Enterprise Architecture Meta Models for IT/Business Alignment Situations

Enterprise Architecture models can be used to support IT/business alignment. However, existing approaches do not distinguish between different IT/business alignment situations. Since companies face diverse challenges in achieving a high degree of IT/business alignment, a universal ‘one size fits all’ approach does not seem appropriate. This paper proposes to decompose the IT/business alignment problem into tangible qualities for business, IT systems, and IT governance. An explorative study among 162 professionals is used to distinguish four IT/business alignment situations, i.e. four clusters of IT/business alignment problems. These situations each represent the current state according to certain qualities and also the priorities for future development. In order to increase IT/business alignment, enterprise architecture meta models are proposed for each identified situation. One core meta model (to reflect common priorities) as well as situation specific extensions are presented.