Charting the landscape of enterprise architecture management

Todays enterprises are faced with the challenge of an everchanging environment, which they continuously have to adaptto. A commonly accepted means to support an enterprisein the transformation process and furthermore enhance thealignment between business and IT is enterprise architecture(EA) management, which provides a holistic perspectiveon the enterprise. In order to support an enterprise inthe transformation process, EA management creates architecturaldescriptions of current, planned, and future statesof the enterprise. Reecting the aforementioned importanceof EA management a plurality of approaches for establishingan EA management function in an enterprise have beenproposed by researchers, practitioners, and standardizationbodies. The approaches vary widely in respect to the proposedmethods, models, and languages.The objective of this article is to analyze the state-of-theartin EA and EA management respectively. Therefore, anextensive literature survey on publications in the area is performed.Criteria for the analysis are inter alia the distribution of papers over time, their regional distribution, type ofpublication, number of references of an article, and the involvedauthors groups. Thereby the article seeks to give anoverview on the current research occupation in the eld ofEA management

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE AS A MEANS FOR COORDINATION – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL PRACTICE

Enterprise architecture management (EAM) is considered a means to guide the alignment of business- and IT-related concerns from an enterprise-wide perspective. Our goal in this paper is to understand by which means EAM supports this coordination task today and potentially in the future. We designed a questionnaire and conducted an empirical study (n=95) with participants from the field of EAM. Based on common coordination mechanisms from literature, we analyze (1) the relation between coordination mechanism and their current EAM support, (2) to what degree participants are aware of opportunities of EAM supporting coordination mechanisms, and (3) what the perceived gap between potential and realized EAM coordination support is. An exploratory factor analysis leads to three factors that represent coordination mechanisms in enterprises. Using these factors, we group participating enterprises in three different clusters: (1) non-coordinators, (2) dominators and (3) negotiators. We find that a similar awareness of opportunities exists in all three clusters, yet there are gaps in the realization of EAM coordination support: non-coordinators show the lowest realization, negotiators the highest. Based on this clustering, we provide implications on further EAM development options

Planning for Digital Transformation: Implications for Institutional Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture (EA) and its management have received considerable attention from the academic and practical audience. Despite a very wide treatment on EA, research on EA in the academic sector has not received similar attention till date. There is also a growing interest on digital transformation with evidences suggesting that academic institutions have increased their investment into digital technology which prompts a need to reflect on how this technology affects these institutions and the educational processes. In the dissertation, we propose to link these concerns based on three research issues, through which we explore the objectives an academic institute wants to achieve in planning for digital transformation and the necessary institutional readiness factors of a digital enterprise architecture, and then propose a design framework to support the endeavour. The dissertation employs both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Implications for research and practice are also delineated at the end

Enterprise Architecture in Healthcare Networks: A Systematic Literature Review

Healthcare organizations collaborate, share knowledge, and need to be accountable to each other. Therefore, healthcare organizations manage a dynamic information system landscape. Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a management tool for aligning these landscapes to the primary information needs that healthcare organizations have. EA is of value in some environments, but it seems to be not well suited to the dynamics of healthcare. Despite the publication of several systematic literature reviews on EA in healthcare, a systematic literature study comparing EA applicability at various levels of cooperation (intra, inter, and network collaboration) is lacking. Therefore, we posed the following research question: To what extent is EA researched within healthcare organizations in the context of intra, inter and network collaboration? A systematic literature review was used to select 94 scientific publications for evaluation. These studies make explicit the EA elements at three levels of collaboration in the context of healthcare. The findings show that EA is most frequently studied in relation to a single healthcare organization with a wide range of topics. IT governance and EA implementation are the subjects of the majority of EA network level studies (17 out of 94 studies), followed by building/developing EA, EA acceptance, EA issues and root causes, and EA modeling. Although numerous EA frameworks are discussed in studies at the intra- and interorganizational levels, they are rarely referenced in studies at the network level. Additionally, the EA benefits, success factors, and challenges are comparable at high level, but details differ per level. These findings demonstrate that EA is researched within the healthcare sector context. The majority of knowledge on EA is focused on a single healthcare organization, but little is known about EA in a networked healthcare environment. To learn more about how EA might be used in a healthcare network setting, a research agenda has been set up based on the results

Improving Government Enterprise Architecture Practice--Maturity Factor Analysis

Recognized as a critical factor for the whole-of-government capability, many governments have initiated Enterprise Architectures (EA) programs. However, while there is no shortage of EA frameworks, the understanding of what makes EA practice effective in a government enterprise is limited. This paper presents the results of empirical research aimed at determining the key factors for raising the maturity of the Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA) practice, part of an effort to guide policy-makers of a particular government on how to develop GEA capabilities in its agencies. By analyzing data from a survey involving 33 agencies, the relative importance of factors like top management commitment, participation of business units and effectiveness of project governance structures on the maturity of the GEA practice was determined. The results confirm that management commitment and participation of business units are critical factors, which in turn are influenced by the perceived usefulness of the GEA efforts

Una aproximación a la consolidación de la innovación abierta basada en co-creación a partir del concepto arquitectura empresarial

Cuando una empresa decide realizar un proceso de innovación abierta lo puede hacer con diferentes enfoques: como una iniciativa o proyecto particular o como una estrategia o filosofía organizacional. En el primer caso, se realiza un proceso que termina con el lanzamiento o comercialización del producto o servicio; en el segundo caso, es necesario definir la innovación abierta desde la estrategia organizacional, promoviendo una empresa que incluya a los clientes y en general stakeholders en sus procesos de innovación, haciendo de esto una diferencia competitiva. Es necesario que todas las funciones de la empresa se involucren en diferentes etapas del proceso de innovación, desde las ideas hasta el lanzamiento o comercialización del producto o servicio, y que se genere una cultura que permita la apertura de sus fronteras, el trabajo colaborativo y el intercambio de conocimiento, basados en enfoques, métodos y herramientas apropiadas. La co-creación es una de las formas en que se puede llevar a cabo la innovación abierta, en la cual los productos pasan a ser solamente un artefacto, alrededor de los cuales se crean interacciones de alta calidad con los clientes, potenciando así las experiencias y generando nuevas fuentes de ventaja competitiva.Nuestra propuesta busca consolidar la innovación abierta basada en co-creación a partir del concepto arquitectura empresarial. Se trata de tener un modelo que logre un desarrollo armónico entre los esfuerzos/procesos/iniciativas de co-creación con las estrategias y contexto operacional del negocio. Además, se pretende tener una vista integral y coherente de los procesos, proyectos, principios, métodos y herramientas que sustentan la co-creación. El resultado es un modelo de arquitectura conformado por capas que van desde la estratégica hasta la tecnológica, manteniendo coherencia entre las capas y concretando resultados y herramientas específicas. El modelo resalta: 1) la articulación de co-creación con la estrategia empresarial; 2) la identificación de agentes facilitadores en la empresa para la aplicación o desarrollo de la co-creación y la forma como ésta se debe desplegar en ella; 3) la integración de servicios como respuesta de las demandas o necesidades del negocio; y 4) la representación de unos componentes tecnológicos relacionados con la co-creación

Readiness assessment model in supporting enterprise architecture establishment for Malaysian public sector

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a strategic approach designed to align business strategy with ICT initiatives which has become part of the digital government transformation programme in most countries. The Malaysian Public Sector (MPS) has embraced EA as one of the pillars in their digital transformation initiative. However, findings from Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) in 2016 revealed that EA establishment in MPS is still at its infancy level due to the lack of EA readiness. Similarly, public sectors in other countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Oman are also struggling to resolve this issue. Until June 2020, only six (6) agencies in MPS have established EA compared to 25 agencies targeted by MAMPU. Thus, to address this issue, this research proposes an EA Readiness Assessment Model (EARAM) with the aim to assess readiness of MPS, support decision-making process, and plan strategies for EA establishment. This research has four (4) objectives. The first objective is the identification of EA readiness factors followed by the second objective which is the development of EARAM. The third objective is to validate the developed EARAM, while the fourth objective involved evaluation of EARAM. A sequential exploratory mixed method research design was employed to achieve these four (4) objectives. To achieve the first and second objectives, this research used a systematic review (SR) and interview with five (5) EA experts; while the third objective involved three rounds of modified Delphi technique with 13 EA experts. Finally, for the fourth objective, the researcher adopted a multiple case study method whereby three (3) agencies in MPS that are in the EA establishment stage were selected. The EARAM was formulated based on several inputs from SR, interview findings, as well as Information Technology and Information System (IT/IS) Readiness Maturity model. The overall results of three (3) cycles of Delphi technique yielded the conclusion that 45 statements of elements, factors and items in the questionnaires received high consensus of importance in which their Inter Quartile Range (IQR) is between zero (0), and one (1) and median is more than four (4). Results from the Delphi analysis validated four (4) major elements of EARAM, namely 1) Catalyst Enabler, 2) People, 3) Process and 4) Technology along with 14 factors and 45 items. The EA Readiness Assessment Tool (EARAT) is developed by incorporating EARAM validated elements and factors to provide practitioners with an automated tool to assess the EA readiness level of their organisation. The results of EARAT’s evaluation from three (3) agencies in MPS indicated a high level of agreement (with a median score of more than 4.00) that EARAT provides useful and quality information, supports decision making, as well as provides ease of use and user satisfaction to support EA establishment in MPS. In conclusion, this research contributed to the development of EARAM to assess readiness in MPS, supports decision-making process, and plan strategies for EA establishment. This research is also in line with EA Body of Knowledge (EABOK) related to the areas of Organisational Scope and Structure of EA, specifically focusing on the sub-areas of Organisational Need and Drivers

Tietämyksenhallinnan huomioiminen kokonaisarkkitehtuurityössä

Suomen julkisessa hallinnossa on käytössä yhteinen kokonaisarkkitehtuuri, jonka avulla koko organisaation toimintaa ja järjestelmiä voidaan kehittää ja hallita kokonaisuutena. Kokonaisarkkitehtuuri kuvaa yhtenäisen mallin mukaisesti organisaation toiminnan, tietotarpeet, tietojärjestelmät ja teknologiaratkaisut sekä niiden yhteentoimivuuden. Organisaation toiminnalle on tärkeää toimiva tietämyksenhallinta, mikä tarkoittaa että organisaation tietoa, tietämystä ja osaamista hallinnoidaan ja johdetaan tavoitteellisesti. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kartoittaa, miten julkisen hallinnon kokonaisarkkitehtuurityötä kuvaavassa arkkitehtuurimenetelmässä on kuvattu tietämyksenhallinnan prosessit. Tutkimuksen teoriatausta koostui kahdesta kokonaisuudesta. Organisaation tietämyksenhallinnan teoriat ja strategiat antoivat pohjan tietämyksenhallinnan prosessien tunnistamiselle, ja kokonaisarkkitehtuuriajattelun teoreettinen pohja hallintotieteiden näkökulmasta valotti tutkimusympäristön lainalaisuuksia. Materiaalina tutkimuksessa käytettiin Avoindata.fi-palvelusta kerättyjä Suomen julkisen hallinnon kokonaisarkkitehtuurin suunnittelu- ja ohjausdokumentteja. Aineiston pohjalta analysoitiin, miten ohjeistuksessa on otettu huomioon tietämyksen tavoitteet, tunnistaminen, hankkiminen, kehittäminen, jakelu, käyttö, säilyttäminen ja mittaaminen. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin laadullista, kartoittavaa sisällönanalyysia. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että kaikki tietämyksenhallinnan eri elementit huomioitiin kokonaisarkkitehtuuriohjeistuksissa, mutta maininnat tietämyksenhallinnasta olivat suurimmaksi osaksi implisiittisiä, eikä tietämyksenhallinnasta puhuttu eksplisiittisesti yhtenä organisaation ydintoimintana. Tulosten pohjalta voitiin päätellä, että kokonaisarkkitehtuuri toimii tietämyksenhallinnan työkaluna tai katalysaattorina, mutta että ohjeistuksissa voitaisiin paremmin huomioida tiedon ja informaation hallinnan lisäksi tietämyksenhallinta