The Value of Implementing Enterprise Architecture in Organizations (2010)

INTRODUCTION There has been great interest by researchers and practitioners to subject of enterprise architecture in information system and information technology fields since initial publication of Zachman's framework in 1987 (Brancheau, Janz, & Wetherbe 1996; Zachman, 1987). Among various topics related to enterprise architecture, need to align Information Technology (IT) with business appears near top of key issues in organizations ranked by information systems and technology (IST) executives each year over last decade. The challenge sounds simple yet it is seemingly difficult to achieve given dynamic nature of competitive environment. This also has been evidenced by much debated productivity paradox resulting from inconclusive findings in research on IT investment and organizational productivity (Weill & Broadbent, 1998; Ross & Beath, 2002). Part of this ambiguity arises from disregarded contingencies and time lags (Chan, 2002) and potentially lack of needed integration across organizational functions (Butler, 2008; Candwell, 2008; Kong, Jung, & Park, 2009; Moller, Chaudhry, & Jorgensen, 2008; Toh, Nagel, & Oakden, 2009; Wadhwa, Mishra, & Chan, 2009) or across organizations (Fedorowicz, Gogan, & Ray, 2004) . Research has shown that strategic alignment theory and practice are in synchronization and there is little conventional academic wisdom to challenge, except for need to document information systems and technology strategy and plans (Chan, 2002). Such a need calls for adoption of an enterprise architecture software tool to document IST strategy and plans. In market, there are some enterprise architecture software tools available that support popular frameworks in industry, such as Zachman Framework, DoDAF (C4ISR Framework), and TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework). This research reviews concept and practice of enterprise architecture in IST literature, government practice and industry applications as well as vendors' approaches to develop a comprehensive framework for enterprise architecture planning and identify value and managerial implications to enterprise development of EA when it is implemented in organizations. What is enterprise architecture is discussed first. The relationship between enterprise architecture and enterprise development is summarized. Then EA as a foundation for business strategy execution is discussed. Enterprise architecture planning is presented in a concise manner. A discussion of enterprise architecture maturity framework is developed. The value of enterprise architecture is then discussed. Then steps in building enterprise architecture are presented. The paper concludes with limitations and contributions of this research. WHAT IS ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE? The concept of enterprise architecture dates back to mid-1980s. The initial publication by John Zachman in IBM Systems Journal in 1987 identified need to use a logical construction blueprint (i.e., architecture) for defining and controlling integration of systems and their components. Zachman drew parallels to field of classical architecture and later to aircraft manufacturing industry, in which different work products (e.g., architect plans, contractor plans, shop plans, and bills of lading) represent different views of planned building or aircraft. Similarly, Zachman's framework identified kinds of work products needed for people to understand and thus build a given system or entity. His extended framework is a two-dimensional matrix: the vs. types of description (Sowa & Zachman, 1992). The perspectives are (1) strategic planner, (2) system user, (3) system designer, (4) system developer, (5) subcontractor, and (6) system itself. These perspectives represent how a given entity views enterprise. …