Does enterprise architecture support customer experience improvement? Towards a conceptualization in digital transformation context

Abstract

Customer Experience (CE) is often presented as a competitive battlefield in the new digital context. However, it is defined so broadly, so holistically, that companies find it challenging to improve it through well-defined projects with an impact analysis of the different changes that could be brought about. Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is supposed to be a suitable means to support the management of such transformation projects. However, the depth and disruptive nature of these changes raise multiple questions concerning the adequacy of EAM for Customer Experience Improvement (CEI). In current corporate practice, there seems to be no regular application of EAM as a central support service for CEI in the digital context. In this paper, we explore how EAM can support CEI and examine how digitalization transforms the customer experience. We further identify the required information inputs for these transformations. Based on this foundation, we identify content elements that EAM can provide by analyzing EAM meta-models. Comparing the requirements by CEI projects and the supply by EAM shows that EAM, in general, provides valuable inputs for organizational issues and roles but shows weaknesses when it comes to information about trends, contextual and environmental information.