A survey on CIO concerns-do enterprise architecture frameworks support them?

Abstract

The challenge of IT management is today considerable. In industry, the organizational role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has been promoted as the owner of these challenges. In spite of a general acceptance of the problems associated with the responsibilities of the CIO, very little academic research has been conducted on the issues and constraints of this role. In order to address these shortcomings, this article presents the results of a survey in which Swedish CIOs have prioritized their most important concerns. In academia, a response to the IT system management challenges has presented itself in the discipline of Enterprise Architecture. The article argues that the CIO role is the primary stakeholder of Enterprise Architecture, so his/her need for decision support should guide Enterprise Architecture research and framework development. Therefore, the article presents a brief review over how well two existing Enterprise Architecture frameworks address the surveyed concerns of the CIO. Results from the survey indicate that the three highest prioritized concerns of CIOs are to decrease the cost related to the business organization, to improve the quality of the interplay between the IT organization and the business organization and to provide new computer-aided support to the business organization. The comparison between the CIOs' prioritization and the foci of the frameworks shows some discrepancies. The largest disharmony lies in the lack of decision support for issues related to the IT organization. Furthermore, support for ex-

Stakeholder Perception of Enterprise Architecture

“…Related work on EA stakeholders by Lindström et al describes how EA frameworks provide the CIO -as the primary EA stakeholder -a means for decision support, addressing his/her highest priority concerns [20]. Although important, the CIO is just one stakeholder of the many functions, roles and bodies that make up the EA function [5].…”

“…Also, we conducted this study at one organization, which is insufficient to draw generic conclusions. We have not included the 'designer' and 'Chief Information Officer' roles, but the literature already provided insight in the relation of these roles with EA (e.g., [15], [20]). Also, the case study lacked stakeholders external to company A, because the EA function was quite internally oriented.…”

“…The board, responsible for the enterprise business strategy, typically consists of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Chief Operational Officer (COO). The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for business and IT alignment [20], i.e. that IT supply meets business information demand.…”

The Chief Information Officer: A Review of the Role

“…They conclude that the role of CIO is mainly affected by enterprise objectives. Lindstrom, Johnson, Johansson, Ekstedt, and Simonsson (2006) conducted a survey of Swedish CIOs regarding issues and constraints of their role within the organization. The results suggest that highest priority concerns are related to the following:…”

CHOOSE: Towards a metamodel for enterprise architecture in small and medium-sized enterprises

“…Some of the most recognized benefits of EA are that IT can be used more efficiently and flexibly, business and IT can be better aligned (Radeke 2011;Tamm et al 2011;Daneva and van Eck 2007;Lindström et al 2006), and a better fit between business operations and strategy can be achieved (Hoogervorst 2004;Veasey 2001). Braun and Winter (2005) underscore that in order for business-IT and strategy to be aligned, EA must be adaptable and constantly held up-to-date.…”