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The Decision-Making Context Influences the Role of the Enterprise Architect

Enterprise architecture (EA) offers ways to steer and guide the design and evolution of the enterprise, including its information technology (IT). One of the objectives of EA is to support IT decision-making. This study aims to provide EA researchers and practitioners with insight into the factors that influence the role of EA in IT decision- making. For this purpose, we conducted a multiple case study at three different organizations in which we analyzed how EA influences IT decisions regarding specific issues. EA's support was found to deliver a valuable contribution in all three cases, which however varied considerably from case to case. We have identified four different factors that determine the role of EA in IT decision-making processes: the formalization of the decision-making process, the mindset of decision-makers, the magnitude of impact and the time pressure of the issue. These factors determine how the enterprise architect will be involved in IT decision-making, the type of deliverables and the breadth and depth of the architecture analysis.