Pattern-Based Analysis of Business-IT Mismatches in EA Models: Insights from a Case Study

Malfunctioning areas and various business-IT mismatches encumber the achievement of strategic alignment. This paper deals with the concept of misalignment, with special attention to enterprise architecture (EA)-based analytical potential. In this paper, an analytical solution is tested in form of a case study at a road management authority. The study proposes a rule-based framework to reveal the symptoms of malfunctioning alignment areas. In the proposed framework rule construction is supported by Schematron, a pattern-based XML validation language. Schematron language is used for making assertions about patterns (i.e. misalignment symptoms) found in the XML exports of the EA models. Queries are processed for every suitable EA model within the proposed EA model structure at the case organization. The paper highlights the results from the empirical investigation.