Supporting Business and IT Alignment by Modeling Business and IT Strategy and its Relations to Enterprise Architecture

Abstract

In this study, the literature on strategic alignment, strategy modeling and infrastructure architecture modeling has been analyzed and a prototype has been developed for modeling business strategy and IT strategy as well as the relationship between. This modeling technique allows improving the business and IT alignment based on the Strategic Alignment Model of Henderson and Venkatraman. The modeling language is an extension and adaptation of the Business Motivation Model of OMG. The elements, which constitute the overall strategy, can belong to a business view, an IT view or to both. Due to this feature, it is possible to visualize the IT view (IT strategy) or the business view (business strategy) of the generic strategy separately. A concrete example shows how a strategy may be developed.