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On the Interplay of Organizational Architecture and Software Architecture
Journal
Enterprise Modelling and Information Systems Architectures
ISSN
1866-3621
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2008-05-01
Author(s)
Ganczarski, Wojciech
Research Team
IWI1
Abstract
Enterprise architecture frameworks sometimes provide an additional architectural layer between business-oriented artefact types (e.g. business processes, organizational units) and technical artefact types (e.g. software components, data structures). This integration or alignment layer is intended to bridge the gap which results from different life cycles, different ownerships and other sources of IT/business misalignment. The development of specific models and artefact types on the integration layer is in its early stage. Existing methods for information systems design constitute a first starting point. However, most of them lack a clear differentiation between the integration layer and the software layer and therefore cannot be reused as-is. This paper contributes to the research of design methods, models and artefact type specifications for the integration layer. The focus lies primarily on the alignment of organizational architecture and structural software architecture, two important components of enterprise architecture. A comparison of organizational and software architecture design methods yields that both types of structures are usually constructed according to different design criteria so that un-aligned architectures result. Traditional integration artefacts such as logical applications which specify coherent areas of ownership over software artefacts are too closely linked to actual software system structures and therefore usually fail in aligning with the organizational architecture. It is argued in this paper that instead, integration artefacts should be much more decoupled from actual software structures.
Language
English
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Ges. für Informatik
Publisher place
Bonn
Volume
3
Number
1
Start page
24
End page
35
Pages
12
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
213969