Identifying Enablers and Barriers to Achieving Business-IT Alignment Through Enterprise Architecture Practice

Many organisations are engaged in Enterprise architecture (EA) practice to align business and technology requirements as they transition towards a desirable future state. Previous conceptual studies indicate that leveraging enablers and overcoming blockers within EA practice lead to improved business-IT alignment, resulting in improved services. However, there is a limited body of literature that offers empirical validation of each enabler and blocker in practice identified. Therefore, this study aims to investigate key EA practice enablers and blockers to achieving business-IT alignment experienced by architects. Based on the interviews with 19 architects from 13 organisations, our study revealed five key enablers, as well as five critical blockers relating to business strategy, organisational structures, business and IT relationship, data and information use, and technology. Our study findings offer important implications for research and practice in business improvement endeavours.