Enterprise architectures: enablers of business strategy and IS/IT alignment in government

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Drawing on established alignment and architectural theory, this paper seeks to present the argument that an organisation's enterprise architecture can enable the alignment of business strategy and information systems and technology (IS/IT). Design/methodology/approach -The paper presents a detailed case study of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), where a high degree of alignment and international recognition of excellence in business and enabling IS/IT performance are documented. Findings -The ABS enterprise architecture was developed in 1999-2001 and describes the organisation's physical business and IS/IT elements, and the connective relationships that inform the alignment condition. The ABS architecture is robustly holistic in form, and is characterised by a strong and equal focus on business operations, the deliberate inclusion of an IS/IT governance framework, the structuring and hosting of corporate information for business delivery, and the efficient reuse of IS/IT components. Originality/value -The ABS case study also examined empirically the social aspects and formal mechanisms of organisational alignment, and shows how a formal enterprise architecture mechanism can integrate into a successful alignment process.

Enterprise Architecture: Transition From IT-Infrastructure Design to Business Transformatio

“…Изначально АП использовалась для согласования интересов и потребностей бизнеса (менеджмента) с возможностями и сервисами, предоставляемыми ИТ, кото-рое традиционно обозначается термином «выравнивание бизнеса и ИТ» (Business-IT alignment) [Henderson, Venkatraman, 1993;Gregor, Hart, Martin, 2007]. Однако ориен-тация на задачу «выравнивания бизнеса и ИТ», по оценкам многих практиков и ис-следователей, -это главная слабость мно-гих существующих архитектурных подходов, поскольку АП должна учитывать гораздо большее количество элементов и связей, на-пример прозрачность связи со стратегией, финансовой структурой, возможностями трудовых ресурсов и т. д. С учетом этого в [Wagter, Proper, Witte, 2012] предложено вместо использования термина «выравни-вание» (alignment) вести речь о «согласован-ности» различных элементов предприятия (enterprise coherence), чтобы подчеркнуть комплексный характер проблемы.…”

Goal Based Alignment of Enterprise Architectures

“…The UK HE landscape has also changed with the emergence of private providers and increasing distance and on-line education from international institutions all creating additional competition. This environment places greater expectations on operational efficiency and one mechanism for addressing this is to ensure that business strategy and IS/IT strategy is better aligned [Gregor et al, 2007]. Relatively, the academic domain has received less research focus on the study of the business of higher education and alignment with IS/IT.…”

Identifying Ea Principles Using Swot Analysis (Case Study of E-Commerce Pt. Xyz)

“…From previous research about strategic alignment [8], government agencies in Australia, as in elsewhere, face a dynamic business environment with increasing expectations of operational efficiency. This operating environment means that government agencies may use a range of mechanisms to align their business strategy and IS/IT.…”

“…The decision to present the ABS case is based on the finding that it is a well managed organization that has successfully developed 60% of its analytical business software, retained the services of a loyal workforce, and has survived the rigorous of government IT outsourcing initiatives and independent government reviews. The ABS is respected by other federal agencies as the bestpractice organization [8].…”