How companies can benefit from Enterprise Architecture Management in the Digital Transformation Process – An Extended Research Model

Abstract

A successful digital transformation in enterprises requires surpassing infrastructural flexibility within firms and a high level of IT competence in order to meet changing business requirements. Digital enterprises face the challenge of combining business and IT to benefit from existing technological achievements in the digital age. Previous studies have shown that there are critical factors that influence the benefits of Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM). However, factors influencing the digital transformation have not been considered yet. An alternative and iterative research approach develops new success factors for enterprises that benefit from EAM. In this context, this paper builds on a qualitative research approach to examine additional factors and their impact on EAM. The approach is based on an extended structured literature review to build a new empirical research model. In addition, the indicators were validated by three different industrial case studies reflecting the benefit from EAM within the digital transformation process. The results of the extended research models and case study validation show that factors aggregated to the determinants IT Landscapes, Internal Business and EAM Establishment have substantially impact on the benefit of EAM in enterprises. Moreover, the authors found two factors (firm size and external business) in the model moderating & the effects on the benefit from EAM.