Open Source Solutions For EA Tool Needs Are Progressing

December 23rd, 2009

Henry Peyret

With contributors:

Alex Cullen , Mimi An

Summary

With more than half of enterprise architecture (EA) programs not using commercial EA-specific tools, there is definitely room for alternatives such as open source options. During the past two years, Forrester has seen increasing interest in open source software (OSS) EA tools — and particularly two OSS tool projects: iteraplan and Essential. Despite their infancy, these tools are rapidly maturing, driven by their sponsor companies acting as a development arm and, in Essential's case, a new open community process. In the future, these open source EA tools will benefit from standards maturation such as BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) and TOGAF as well as from university programs teaching EA practices using these tools. EA teams should consider these tool sources not just for license cost savings but also for additional benefits such as metamodel transparency, openness, ability to start small, and the recognition they'll receive by participating in a growing community.

Want to read the full report?

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).

Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.