sessment toolkits in order to support misalignment detection in practice.
The proposed framework has several limitations. It is known that not all misalignment phenomena can be detected via enterprise architecture as- sessment, e.g. corporate culture or shared values. In addition, due to the lack of documentation, sev- eral symptoms will stay hidden. The undocumented symptoms cannot be identified with the proposed tool. Regarding these limitations the research does not aim to identify every misalignment symptom, but only the ones that can be detected via enterprise architecture models. Taking these limitations into consideration the research aims to use the pro- posed framework to 1) detect different misalignment symptoms, 2) indicate misalignment signs that cannot be detected via architecture assessment and 3) propose suggestions to solve the detected or indicated misalignments.
After setting up the framework we will test its correctness, relevance and operation. Different best of breed organisations will be examined in order to analyse their enterprise architecture models with the proposed framework. As a result case studies will be created on the outcomes of the architecture assessments. Case studies will introduce the op- eration and accuracy of the framework, as well as the results of the examined architecture models. Expected outcomes from the proposed research include:
− A framework which can support EA-based
alignment assessment
− Case studies on the operation, correctness,
relevance, accuracy and results of the framework
− Classification of different misalignment symp-
toms: EA indicators on misalignment, EA detec- tion techniques, EA layer clashes
C
Coonncclluussiioonn
In this paper the concept of architecture assess- ment-based misalignment analysis was introduced. After emphasising the relevance of the topic a lit- erature summary was given on strategic alignment, misalignment and enterprise architecture. In the next section the concept of architecture assess- ment-based alignment was presented, with special
attention to the recent literature on EA-based alignment and misalignment analysis. Defining the main building blocks as well as introducing the re- cent studies on the topic enabled us to draw up the initial research plan and primary research questions what this research aims to address. In that section the proposed framework as well as the examination method were shortly presented, together with the expected outcomes and the possible limitations of the research.
R
Reeffeerreenncceess
[1] Baets, W. (1992): Aligning Information Systems with Business Strategy, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 1(4), pp. 205-213. [2] Bounabat, B. (2006): Enterprise Architecture
Based Metrics for Assessing IT Strategic Alignment, The European Conference On In- formation Technology Evaluation, 2006, pp. 83-90.
[3] Carvalho, G., Sousa, P. (2008a): Using a Medical Sciences Perspective to Harness Business and Information Systems Misalign- ment, 16th European Conference on Informa- tion Systems, 2008, pp. 2496-2507.
[4] Carvalho, G., Sousa, P. (2008b): Business and Information Systems MisAlignment Model (BISMAM): An Holistic Model leveraged on Misalignment and Medical Sciences Ap- proaches, International Workshop in Business IT Alignment and Interoperability, Proceedings of Busital, 2008, pp. 104-119.
[5] Chan, Y. E., Reich, B. H. (2007): State of the Art. IT alignment: what have we learned? Journal of Information Technology, 22(4), pp. 297-315. [6] Chen, H. M. (2002): Aligning Business Models,
Business Architectures, and IT Architectures, http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/news- at-sei/architect2q02.cfm, Accessed:
23/01/2014.
[7] Chen, H-M., Kazman, R., Garg, A. (2005): BI- TAM: An engineering-principled method for managing misalignments between business and IT architectures, Science of Computer Programming, 57(1), pp. 5-26.
[8] Dahalin, Z. M., Razak, R. A., Ibrahim, H., Yusop, N. I., Kasiran, M. K. (2010): An Enterprise Ar-
Analyzing Enterprise Architecture Model
chitecture Methodology for Business-IT Align- ment: Adopter and Developer Perspectives, Communications of the IBIMA, 2010, pp. 1-14. [9] Elhari, K., Bounabat, B. (2010): Strategic
Alignment Assessment Based on Enterprise Architecture, Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Management and Evaluation, 2010, pp. 179-187.
[10]Enagi, M. A., Ochoche, A. (2013): The Role of Enterprise Architecture in Aligning Business and Information Technology in Organisations: Nigerian Government Investment on Informa- tion Technology, International Journal of Engi- neering and Technology, 3(1), pp. 59-65. [11]Henderson, J. C., Venkatraman, N. (1993):
Strategic Alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations, IBM Systems Journal, 32(1), pp. 4-16.
[12]Luftman, J. (2003): Competing in the Informa- tion Age: Align in the Sand, Oxford University Press, London.
[13]Luftman, J., Brier, T. (1999): Achieving and Sustaining Business–IT Alignment, California Management Review, 42(1), pp. 109-122. [14]Pereira, C. M., Sousa, P. (2004): Business and
Information Systems Alignment: Understanding the key issues, Proceedings of the 11th Euro- pean Conference on Information Technology Evaluation, pp. 341-348.
[15]Reich, B. H., Benbasat, I. (1996): Measuring the Linkage between Business and Information Technology Objectives, MIS Quarterly, 20(1), pp. 55–81.
[16]Ross, J. W., Weill, P., Robertson, D. C. (2006): Enterprise Architecture as Strategy. Creating a Foundation for Business Execution, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
[17]Sauer, C., Yetton, P. W. (1997): Steps to the Future: Fresh thinking on the management of IT-based organizational transformation, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
[18]Scott Morton, M. S. (1991): The Corporation of the 1990s: Information technology and organ- izational transformation, Oxford University Press, London.
[19]Sousa, P., Pereira, C. M., Marques, J. A. (2005): Enterprise Architecture Alignment Heuristic, Microsoft Architects Journal, 4(1), pp. 34-39. [20]TOG (2009): The Open Group: TOGAF Version
9. The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), http://theopengroup.org/, Accessed: 21/01/2014.
[21]Vasconcelos, A., Sousa, P., Tribolet J. (2007): Information System Architecture Metrics: an Enterprise Engineering Evaluation Approach, The Electronic Journal Information Systems Evaluation, 10(1), pp. 91-122.
[22]Wegmann, A., Balabko, P., Regev, G., Rychkova, I. (2005): A Method and Tool for Business-IT Alignment in Enterprise Architec- ture, Proceedings of CAiSE`05, pp. 113- 118. [23]Whittle, R., Myrick, C. (2004): Enterprise
Business Architecture: The Formal Link be- tween Strategy and Results, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
[24]Wieringa, R. J., Blanken, H. M., Fokkinga, M. M., Grefen, P. W. P. J. (2003): Aligning Applica- tion Architecture to the Business Context, Proceedings of the Advanced Information Systems Engineering 15th International Con- ference CAiSE, 2003, pp. 209-225.
[25]Zachman, J. A. (1987): A Framework for In- formation Systems Architecture. IBM Systems Journal, 26(3), pp. 276-292.
DÓRA ŐRI received her MSc degree BIS at the Corvinus University of Budapest (CUB),
Hungary in 2012. She started her PhD studies at the CUB Doctoral School on Business Information Systems in 2012. Currently she is a PhD student at the CUB, Faculty of Business Administration, Department of Information Systems. Her research interests include Information Management, IT Strategy Planning, Enterprise Architecture Man- agement and IT Service Management. Her PhD work focuses on Enterprise Architecture Modeling based Strategic Alignment assessment. In 2013 she won 2nd prize for her paper at the National Scientific Students’ Associations Conference. In 2014 she was a visiting scholar at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Business School.