Understanding the benefits and success factors of enterprise architecture

Abstract

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is considered as a solution to reduce IT implementation failure, improve profitability and enhance business-IT alignment within organizations. However, explanations and evidence of EA benefits and success factors in the existing literature are still limited. Therefore, this study aims to explore how EA creates value to organizations through a qualitative study employing interviews with EA experts. This study contributes to the current knowledge of EA by providing a validated list of EA benefits and success factors. The study identified 40 EA benefits that are grouped into five categories (operational, managerial, strategic, IT infrastructure and organizational) and thirty-seven EA success factors categorized into product quality, infrastructure quality, service delivery quality and organizational anchoring. This study offers a number of implications for research and practice.