Systematic literature review of essential enterprise architecture management dimensions

Abstract

Many organisations turn to enterprise architecture (EA) to assist with the alignment of business and information technology. While some of these organisations succeed in the development and implementation of EA, many of them fail to manage EA after implementation. Because of the specific focus on the management of EA during and after the initial implementation, the enterprise architecture management (EAM) field is developed. EAM is characterised by many dimensions or elements. It is a challenge to select the dimensions that should be managed and that are vital for successful EA practice. In this study, we executed a systematic literature review (SLR) of primary EA and EAM literature with the aim of identifying dimensions regarded as key areas of EAM. The main contribution of this work is a concept map of the essential EAM dimensions with their relationships. The results of the SLR indicate that dimensions that used to be considered important or seemed to be the most essential for EA, such as frameworks, EA principles and reference models, are no longer emphasised as strongly and more focus is placed on people, skills, communication and governance when considering EAM literature and EAM maturity.