Positioning enterprise modeling in the context of business and It Alignment

Abstract

The key for successful enterprise functioning lies in information technology that supports business needs, processes and strategies. The problem of Business and IT Alignment (BITA) has been acknowledged and actively discussed by academics and practitioners during the last two decades. Among practices that are used for BITA it is worth mentioning Enterprise Modeling (EM), which is considered as a powerful practice and catalyzing mechanism for capturing, visualizing and improving different aspects of an enterprise. The contribution of EM in BITA is to a large extent dependent on the intention behind the EM effort. This paper presents a conceptual illustration of the role of EM in the context of BITA. It is done via mapping Strategic Alignment Model and the hierarchy of possible EM intentions.