Virtually all large organizations today must contend with the significant complexity of their information systems. Architectural coordination provides a holistic perspective on this multitude of information systems within an organization and aims to coordinate all small and large change activities to maintain both consistency and operational stability on one hand, and to preserve resources for flexibility and innovation on the other.
The application architecture of large organizations often comprises several hundred to several thousand applications supporting business processes. These applications are implemented by an even larger number of software systems running on different generations of information technology (IT). Changing one of these components often affects a potentially large number of associated components within the organization. Simultaneously changing multiple components in a series of projects or programs through division of labor leads to potentially redundant and/or inconsistent processes, applications, software systems, or IT infrastructure components. In other words, there are coordination errors in the enterprise architecture (EA). Such situations appear to be not only the norm for large organizations but also for medium-sized organizations, as they also have project portfolios with several hundred projects running simultaneously.
The short-term factual consequence of an uncoordinated EA is a waste of resources. The long-term consequences are increasing efforts and difficulties in maintaining existing information systems, as well as a lack of resources for innovation. This development is almost inevitable unless explicitly addressed. The ability to continuously align an organization's resources internally as well as with the changing demands of its environment is considered a strategic advantage for an organization.
Architectural coordination provides means to support these reconfiguration efforts, to maintain or improve alignment between EA components, and to promote innovation and change.
This project investigates the architecture of information systems from two different but interconnected perspectives. While the first part of the project employs a static approach to explain which institutional factors underlie desirable outcomes for information systems architecture, the second part is based on a dynamic approach to explain how information system architecture evolves over time. The project combines both static and dynamic explanations to triangulate the theories generated about information systems architecture.
Architectural thinking aims to assist non-architects and individuals outside the IT function in considering holistic, long-term perspectives in their daily decisions. To establish architectural thinking, we employ small interventions, such as labeling applications, domains, or projects. This increases employees' awareness of architectural goals and provides opportunities for involvement in achieving these objectives.
Director
Professor, Senior Lecturer