In the past decade, agile methodologies have become widespread, and the many organizations that employ it have proved successful. To deal with the volatility of the market and to meet dynamic business needs, agile methods seem to be a pragmatic approach. Organizations are keen to scale agile methods across the enterprise to reap the benefits seen in agile teams. Agile Enterprise Architecture can be defined as a process for handling Enterprise Architecture (EA) by applying agile development principles and methods. However, there is a research gap in the adoption of agile Enterprise Architecture. In this paper, I analyze the factors that influence agile EA adoption in large organizations using a grounded theory approach. The evolution of the Enterprise Architect role during the agile EA adoption is presented based on the complex adaptive system theory. A case study is conducted in a leading transportation company which transitioned to agile Enterprise Architecture from traditional methods. This paper focuses on agile Enterprise Architecture adoption from the Enterprise Architects’ viewpoint. My analysis shows that various significant factors influence agile Enterprise Architecture adoption in a large organization. Enterprise Architects are the key personnel in the Governance of Enterprise Architecture and deliver essential business value to an organization. My findings show the changing role of Enterprise Architects when agile Enterprise Architecture is adopted in a large organization. Furthermore, complex adaptive system theory assists in explaining this phenomenon.
Published in 2017
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University
Date added: 07/31/2018
Enterprise Architecture