Practice Guide: EA-as-a-Service

This guide shows how to use the Linked.Archi EA-as-a-Service extension to model the EA function as an internal management consultancy. It addresses the Gartner 2025 prediction that by 2028, half of EA teams will rebrand themselves to emphasize their strategic role as business partners delivering architecture services.

Extension artifacts:

• extensions/ea-service/ea-service-onto.ttl — Classes, properties, viewpoints, concerns
• extensions/ea-service/ea-service-tax.ttl — SKOS taxonomy (by service type, engagement duration, stakeholder type, maturity level)
• extensions/ea-service/ea-service-shapes.ttl — SHACL governance rules
• extensions/ea-service/ea-service-metamodel.ttl — Metamodel manifest (entry point)
• extensions/ea-service/ea-service-reference-data.ttl — Service types, engagement statuses, maturity levels

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The Problem

EA teams struggle to demonstrate their value because they lack a formal model for what they offer and how they deliver it:

1. No service catalog — Stakeholders don't know what EA can do for them
2. No engagement tracking — EA work is invisible — no record of who was served, what was delivered, or what decisions were influenced
3. No satisfaction measurement — EA has no feedback loop from stakeholders
4. No capability management — EA teams don't systematically track their skills or identify gaps
5. No maturity roadmap — EA improvement is ad-hoc rather than structured

This extension provides the vocabulary to formalize all of these — making EA service delivery queryable, measurable, and improvable.

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Quick Start

Step 1: Import the Extension

@prefix easvc:   <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#> .
@prefix easvcrd: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/reference-data#> .
@prefix arch:    <https://meta.linked.archi/core#> .

<https://model.example.com/ea-function#>
    a           owl:Ontology ;
    owl:imports <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#> ;
.

Step 2: Define Your Service Catalog

@prefix easvc:   <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#> .
@prefix easvcrd: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/reference-data#> .
@prefix :        <https://model.example.com/ea-function#> .

:OurEAServiceCatalog a easvc:ServiceCatalog ;
    skos:prefLabel "Enterprise Architecture Service Catalog 2026"@en ;
    easvc:offersService :ArchReviewService, :PortfolioService,
                        :ImpactAnalysisService, :TechRadarService ;
    easvc:hasEACapability :CapArchimateModeling, :CapSPARQL,
                          :CapSHACLValidation, :CapStakeholderFacilitation .

:ArchReviewService a easvc:EAService ;
    skos:prefLabel "Architecture Review Service"@en ;
    easvc:serviceType easvcrd:ArchitectureReview ;
    easvc:requiredCapability :CapArchimateModeling, :CapStakeholderFacilitation ;
    easvc:hasServiceLevelExpectation [
        a easvc:ServiceLevelExpectation ;
        easvc:expectedTurnaroundDays 5 ;
        easvc:expectedScope "Review of proposed architecture against enterprise standards, quality attributes, and strategic alignment. Deliverable: review report with findings and recommendations."@en ;
    ] .

:PortfolioService a easvc:EAService ;
    skos:prefLabel "Portfolio Assessment Service"@en ;
    easvc:serviceType easvcrd:PortfolioAssessment ;
    easvc:requiredCapability :CapArchimateModeling, :CapSPARQL ;
    easvc:hasServiceLevelExpectation [
        a easvc:ServiceLevelExpectation ;
        easvc:expectedTurnaroundDays 20 ;
        easvc:expectedScope "TIME assessment of application portfolio for a business domain. Deliverable: portfolio heatmap, rationalization recommendations, and migration cost estimates."@en ;
    ] .

Step 3: Track Engagements

## A service request
:Req-PaymentModernization a easvc:ServiceRequest ;
    skos:prefLabel "Request: Payment Platform Modernization Review"@en ;
    easvc:requestedBy :PaymentsProductOwner ;
    easvc:requestDate "2026-04-01"^^xsd:date ;
    easvc:requestForService :ArchReviewService ;
    easvc:requestDescription "Need architecture review of proposed payment platform migration from on-premises to AWS."@en ;
    easvc:resultsInEngagement :Eng-PaymentModernization .

## The engagement
:Eng-PaymentModernization a easvc:ServiceEngagement ;
    skos:prefLabel "Payment Platform Modernization Review"@en ;
    easvc:engagementStatus easvcrd:Delivered ;
    easvc:assignedArchitect :SeniorArchitectKM ;
    easvc:engagementFor :PaymentPlatform ;
    easvc:engagementStartDate "2026-04-03"^^xsd:date ;
    easvc:engagementEndDate "2026-04-08"^^xsd:date .

Step 4: Record Outcomes and Satisfaction

:Eng-PaymentModernization easvc:hasOutcome :Outcome-PaymentModernization .

:Outcome-PaymentModernization a easvc:ServiceOutcome ;
    easvc:producedDeliverable :PaymentTargetStateModel ;
    easvc:influencedDecision :ADR-PaymentPlatformMigration ;
    easvc:outcomeDescription "Produced target-state architecture for AWS migration. Identified 3 critical dependencies and 2 security gaps. Influenced ADR-060 decision."@en ;
    easvc:hasSatisfactionAssessment :Sat-PaymentModernization .

:Sat-PaymentModernization a easvc:SatisfactionAssessment ;
    easvc:hasSatisfactionScore 4 ;
    easvc:satisfactionFeedback "Very helpful review. Clear recommendations. Would have liked more detail on cost implications."@en ;
    easvc:satisfactionDate "2026-04-10"^^xsd:date .

Step 5: Assess EA Maturity

:OurEAServiceCatalog easvc:hasMaturityAssessment :MaturityQ1-2026 .

:MaturityQ1-2026 a easvc:EAMaturityAssessment ;
    easvc:maturityLevel easvcrd:Level3_Defined ;
    easvc:maturityAssessmentDate "2026-03-15"^^xsd:date ;
    easvc:maturityAssessedBy :ChiefArchitect ;
    easvc:maturityFindings '''Standardized processes in place for architecture review and
portfolio assessment. Service catalog published. Gaps: no systematic
satisfaction tracking (implementing this quarter), limited AI governance
capability (training planned for Q2).'''@en .

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Key SPARQL Queries

Average satisfaction per service type

PREFIX easvc: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#>
SELECT ?serviceType (AVG(?score) AS ?avgSatisfaction) (COUNT(?eng) AS ?count) WHERE {
    ?service easvc:serviceType ?serviceType ;
             easvc:hasEngagement ?eng .
    ?eng easvc:hasOutcome ?outcome .
    ?outcome easvc:hasSatisfactionAssessment ?sat .
    ?sat easvc:hasSatisfactionScore ?score .
}
GROUP BY ?serviceType
ORDER BY DESC(?avgSatisfaction)

Which EA capabilities are most in demand?

PREFIX easvc: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#>
SELECT ?capability ?capLabel (COUNT(?eng) AS ?demand) WHERE {
    ?service easvc:requiredCapability ?capability ;
             easvc:hasEngagement ?eng .
    ?capability skos:prefLabel ?capLabel .
}
GROUP BY ?capability ?capLabel
ORDER BY DESC(?demand)

How many decisions were influenced by EA engagements?

PREFIX easvc: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#>
SELECT (COUNT(DISTINCT ?decision) AS ?decisionsInfluenced) WHERE {
    ?outcome easvc:influencedDecision ?decision .
}

Active engagements by architect

PREFIX easvc:   <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/onto#>
PREFIX easvcrd: <https://meta.linked.archi/ea-service/reference-data#>
SELECT ?architect ?archLabel (COUNT(?eng) AS ?activeEngagements) WHERE {
    ?eng a easvc:ServiceEngagement ;
         easvc:engagementStatus easvcrd:InProgress ;
         easvc:assignedArchitect ?architect .
    ?architect skos:prefLabel ?archLabel .
}
GROUP BY ?architect ?archLabel
ORDER BY DESC(?activeEngagements)

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Viewpoints

Viewpoint	Purpose	Concerns	View Type
EA Service Catalog	What services EA offers	EA Value Delivery	Catalog
Engagement Tracking	Active and completed engagements	Value Delivery, Capacity	Catalog, Matrix
EA Capability Portfolio	Skills available and gaps	Capacity Management	Matrix
EA Maturity Assessment	Current maturity and roadmap	EA Maturity	Catalog
Stakeholder Satisfaction	Satisfaction scores and trends	Stakeholder Satisfaction	Matrix, Catalog

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Composing with Other Extensions

EA-as-a-Service + Architecture Decisions

Every engagement that influences a decision creates a traceable link:

:Outcome-PaymentModernization easvc:influencedDecision :ADR-060 .

This enables: "Which EA engagements led to the most impactful decisions?"

EA-as-a-Service + Financial Architecture

Cost models can be attached to EA services to track the cost of delivering EA:

:ArchReviewService fina:hasCostModel [
    a fina:CostModel ;
    fina:currency "EUR" ;
    fina:hasCostItem [
        a fina:CostItem ;
        fina:costCategory finard:LaborCost ;
        fina:annualAmount 45000.00 ;
        skos:note "Estimated 0.25 FTE for architecture reviews"@en ;
    ] ;
] .

EA-as-a-Service + AI Governance

AI readiness assessments are a service type that connects to the AI governance extension:

:AIReadinessEngagement a easvc:ServiceEngagement ;
    easvc:engagementStatus easvcrd:Delivered ;
    easvc:engagementFor :FraudDetectionAISystem ;
    skos:note "Assessed AI readiness for fraud detection system — resulted in EU AI Act risk classification."@en .

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References

• Gartner EA Services Predictions for 2025 and Beyond
• Gartner Leadership Vision for Enterprise Architecture 2025
• Gartner 2025 Extensions — Cross-extension composition and queries