Adaptive enterprise architecture theory

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Alternate name(s)

Agile Enterprise Architecture, Adaptive Enterprise Design

Concise description of theory

Adaptive enterprise architecture theory, sometimes abbreviated to AEA, involves adapting, defining, operating, managing and supporting (ADOMS) enterprise architecture design (Gill 2015). The focus of design is on the design of adaptive enterprise as an "adaptive enterprise service system" operating in the networked and connected ecosystem (system of systems).

The AEA theory provides the ADOMS approach, which is organized into two layers: outer layer and inner layer. The outer layer presents the adapting capability and the inner layer presents the defining, operating, managing, and supporting capabilities. The integrated inner and outer capabilities collectively define the “ADOMS” approach for the adaptive enterprise architecture. The outer layer identifies and feeds the adaptation changes (threat and opportunities) to inner layer. The inner layer handles the changes through the integrated engagement and governance.

Outer layer: The adapting capability involves context awareness, enterprise architecture assessment, rationalisation, realisation, and unrealisation of changes for adaptation. The adapting capability includes: scan and sense, interpret and analyse, decide and respond to internal and external changes (data-driven adaptability). The adapting capability in the outer layer initially identifies the change requirements (initiatives or ideas) that may initiate 1 or many projects. These project(s) initiatives or ideas can be further defined and handled through the inner layer via integrated engagement and governance. Deferred or low priority changes are pushed to unrealisation, which can be pulled again and reprioritized for realisation, if required. Inner layer: This includes defining, operating, managing and supporting the integrated adaptive enterprise architecture capability for handling the change for adaptation via identified projects from the outer layer.

Diagram/schematic of theory

Source: Gill, A.Q. (2015). Adaptive Cloud Enterprise Architecture. World Scientific Publishing.

Originating author(s)

Asif Qumer Gill

Seminal articles

Gill, A.Q. (2013). Towards the Development of an Adaptive Enterprise Service System Model. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Chicago, Illinois.

Gill, A.Q. (2013). Defining a Facility Architecture within the Agile Enterprise Architecture Context. Orbus Software, White Paper, WP0107.

Gill, A.Q. (2013). Defining a Social Architecture within the Enterprise Architecture Context. Orbus Software, White Paper, WP0090.

Gill, A.Q. (2014). Applying Agility and Living Service Systems Thinking to Enterprise Architecture. International Journal of Intelligent Information Technologies, 10(1), 1-15.

Gill, A.Q., Alam, S.L., & Eustace, J. (2014). Using Social Architecture to Analyzing Online Social Network Use in Emergency Management. Twentieth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah, USA.

Gill, A.Q., Alam, S.L., & Eustace, J. (2015). Social Architecture: An Emergency Management Case Study. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 19, 23-40.

Gill, A.Q. (2015). Agile enterprise architecture modelling: Evaluating the applicability and integration of six modelling standards. Information and Software Technology, 67(1), 196-206.

Gill, A.Q. (2015). Social architecture considerations in assessing social media for emergency information management applications. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 30(1), 17-21.

Gill, A.Q. (2015). Adaptive Enterprise Architecture Driven Agile Development. International Conference on Information Systems Development, Harbin, China.

Alzoubi, Y.I. and Gill, A.Q. (2016). An agile enterprise architecture-driven model for geographically distributed agile development. Transforming Healthcare Through Information Systems, Springer.

Korhonen, J. J., Lapalme, J., McDavid, D., & Gill, A. Q. (2016). Adaptive enterprise architecture for the future: Towards a reconceptualization of EA. IEEE 18th Conference on Business Informatics, Paris, France.

Srinivas, S., Gill, A.Q., & Roach, T. (2020). Analytics Enabled Adaptive Business Architecture Modeling. Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly (CSIMQ), 23-43.

Alam, S.L., & Gill, A.Q. (2020). A Social Engagement Framework for the Government Ecosystem: Insights from Australian Government Facebook Pages. Forty-First International Conference on Information Systems. India.

Gill, A.Q., Beydoun, G., Niazi, M. and Khan, H.U. (2020). Adaptive architecture and principles for securing the IoT systems. International Conference on Innovative Mobile and Internet Services in Ubiquitous Computing, Springer.

Alzoubi, Y.I., & Gill, A.Q. (2020). An Empirical Investigation of Geographically Distributed Agile Development: The Agile Enterprise Architecture Is a Communication Enabler. IEEE Access, 80269-80289.

Srinivas, S., Gill, A.Q., & Roach, T. (2021). Can Business Architecture Modeling be Adaptive? IT Professional, 23(2), 81-88.

IS articles that use the theory

Gill, A., Smith, S., Beydoun, G. & Sugumaran, V. (2014). Agile enterprise architecture: a case of a cloud technology-enabled government enterprise transformation. Proceeding of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, Chengdu, China.

Gill, A., Chew, E., Bird, G. & Kricker, D. (2015). An Agile Service Resilience Architecture Capability: Financial Services Case Study . IEEE 17th Conference on Business Informatics, Lisbon, Portugal.

Gill, A.Q. (2015). Distributed Agile Development: Applying a Coverage Analysis Approach to the Evaluation of a Communication Technology Assessment Tool. International Journal of e-Collaboration, 11(1), 57-76.

Gurung, A. (2015). A Reference Model for Trust Framework based on Identity Ecosystem. Macquarie University, Thesis, Sydney, Australia.

Vasauskaite, J., & Gill, A.Q. (2015). Rethinking Enterprise Architecture for Sustainable Energy System Development. JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 13(3).

Gill, A., Chew, E., Kricker, D. Bird, & G. (2016). Adaptive Enterprise Resilience Management: Adaptive Action Design Research in Financial Services Case Study. IEEE 18th Conference on Business Informatics, Paris, France.

Masuda, Y., Shirasaka, S. and Yamamoto, S. (2016). Integrating mobile IT/cloud into enterprise architecture: a comparative analysis. Pacific Asia Conference On Information Systems, Chiayi, Taiwan.

Masuda, Y. and Viswanathan, M. (2019). Enterprise architecture for global companies in a digital it era: adaptive integrated digital architecture framework (AIDAF). Springer.

Cox, J. (2016). Denon & Marantz (D+M): Generating Growth the Customer Adaptive Way. Ovum, IT0020-000231.

Cox, J. (2018). A Customer-Adaptive Architectural Approach for Digital Business Transformation. Ovum, INT001-000040.

Gill, A.Q. & Chew, E. (2019). Configuration information system architecture: Insights from applied action design research. Information & Management, 56(4), 507-525.

Anwar, M.J., Gill, A.Q., & Beydoun, G. (2019). Using Adaptive Enterprise Architecture Framework for Defining the Adaptable Identity Ecosystem Architecture. Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Perth, Australia.

Masuda, Y. and Viswanathan, M. (2019). Direction of digital it and enterprise architecture. Enterprise architecture for global companies in a digital IT era, Springer.

Verhoeven, P.L. (2019). Adaptability by Design: Incorporating Adaptability Constructs in the Design of Digital Business Ecosystems. University of Twente, thesis.

Anwar, M.J., Gill, A.Q. (2019). A Review of the Seven Modelling Approaches for Digital Ecosystem Architecture. IEEE 21st Conference on Business Informatics, Moscow, Russia.

Originating area

Information Systems

Level of analysis

Design of an enterprise, ecosystem

Original Contributor(s)

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