Patterns of evolution in enterprise architecture information models

Abstract

Enterprise architecture (EA) models are key artifacts for managing the development of the enterprise and in particular its IT landscape, i.e. are central to EA management. The EA models are used to document the current state of the enterprise according to the information demands of EA stakeholders. These demands are reflected in the architecture models' corresponding meta-models, the EA information models. With rising maturity of EA management the group of stakeholders as well as the stakeholders' information demands change. Further, EA management is embedded into a changing environment, where recent regulatory constraints on the one hand and novel technological paradigms keep changing the perspective on the enterprise. Consequently, the EA information models are adapted to accommodate the changed requirements. In this paper, we revisit existing approaches in the area of EA information modeling and discuss the identified lack of support regarding information model evolution. To close the experienced gap, we discuss recurring patterns of adaptation that we observed in the field of EA modeling.