An OMG-based Meta-Framework for Alignment of IS/IT Architecture with Business Models

Abstract

The topic of alignment between Business and Information Systems has been for some time, and remains actually, a top concern of research in diverse areas. It presents many open roads for research, even if leading to much dispersion and fuzziness due to the different views and subjects involved. On the path to build a conceptual, structured framework that incorporates the related topics of requirements engineering, enterprise architecture and strategy alignment, our literature search uncovered three main themes: the business model artifact, strategy and goal modelling, and enterprise modelling. Following, the research problem and its related research questions, which answers will give origin to artifacts, through design science (working on existing knowledge) and action research (working in live projects), were laid out. Initial steps in our incremental research approach, with a perspective on the requirements engineering and business model topics, and the development of a new method around an existing solution for the generation of logical architectures, have been well received by the research community. Current and future work in our plan will deepen and extend our research, further grounding the business model artifact and the strategy and goal modelling issues, while approaching the enterprise modelling, framework structuring and tools support.