page_title: Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology
section_title: Enterprise Entity Type Concept
hierarchical_section_title: Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology / Topics / Generic Enterprise Reference Architecture / Enterprise Entity Type Concept
caption_attribution_description: GERA Enterprise-Entity Concept--Type 3
context_page_description: Generalised Enterprise Reference Architecture and Methodology is a generalised enterprise architecture framework for enterprise integration and business process engineering. It identifies the set of components recommended for use in enterprise engineering.
  This framework was developed in the 1990s by a joint task force of both the International Federation of Automatic Control and the International Federation of Information Processing on enterprise architectures for enterprise integration. The development started with the evaluation of then-existing frameworks for enterprise application integration, which was developed into an overall definition of a so-called "generalised architecture".
context_section_description: Identifies entity types to be used in enterprise engineering and enterprise integration. Adopting a recursive view of integration altogether five entity types with their associated life-cycles can be identified. The recursiveness of the first four entity types can be demonstrated by identifying the role of the different entities, their products and the relations between them. Figure 3: GERA Enterprise Entity Concept, shows the GERA life cycle phases of enterprise entities. A total of 9 life cycle phases has been defined.
  Strategic Enterprise Management Entity (type 1): defines the necessity and the starting of any enterprise engineering effort.
  Enterprise Engineering/Integration Entity (type 2): provides the means to carry out the enterprise entity type 1. It employs methodologies (type 5 entity) to define, design, implement and build the operation of the enterprise entity (type 3 entity).
  Enterprise Entity (type 3): is the result of the operation of entity type 2. It uses methodologies (entity type 5) and the operational system provided by entity type 2 to define, design, implement and build the products (services) of the enterprise (type 4 entity).
  Product Entity (type 4): is the result of the operation of entity type 3. It represents all products (services) of the enterprise.
  Methodology Entity (type 5): represents the methodology to be employed in any enterprise entity type.
  Figure 3 represents the chain of enterprise entity developments. The type 1 entity will always start creation of any lower level entity by identifying goal, scope and objectives for the particular entity. Development and implementation of a new enterprise entity (or new business unit) will then be done by a type 2 entity; whereas a type 3 entity will be responsible for developing and manufacturing a new product (type 4 entity). With the possible exception of the type 1 entity all enterprise entities will have an associated entity-life cycle. However, it is always the operational phase of the entity-life cycle in which the lower entity is defined, created, developed and built. The operation itself is supported by an associated methodology for enterprise engineering, enterprise operation, product development and production support
  Figure 3 also shows the life cycle of the methodology (type 5 entity) and the process model developed during the early life cycle phases of the methodology. However, there must be a clear distinction between the life cycle of the methodology with its different phases and its process model. The latter is used to support the operational phase of a particular enterprise entity. The operational relations of the different entity types are also shown in Figure 4: GERA Enterprise Entity Concept (Type 3), which demonstrates the contributions of the different entities to the type 3 entity life-cycle phases. The manufacturing entity itself produces the enterprise product in the course of its operation phase (type 3 entity).
caption: Fig 4: GERA Enterprise-Entity Concept--Type 3.
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