of which is supposed to be unique, with no overlap with other columns. The glossary defines What as "items like employees...." and Who as "people, including organizational descriptions..." What exactly, is the difference between "employees" and "people"? If you want an answer, you'll have to find it somewhere other than this book. This book makes the framework seem one of those ideas which are great in theory and useless in practice. But since I know practitioners who do actually use the framework this may be a failure to explain and not a failure of the framework. P.S. If you do get this book, the article on the CD titled, "Conceptual, Logical, Physical: It's Simple" helped clarify a few things for me and I suggest reading it.
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