Advances in Enterprise Engineering II

Abstract

The theory and especially the practice of IT architecture have been developed quite vigorously the last years. However, hardly any quantitative data about the value of IT architecture is available. This paper presents the results of a study, which measures the value of IT solution architecture for software development projects. The study identifies ten architecture-related project-variables and correlates these with eight project success variables. Statistical analysis of 49 IT projects shows that the use of solution architecture is correlated with decreased budget and time overrun, increased reliability of project planning and increased customer satisfaction. The results of the study indicate that IT usage of solution architecture for custom software development projects leads to better project results. Also the limitations of the study are discussed. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.