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Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
2167
Description
Enterprise architecture (EA) is a description of an enterprise from an integrated business and IT perspective consisting of multiple diverse documents, or artifacts. However, the existing EA literature does not offer any comprehensive theories explaining the practical usage and roles of individual EA artifacts constituting EA. To address this gap, based on five case studies of established EA practices and confirmatory interviews with ten EA experts, we develop a descriptive theory explaining the roles of different EA artifacts in an EA practice. The resulting theory articulates six general types of EA artifacts (Considerations, Designs, Landscapes, Outlines, Standards and Visions) and explains their type-specific practical roles, including their informational contents, typical usage scenarios and ensuing organizational benefits. This paper presents the first available theory describing the usage of EA artifacts in organizations and suggests that EA scholars should switch their focus from studying EA in general to studying individual EA artifacts.
Recommended Citation
Kotusev, Svyatoslav; Kurnia, Sherah; and Dilnutt, Rod, "Roles of Different Artifacts in Enterprise Architecture Practice: An Exploratory Study" (2020). ICIS 2020 Proceedings. 9.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2020/governance_is/governance_is/9
Roles of Different Artifacts in Enterprise Architecture Practice: An Exploratory Study
Enterprise architecture (EA) is a description of an enterprise from an integrated business and IT perspective consisting of multiple diverse documents, or artifacts. However, the existing EA literature does not offer any comprehensive theories explaining the practical usage and roles of individual EA artifacts constituting EA. To address this gap, based on five case studies of established EA practices and confirmatory interviews with ten EA experts, we develop a descriptive theory explaining the roles of different EA artifacts in an EA practice. The resulting theory articulates six general types of EA artifacts (Considerations, Designs, Landscapes, Outlines, Standards and Visions) and explains their type-specific practical roles, including their informational contents, typical usage scenarios and ensuing organizational benefits. This paper presents the first available theory describing the usage of EA artifacts in organizations and suggests that EA scholars should switch their focus from studying EA in general to studying individual EA artifacts.
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