Overcoming implementation challenges in enterprise architecture management: a design theory for architecture-driven IT Management (ADRIMA)

Enterprise architecture management (EAM) is acknowledged as a discipline to drive organizational change, to improve IT landscapes' transparency, and to align business and IT. Despite its increasing popularity in practice, many EAM initiatives are confronted with substantial challenges, as demonstrated by the low usage level of enterprise architecture (EA) documentation and enterprise architects' lack of authority, and often fail. This motivates our research, which aims at developing a design theory that may guide organizations to successfully implement EAM. Based on three field studies, we first analyze the issues that arise when implementing EAM in practice. We find that EAM often suffers from being regarded as a separate and parallel initiative, although it needs to be embedded in established management processes and organization. We then suggest a design theory for architecture-driven IT management (ADRIMA) that synthesizes prescriptive knowledge related to embedding EAM practices, artifacts, and roles in the existing IT management processes and organization. By consolidating both IT management and EAM perspectives, our research goes beyond existing EA literature and EA frameworks which describe EAM as a stand-alone management concept focusing on EA models and the EA life cycle

TOGAF-based Enterprise Architecture Practice: An Exploratory Case Study

Organizations use enterprise architecture (EA), which describes an enterprise from an integrated business and IT perspective, to improve business and IT alignment. The literature describes many different methodologies to organize EA practice. However, organizations typically adapt these EA methodologies to their specific needs rather than use them directly “out of the box”. As a result, actual EA practices often differ substantially from the original EA methodologies. Unsurprisingly, establishing a successful EA practice remains troublesome even though multiple detailed methodologies exist. However, researchers have yet to investigate the adaptation of EA methodologies in organizations. In this paper, based on an in-depth qualitative case study, I explore the adaptation of the most popular EA methodology, TOGAF, to address this gap. In this paper, I holistically describe a TOGAF-based EA practice and analyze the adaptation of the TOGAF methodology in an organization. From my findings, I conclude that none of the TOGAF-specific recommendations proved useful in the studied EA practice. Supported by ample indirect evidence available in the existing EA literature, this study questions the value of TOGAF as a standard for EA practice. Moreover, the studied EA practice hardly resembles any established EA methodologies or theoretical conceptualizations. Therefore, the EA practice that this case study describes presents a new, largely unexplored empirical phenomenon. Although this study raises multiple “inconvenient” questions challenging the status quo in the EA discipline, it does not provide definite answers to most of these questions, which calls for further research on methodological aspects of EA practice

Model driven validation approach for enterprise architecture and motivation extensions

As the endorsement of Enterprise Architecture (EA) modelling continues to grow in diversity and complexity, management of its schema, artefacts, semantics and relationships has become an important business concern. To maintain agility and flexibility within competitive markets, organizations have also been compelled to explore ways of adjusting proactively to innovations, changes and complex events also by use of EA concepts to model business processes and strategies. Thus the need to ensure appropriate validation of EA taxonomies has been considered severally as an essential requirement for these processes in order to exert business motivation; relate information systems to technological infrastructure. However, since many taxonomies deployed today use widespread and disparate modelling methodologies, the possibility to adopt a generic validation approach remains a challenge. The proliferation of EA methodologies and perspectives has also led to intricacies in the formalization and validation of EA constructs as models often times have variant schematic interpretations. Thus, disparate implementations and inconsistent simulation of alignment between business architectures and heterogeneous application systems is common within the EA domain (Jonkers et al., 2003). In this research, the Model Driven Validation Approach (MDVA) is introduced. MDVA allows modelling of EA with validation attributes, formalization of the validation concepts and transformation of model artefacts to ontologies. The transformation simplifies querying based on motivation and constraints. As the extended methodology is grounded on the semiotics of existing tools, validation is executed using ubiquitous query language. The major contributions of this work are the extension of a metamodel of Business Layer of an EAF with Validation Element and the development of EAF model to ontology transformation Approach. With this innovation, domain-driven design and object-oriented analysis concepts are applied to achieve EAF model’s validation using ontology querying methodology. Additionally, the MDVA facilitates the traceability of EA artefacts using ontology graph patterns

Enterprise security architecture - mythology or methodology?

Security is a complex issue for organisations, with its management now a fiduciary responsibility as well as a moral one. Organisational security, such as computer security, human security, access control, risk management etc.; is conducted in separate business units creating a silo effect. A cohesive and holistic approach is required to mitigate the risk of security breaches and parts of the business not monitored by any silo. Without a holistic robust structure, the assets of an organisation are at critical risk. Enterprise architecture (EA) is a strong and reliable structure that has been tested and used effectively for designing, building, and managing organisations globally for at least 30 years. Grouping security with EA promises to leverage the benefits of EA in the security domain. Through a review of existing security frameworks this work evaluates the extent to which they employ EA and determines there is a need for developing a comprehensive solution. This research designs, develops, evaluates and demonstrates a security EA framework for organisations regardless of their industry, budgetary constraints or size. The framework is developed from the Zachman framework 2013 Version 3.0 because it is the most complete, most referenced in our frameworks review, and historically the methodology that is chosen by others to base their frameworks on. The results support the need for a holistic security structure and indicate benefits including reduction of security gaps, improved security investment decisions, clear functional responsibilities and a complete security nomenclature and international security standard compliance among others. This research bridges the gap and changes the way we fundamentally view security in an organisation, from individual silo capabilities to a holistic security eco-system with highly interdependent primitive security models.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Computer Science, 202

From engagement to alignment : exploring enterprise architecture through the lens of design science

Information Systems Design Science (ISDS) as a research community is limited by a small number of research frameworks with considerable influence. The small triad of influential ISDS research, consisting of Walls, et al (1992), March and Smith (1995), and Hevner et al (2004) have primarily limited ISDS research to the positivist paradigm and the IT artifact. In contrast, Herbert Simon’s intentions for design science never had such restrictions and intended a broader perspective. This dissertation explores Simon’s intentions for design science, the Simonian stream of thought that includes The Sciences of the Artificial, as well as much of his most notable research, and offers an ‘informed view’ of design science in the tradition of Rortyian neopragmatism. Using this new lens of design science, a Bhaskarian critical realist treatment of human artifacts is also developed. Collectively, a Rortyian neopragmatist treatment for design science, and a Bhaskarian critical realist treatment of human artifacts are used as a lens to augment the Walls et al (1992) framework for Information Systems Design Theories (ISDT). An example of how to apply this lens is accomplished in Paper 2 of the dissertation. The ISDS lens is applied to the topic of Enterprise Architecture (EA). EA as vehicle for IS Alignment is well defined in terms of frameworks, artifacts, and methodology. However little is understood with respect to the discipline and practice of EA. Seeking to advance our understanding of effective vehicles for IS alignment, this research examines EA as an alignment practice and how it attempts to realize alignment. Specifically, we address the following question: How does EA manifest itself in organizations? This research employs an interpretivist epistemology in a manner quite distinct from ISDS research and thus provides contributions to academia in terms of methodology and insight on EA, and for practitioners who wish to mature an EA practice in their organization. Some of the main concepts discovered in the empirical study in Paper 2 are used to develop a practitioner-oriented framework for EA practice in Paper 3

Enterprise modelling framework for dynamic and complex business environment: socio-technical systems perspective

The modern business environment is characterised by dynamism and ambiguity. The causes include global economic change, rapid change requirements, shortened development life cycles and the increasing complexity of information technology and information systems (IT/IS). However, enterprises have been seen as socio-technical systems. The dynamic complex business environment cannot be understood without intensive modelling and simulation. Nevertheless, there is no single description of reality, which has been seen as relative to its context and point of view. Human perception is considered an important determinant for the subjectivist view of reality. Many scholars working in the socio-technical systems and enterprise modelling domains have conceived the holistic sociotechnical systems analysis and design possible using a limited number of procedural and modelling approaches. For instance, the ETHICS and Human-centred design approaches of socio-technical analysis and design, goal-oriented and process-oriented modelling of enterprise modelling perspectives, and the Zachman and DoDAF enterprise architecture frameworks all have limitations that can be improved upon, which have been significantly explained in this thesis. [Continues.

Enterprise architecture for small and medium-sized enterprises : CHOOSE

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a coherent whole of principles, methods, and models that are used in the design and realization of an enterprise’s organizational structure, business processes, information systems, and IT infrastructure. EA is used as a holistic approach to keep things aligned in a company. Some emphasize the use of EA to align IT with the business, others see it broader and use it to also keep the processes aligned with the strategy. Recent research indicates the need for EA in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), important drivers of the economy, as they struggle with problems related to a lack of structure and overview of their business. However, existing EA frameworks are perceived as too complex and, to date, none of the EA approaches are sufficiently adapted to the SME context. Therefore, in this PhD, we present the CHOOSE approach for EA for SMEs. The approach consists of four artifacts: a metamodel, a method, software tool support, and a visualization. The approach is kept simple so that it may be applied in an SME context and is based on the essential dimensions of EA frameworks. Five steps were taken: first, the problem of EA in SMEs was extensively analyzed. Next, the CHOOSE metamodel was developed during action research in SMEs. Then, action research in six companies was used to develop an adequate method (consisting of guidelines, a roadmap, and stop criteria) and to further refine this CHOOSE metamodel, while different types of software tools (PC, iPad, Android, ...) were developed to enable the evaluation rounds. Finally, a proper visualization was established

MSIS 2016 global competency model for graduate degree programs in information systems

[Extract] This document, “MSIS 2016: Global Competency Model for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems”, is the latest in the series of reports that provides guidance for degree programs in the Information Systems (IS) academic discipline. MSIS 2016 is the seventh collaborative effort between ACM and AIS (following IS’97, IS 2002, and IS 2010 at the undergraduate level; MSIS 2000 and MSIS 2006 at the graduate level; and CC 2005 as an integrative document).(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of limitations and metrology weaknesses of enterprise architecture (EA) measurement solutions & proposal of a COSMIC-based approach to EA measurement

The literature on enterprise architecture (EA) posits that EA is of considerable value for organizations. However, while the EA literature documents a number of proposals for EA measurement solutions, there is little evidence-based research supporting their achievements and limitations. This thesis aims at helping the EA community to understand the existing trends in EA measurement research and to recognize the existing gaps, limitations, and weaknesses in EA measurement solutions. Furthermore, this thesis aims to assist the EA community to design EA measurement solutions based on measurement and metrology best practices. The research goal of this thesis is to contribute to the EA body of knowledge by shaping new perspectives for future research avenues in EA measurement research. To achieve the research goal, the following research objectives are defined: 1. To classify the EA measurement solutions into specific categories in order to identify research themes and explain the structure of the research area. 2. To evaluate the EA measurement solutions from a measurement and metrology perspective. 3. To identify the measurement and metrology issues in EA measurement solutions. 4. To propose a novel EA measurement approach based on measurement and metrology guidelines and best practices. To achieve the first objective, this thesis conducts a systematic mapping study (SMS to help understand the state-of-the-art of EA measurement research and classify the research area in order to acquire a general understanding about the existing research trends. To achieve the second and third objectives, this thesis conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) to evaluate the EA measurement solutions from a measurement and metrology perspective, and hence, to reveal the weaknesses of EA measurement solutions and propose relevant solutions to these weaknesses. To perform this evaluation, we develop an evaluation process based on combining both the components of the evolution theory and the concepts of measurement and metrology best practices, such as ISO 15939. To achieve the fourth objective, we propose a mapping between two international standards: • COSMIC - ISO/IEC 19761: a method for measuring the functional size of software. • ArchiMate: a modelling language for EA. This mapping results in proposing a novel EA measurement approach that overcomes the weaknesses and limitations found in the existing EA measurement solutions. The research results demonstrate that: 1. The current publications on EA measurement are trending toward an increased focus on the “enterprise IT architecting” school of thought, lacks the rigorous terminology found in science and engineering and shows limited adoption of knowledge from other disciplines in the proposals of EA measurement solutions. 2. There is a lack of attention to attaining appropriate metrology properties in EA measurement proposals: all EA measurement proposals are characterized with insufficient metrology coverage scoring, theoretical and empirical definitions. 3. The proposed novel EA measurement approach demonstrates that it is handy for EA practitioners, and easy to adopt by organizations