Enterprise Architecture

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A Case Study of Stakeholder Concerns on EAM

As a result of growing complexities in business processes, information systems, and the technical infrastructure, a key challenge for enterprise architecture management (EAM) is to guide stakeholders from different hierarchical levels with heterogeneous concerns. EA deliverables, such as models or frameworks, are often highly comprehensive and standardized. However, these can hardly be applied without greater adaption. Although the literature selectively covers approaches for tailoring EA deliverables closer to the concerns of affected stakeholders, these approaches are often vague or not very differentiated. In the paper at hand, we aim at introducing a stakeholder perspective to EAM research that considers stakeholder concerns on EAM across hierarchical levels. To this end, we conduct a case study: Our results show homogenous concerns among stakeholders on EA deliverables. In turn, we found different concerns on the role of EAM in applying these deliverables, dependent on the hierarchical level of stakeholders. These findings stress the necessity for a more differentiated understanding of stakeholder concerns on EAM. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for an exemplary EAM approach.

Analysing enterprise architecture maturity models: a learning perspective

In order to aid organisations in the adoption of enterprise architecture (EA) best practices, maturity models have been proposed in the literature. These models offer organisational roadmaps and assessment frameworks for increasing EA maturity. However, key questions concerning the implied meaning of the term maturity in the context of these models have been left unexplored by previous research. This research, aided by the field of organisational learning, offers new insights into the implied assumptions of current EA maturity models and offers initial concepts and constructs to guide the conceptualisation, construction and refinement of enterprise maturity models.

The Failure of Success Factors: Lessons from Success and Failure Cases of Enterprise Architecture Implementation

Many Enterprise Architecture programmes fail to meet expectations. While much has been written about the factors influencing the success of EA programmes, there are few empirical investigations of the role of critical success factors (CSFs) in the success of EA programmes. This study condensed the very broad literature on CSFs for EA identifying six key CSFs that share a broad consensus in the literature. A qualitative case study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the six key CSFs would distinguish between the successful and the unsuccessful programmes. Analysis of the case study data reveals that three key CSFs associated with the use of EA tools did not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful cases while three key CSFs related to the process of EA programme implementation did so. The study concludes that success in EA programmes comes more from how architecture is practiced than what is practiced. The findings have important implications for EA suggesting that the methodological skills of architects need to be supplemented with an understanding of practice.

Systematic literature review on enterprise architecture in the public sector

Enterprise architecture (EA) is an approach to improve the alignment between the organization’s business and their information technologies. It attempts to capture the status of the organizations’ business architecture, information resources, information systems, and technologies so that the gaps and weaknesses in their processes and infrastructures can be identified, and development directions planned. For this reason, EA has become a popular approach also in the public sector to increase their efficiency and ICT utilization. Yet researchers have largely ignored this context, and it seems that quite little is known about how EA is developed, implemented, or adapted in different countries and in the public sector. We thus conducted a systematic literature review to identify the major research topics and methods in studies focusing on public sector EA. We analyzed 71 identified articles from the past 15 years. Our analysis shows that the development viewpoint, case studies in developed countries, and local settings seem to form mainstream EA research in the public sector. Taken together, it seems that public sector EA is scattered, and there is no strong, single research stream. Instead the researchers conduct local case studies. This means the knowledge on EA development, implementation or adaptation, their challenges and best practices does not accumulate. There is consequently a need for more research in general, and targeted research in some specific segments.

Enterprise Architecture for The Sensing Enterprise: A Research Framework

Internet of Things (IoT) will change many things, open up opportunities and enabling something that was not possible before. IoT provides sensing capability so that enterprise has better global context awareness. This is the Sensing Enterprise, an enterprise that obtains multidimensional information from physical or virtual objects in a connected environment. This sensing capability is expected to increase the capacity and capability of the enterprise in responding to sustainability challenges. This paper proposes a research framework as an alternative guide for researchers to produce various artifacts or theories to realize The Sensing Enterprise for sustainability achievement. The method used in developing the framework is modification/adaptation of transdisciplinary research model and information system research model. This framework has three main area consist of scientific base, enterprise architecture research process and sustainability achievement.

Enterprise Thinking for Self-aware Systems

The paper aims to provide high-level guidance for architects of cyber-physical enterprises such that the nature of interactions within it as a system can be largely self-determined based on system self awareness and dynamic self-configuration, and a set of foundational guiding principles, rather than being pre-defined by an external designer or architect. The paper investigates the suitability of typical development life cycles and architectural challenges in the context of dynamic cyber-physical systems intending to utilize the power of the Internet of Things, and then goes on to define desired attributes of such systems, which need to guide suitable core architectural choices. Application of the findings is exemplified through a case study, followed by synthesis of issues and implications for further research.