A Method Base for Enterprise Architecture Management

Responding to the increasing complexity and diversity of information systems development, method engineering provides techniques and tools for the analysis, design, and evolution of information systems. Similar challenges can be found in the research area of enterprise architecture (EA) management, whose main goal is to enhance the alignment of business and IT. While a multitude of methods and models to support EA management have been proposed over the years, situational factors as the goals pursued or the organizational context, in which the management function has to be embedded, are typically neglected. In this paper, we present a building block base for the design of situated EA management functions based on a comprehensive collection of best practice methods and models for EA management. Therefore, we discuss related work from the area of situational method engineering and pattern-based development and design. Based on these foundations, a building block base and the contained building blocks are presented and are applied alongside a case study from industry. The discussion is complemented by a prototypic tool implementation, which can be used to support the configuration process for situational methods.