Enterprise Architecture Solutions Ltd announces the launch of the Essential Project, a powerful, professional, proven and free of charge open source toolkit that comprises:

• The Essential Meta-Model, a framework-independent set of semantic definitions of the building blocks and relationships of an enterprise, spanning business, information, IT applications and technology platforms.
• The Essential Architecture Manager, a knowledge repository and reporting tool for capturing and then querying information based on the Essential Meta-Model.

The Essential toolkit provides facilities that are ‘essential’ for the creation of an Enterprise Architecture in its current and future states, and for the provision of reporting and decision support capabilities to maximize its value to the organization.

Traditionally, Enterprise Architecture has been seen as the preserve of large organizations prepared to invest heavily in an Enterprise Architecture Team, supported by sophisticated but often complex commercial tools. Such investments are increasingly under threat in today’s deteriorating economic conditions. Designed for simplicity and ease of use, the Essential toolkit allows organizations to construct and gain benefit from their Enterprise Architecture quickly and efficiently, with no up-front or on-going fees. Additionally, it opens up the benefits of Enterprise Architecture to medium and small sized businesses and government agencies that have been unable to cost justify the investment.

The Essential toolkit is open source and can be downloaded entirely free of charge from www.enterprise-architecture.org. As well as providing installation instructions and advice on the best use of the toolkit, the website supports a community where ideas, successes and failures can be shared, both in the use of and extensions to the Essential Project and on Enterprise Architecture in general. It is expected that the Essential Project Forums will become an increasingly useful resource to all Enterprise Architects, demonstrating real world usage of, and encouraging a practical approach to, Enterprise Architecture.

The Essential toolkit has been created by Enterprise Architecture Solutions Ltd (EAS Ltd), a specialized Enterprise Architecture consultancy established in 2000, whose consultants have many years of practical experience in the development and management of enterprise operating models and related strategies. EAS Ltd is the sponsor of www.enterprise-architecture.org, a website dedicated to supporting Enterprise Architecture and its successful use.

For information on the Essential Toolkit visit www.enterprise-architecture.org

For information on EAS Ltd visit the EAS website at www.enterprise-architecture.com