Alignment and Maturity Are Siblings in Architecture Assessment

Abstract

Current architecture assessment models focus on either architecture maturity or architecture alignment, considering the other as an explaining sub-variable. Based on an exploratory study, we conjecture that both alignment and maturity are equally important variables in properly assessing architecture organizations. Our hypothesis is that these variables conceptually differ, correlate, but do not explain one another. In this paper we describe our Multi-dimensional Assessment model for architecture Alignment and architecture Maturity (MAAM), which contains six main interrelated sub-variables that explain both alignment and maturity. We used existing models, literature from business and IS domains, and knowledge gained from previous research to identify the explaining variables. We constructed MAAM using structured modeling techniques. We are currently using a structured questionnaire method to construct an Internet survey with which we gather data to empirically validate our model. Our goal is to develop an architecture assessment process and supporting tool based on MAAM.

Design Science Evaluation for Enterprise Architecture Business Value Assessments

“…EA management challenges in terms of agile solutions is examined in [23]. As business IT alignment (BITA) is a major EA driver, the assessment of it is discussed by various contributions [24][25][26][27]. In the following we briefly introduce our Design Artifact: the Enterprise Architecture Business Value Assessment framework.…”

Assessing business-IT alignment in networked organizations

“…Within the broad scope of literature on alignment, some authors have stressed the importance of assessing B-ITa in order to plan B-ITa improvement actions -e.g. [80,95,189,312]. In support of this, those authors have developed MMs to assess the alignment between IT services and the requirements of the business in single organizations.…”

“…', different authors [80,95,189,312] have developed MMs. MMs describe the development of a specific domain over time.…”

“…It is important to agree on communication channels, sharing knowledge and learning [73,138], and to use informal communication to adjust and control work [48,206,312], in order to respond effectively to business needs from an IT perspective. Reich and Benbasat [254] also studied the factors that influence the social dimension of B-ITa.…”

“…The Multi-dimensional Assessment model for architecture Alignment and Maturity (MAAM) [312] can be used to assess architecture within organizations. The MAAM helps to identify the current situation of an organization's architecture, and to define improvement points and plans.…”