RQ-Tech, A Strategic-Level Approach for Conceptualizing Enterprise Architectures

The purpose of this study is to present a system-theoretic based methodology and corresponding model for Enterprise Architecture development. Enterprise Architecture models can assist managers by illustrating the systemic relationships of their business and the impact their decisions can make. Unfortunately, today\u27s modeling practices are proprietary, time-consuming, and generally ineffective as tools for communicating strategic-level planning across and down all levels of the enterprise. This research explored the most significant factors that must be considered when translating authoritative text and rich pictures of business doctrine into semantic models. An ontology, namely RQ-Tech, was used to parse and tag representative samples of strategic, operational, and tactical Department of Defense Joint doctrine publications and the results were analyzed with respect to how well the data could represent a holistic model of the business enterprise. The results of this research have the potential to add to the existing body of knowledge in systems theory, systems-based methods, and software engineering by expanding the domain of systems methodologies useful for assessment and evaluation of complex systems. This generalizable and transportable framework, the RQ-Tech methodology, was found to be useful for focusing attention on solving the right business enterprise problems

Strategies to Improve Adoption of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework

The U.S. federal government spends millions of taxpayer dollars to implement the federal enterprise architecture framework (FEAF). This qualitative multiple case study extracted successful FEAF implementation strategies used by agencies in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The population for this study included 10 information technology (IT) planners in 3 federal agencies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and triangulated in comparison to 33 public documents. General system theory was used as a conceptual framework for the study, and data analysis included reviews of the academic literature, thematic analysis, and member checking to identify themes and codes related to successful aspects of the strategies collected. Key themes emerging from data analysis included critical leadership support for implementation, organizational culture, practices for maintaining an accurate organizational history, and means to maintain this knowledge. Based on the findings, the implications of this study for positive social change include efficient, effective, and reliable government services for U.S. citizens and a significant reduction in IT spending in federal agencies. In turn, the results may result in effective federal services and effective use of taxpayer money

Innovation-Driven Enterprise Architecture

Organizations don't use Enterprise Architecture (EA) to leverage innovation as much as they should. And this while the organization's ability to innovate is an essential capability in a competitive market. IT can enable business innovation and EA is rooted in IT. Therefore, IT is considered the common denominator between EA and business innovation. This exploratory research provides new insight to bridge a knowledge gap on how EA can enhance an organization‘s ability in IT-enabled business innovation. It reveals that organizational learning is critical to the innovative capabilities of organizations. With this in mind, the most important capability domains have been determined: Knowledge, Collaboration & communication, Information processing & coordination, and Ideation. To facilitate these capabilities, several technological and organizational assets are identified: Key stakeholders, Collaborative organizational culture, Web technologies, Knowledge management systems, and Data Analytics. We developed a conceptual model which positions the capability domains and key assets. This model has been validated through a case study, conducted within a global manufacturing company. Conclusion is that EA is a viable approach to systematically address and facilitate IT-enabled business innovation. By focusing on the capabilities and facilitating these through organizational and technical assets, organizations can enhance their ability in IT-enabled business innovation