Managing Strategy in Digital Transformation Context: An Exploratory Analysis of Enterprise Architecture Management Support

Abstract

Most modern-day enterprises are confronted with the challenge of dealing with digital transformations. Digital transformation (DT) commonly refers to a disruptive process that changes profoundly the way companies compete, interact, and create value. Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) is supposed to be a suitable means to support the management of enterprise transformations and fundamental changes. However, the depth and disruptive nature of the underlying changes raise multiple questions concerning the adequacy of EAM for digital transformation management; in current corporate practice, EAM does not appear to be regularly applied as a support service for digital transformation. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which EAM can provide the required inputs to conduct the activities part of digital transformation endeavors. To this end, we rely on a comparable study found in the literature and extend its scope into digital enterprise transformations. We start by examining which activities need to be carried out to manage digital transformation. We further identify information inputs that are necessary to conduct these activities. We can then analyze whether EAM can supply the required inputs. We will focus on strategic areas of Digital Transformation Management (DTM) and further investigate which information inputs are needed for these DTM activities. When demand and supply are compared, and although EAM provides valuable inputs to organizational issues, EAM shows weaknesses when it comes to information about market trends, contextual and environmental information needed for strategy management activities.