Most enterprise modelling tools hard-code their notations and meta models, making adaptation slow, expensive, and technically demanding. This paper presents an advanced meta-meta model — the foundational layer that governs how modelling languages and tools are defined — designed to support arbitrary meta models, multiple visual representations, multi-level modelling, and runtime adaptation without specialist programming skills. Targeting a property graph implementation, it draws on two decades of experience with the EVA toolset and a systematic review of leading platforms including Eclipse, MetaEdit+, and XModeler.
The Power of Principles
Well-crafted architecture principles guide thousands of decisions across an enterprise for years — yet typically cost less than 1% of total change effort to define. This presentation by Graham McLeod explores what makes a good EA principle, how to engage stakeholders in defining them, and how principles bridge the gap between strategic intent and concrete design. Drawn from real implementations in banking, assurance, and telecommunications, it includes worked examples and a compliance monitoring approach.
What Should an EA Management Tool Actually Do?
Most organisations attempting enterprise architecture have reached for ad-hoc tools — Word, Excel, Visio — or CASE-derived modelling tools never designed for the job. This 2005 presentation by Graham McLeod sets out a comprehensive framework of requirements for a purpose-built EA management tool, drawing on Zachman, TOGAF, Spewak, and Schekkerman, before presenting the design and architecture of Archi/WebModeler, Inspired's own web-based EA repository solution. It covers everything from meta-modelling and collaboration to inferencing, scenario management, and governance support.
Enhancing Enterprise Architecture Models with Cost, Quality and Risk Dimensions
Enterprise architecture models are typically rich in structural detail but silent on cost, quality, and risk — the very dimensions that drive executive decision-making. This 2003 presentation by Graham McLeod, delivered at the University of Cape Town, explores how EA models can be extended with these critical dimensions using a knowledge repository approach, enabling architects and business managers to assess current and future scenarios with a fuller picture of the implications of their decisions.