The Evolving Enterprise Architecture: A Digital Transformation
Perspective
Fereidoon Shams Aliee Hanieh Kashfi
Department of Computer Science Department of Computer Science
and Engineering, and Engineering,
Shahid Beheshti University Shahid Beheshti University
Tehran, Iran Tehran, Iran
f_shams@sbu.ac.ir h_kashfi@sbu.ac.ir
ABSTRACT
The advancement of technology has influenced all the enterprises.
Enterprises should come up with the evolving approaches to face
the challenges. With an evolving approach, the enterprise will be
able to adapt to successive changes. Enterprise architecture is
introduced as an approach to confront these challenges. The main
issue is the generalization of this evolving approach to enterprise
architecture. In an evolving approach, all aspects of the enterprise,
as well as the ecosystem of the enterprise are considered. In this
study, the notion of Internet of Things is considered as a transition
factor in enterprise and enterprise architecture. Industry 4.0 and
digital transformation have also been explored in the enterprise.
Common challenges are extracted and defined.
CCS CONCEPTS
• Applied computing →Enterprise computing → Enterprise
architectures
KEYWORDS
Enterprise Architecture, Digital Transformation, Internet of
Things, Evolving Enterprise Architecture
ACM Reference format:
Fereidoon Shams Aliee, Hanieh Kashfi, and Bahar Farahani 2019. The
Evolving Enterprise Architecture: A Digital Transformation Perspective. In
Proceedings of COINS conference, COINS'19. Crete, Greece, 5 pages.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3312614.3312651
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COINS'19, May 5-7, 2019, Crete, Greece
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ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-6640-3/19/05...$15.00
https://doi.org/10.1145/3312614.3312651
Bahar Farahani
Department of Computer Science
and Engineering,
Shahid Beheshti University
Tehran, Iran
b_farahani@sbu.ac.ir
1 Introduction
An enterprise is defined as a set of diverse and distributed work
domains that aim to achieve predetermined goals. It has many
resources that are essential for task coordination and information
dissemination. Several definitions of enterprise architecture are
presented. The purpose of these definitions is to examine the
various aspects of an enterprise. The common aspects of the
definitions introduce business models, processes, data, and
supporting systems in the enterprise architecture. The most general
purpose of implementing enterprise architecture is aligning
Information Technology (IT) with the mission and goals of the
business. With the advent of large enterprises, the need for
developing complex information systems was intensified. On the
other hand, the main motivation for enterprise architecture was to
solve the problem of the complexity in information systems. The
most important results of enterprise architecture were the
improvement of methods and processes, as well as development of
a unified and comparable approach in the system description [1].
There are three different categories for enterprise architecture
including IT-centric, process-centric, and governance-centric
enterprise architectures. About the IT-centric enterprise
architectures, the goal is to align IT with business to improve
performance of the enterprise. In process-centric enterprise
architectures, processes are examined and improved. In
governance-centric architectures the internal activities of each
domain are not controlled and managed, but the results of these
activities are aligned with the other domains. The way of applying
architecture to enterprise is not unique. In the other words,
architecture and its application are customized for each enterprise.
Enterprise architecture also includes as-is and to-be states, as well
as a transition plan to fill the gap. Among the various approaches
presented in the enterprise architecture, the service-oriented
approach is of particular importance. This architecture is based-on
services in the enterprise and provides important benefits in terms
of agility, ease of integration, reusability, and improved RoI
(Return on Investment) for the enterprise [1].
The complexity in the enterprise architecture is to deal with
situations that their perception is difficult [2]. Specifically, it is very
difficult to recognize all the key aspects of the problem and this
leads to uncertainty. Furthermore, an enterprise needs to consider
new realities such as virtual connected enterprises and the
workforce from a wide range of generations and cultures in the
 COINS’19, May 05-07, 2019, Crete, Greece
enterprise architecture. Finally, the meaning of architecture and
engineering in the enterprise needed a change to affect the meaning
of organizing the enterprise and its design. So these challenges lead
to evolving enterprise architecture [3].
In this paper, the reasons for evolving enterprise architecture
are studied. According to the evidence, the future design of the
triple bottom line-oriented enterprises is not only an option but also
an obligation for the enterprise to maintain its position. So, with the
evolving enterprise architecture, it will be possible to consider the
ecosystem perspective of an enterprise.
The remaining of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2
examines the need for evolving enterprise architecture from several
aspects. Section 3 introduces the concept of evolving enterprise
architecture. Finally, section 4 concludes the paper.
2 The Need for Evolving Enterprise Architecture
With the growth of technology in different aspects and their
implementation in enterprises, responsiveness of enterprise
architecture is critical for the effectiveness of the enterprise. Three
main topics influencing enterprise architecture are discussed below.
2.1 Enterprise and Industry 4.0
Internet of Things (IoT), intelligent factory, cyber physical
systems, and machine learning are among the most important ideas
in the industry 4.0. The main purpose of the industry 4.0 in the
manufacturing enterprises is to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of resources, as well as increase the competitiveness
of enterprises. Changes made in the core business processes,
service-based models, information transition and pervasive
computing are the main topics in the industry 4.0 [4,5]. In 2017, a
research has been conducted to measure the importance of industry
4.0 in enterprises. According to the results of this research, industry
4.0 is very important or to somewhat important for most enterprises
[6]. According to the survey, it is clear that most business managers
are currently preparing the enterprise to move toward industry 4.0.
The purpose of referring to Industry 4.0 in the previous
paragraph as a short preface is to introduce the concept of digital
transformation. One of the main concepts in the industry 4.0 is the
digital transformation that covers various fields of Information
Technology. These include Autonomous Robots, Big Data,
Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing, Cloud Computing,
Cyber Security, System Integration, Simulation, and IoT [7]. These
various fields can be described as powerful drivers for digital
transformation. Digital transformation is customizable for each
enterprise. The term "customizable for each enterprise" means that
the digital transformation in each enterprise depends entirely on the
conditions of that enterprise, and does not seem to provide a
consistent and unique definition in all cases. The most important
issue is to provide a clear answer to the question of what the digital
transformation is looking for. Digital transformation involves
applying digital technologies to different areas of a business, which
in fact will lead to fundamental changes in the enterprises'
operations and the ways of creating values for customers. Of
H. Kashfi et al.
course, these fundamental changes will be visible in different
aspects of an enterprise, including the cultural aspect.
Based on the explanations presented about the digital
transformation, this transformation seems to be risky and costly for
any enterprise. The question is: why enterprises should deliberately
choose such a risky and costly change? In response to this question,
it must be mentioned that digital transformation is not a matter of
choice for enterprises. These days enterprises need this change to
ensure their survival in the competitive and complex conditions of
the market. In addition, the customer experience and the
effectiveness of the enterprise operation leverage the necessity of
applying digital transformation in the enterprise. The former is
about changing requirements, while the latter is due to applying the
digital technologies in a well-advised way.
2.2 Enterprise and Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is aimed at re-aligning technology, business
models and processes or new investments on them to achieve value
in an enterprise, as well as creating value for customers [8]. Also,
increasing revenue and productivity, lowering costs, improving
customer service, and customer loyalty are the important benefits
of digital transformation in the enterprise. All these benefits
implicitly or explicitly contribute to a success in the enterprise from
an economic perspective. As seen in figure 1, digital business
continues to drive leading enterprise architects to increase their
focus on leading technology and digital business innovation, as
well as on delivering business outcomes and execution [9].
Figure 1: Gartner Hype Cycle- Enterprise Architecture 2017
[9]
Obviously, applying any technology into the enterprise comes
with challenges of its own. For example, with the advent of the
Internet in 1995, enterprises were not prepared to accept changes
arising from its deployment. Using the Internet in enterprises has
caused a lot of changes in various aspects of the enterprise.
Business models, components of the enterprise, or even the roles of
individuals in the enterprise were subject to change. The existence
 The Evolving Enterprise Architecture: A Digital Transformation
COINS’19, May 05-07, 2019, Crete, Greece
Perspective

of web servers became important for the enterprise. CIO (Chief As stated before, using the IoT in enterprises requires new
Information Officer), Webmaster, and SEO (Search Engine system architecture, enterprise architecture, and business
Optimizer) are also some of the roles in the enterprise that were architecture to be provisioned. According to studies in this area, it is
created by applying the Internet in enterprises. Changes, whether expected that the provided architectures cover the seven most
within or outside the enterprise, are pervasive. As enterprises began important cases. These cases are examined in Table 1.
to use the capabilities of the Internet, the new functions were added
to the enterprises' Internet structure, and the IT department sought Table 1. The most important IoT cases to cover by enterprise
to evaluate the component's performance in the enterprise. architecture [14]
Enterprises should always be prepared to accept the changes, even
more than 20 years after the advent of Internet. Nowadays, Case Description
enterprises look at digital transformation as a differentiator for their Context needs to be fully acquired
business, and IoT is a key enabler of digital transformation [10]. 1 Context
using the presented architectures.
2.3 Enterprise Architecture and IoT The use of standard communication
protocols between the enterprise
The Internet of Things will undoubtedly have significant challenges 2 Standards
for enterprise architecture. Therefore, the current enterprise systems and the IoT devices is
architecture does not have the ability to support the IoT. The expected.
enterprise needs to benefit from the evolving enterprise architecture No failures with the increased load
to overcome the challenges. The IoT will bring many opportunities and also increased capacity for the
to the enterprise, including a deep understanding of how businesses 3 Scalability
added resources.
work in the enterprise, new ways to interact with customers through
the product lifecycle, and the ability to collect and analyze huge
volumes of data and information. Also, IoT transform an enterprise Data Efficient management of large
4
into a sensing enterprise which could anticipate future decisions Management volumes of data is considered.
using multidimensional information obtained from physical or Connectivity provides secure
virtual objects and providing added value to the information [11]. 5 Connectivity connections for large data loads and
So which aspects of the enterprise architecture can be developed
continuous streaming.
with the applied IoT in the enterprise? Considering the facilities
that the IoT offers to enterprises, it can be said that the enterprise Transferring and encrypting
architecture will be expandable in terms of product and service information securely with the IoT
6 Security
experiences, information, analysis, customization, and lifecycle. that introduces new risks and
According to the researchers [12], if there is no strategy to use
vulnerabilities.
IoT in an enterprise, the IoT will be a futile effort by the enterprise. Connecting all networks together
7 Interoperability
The best way to get this strategy in an enterprise is through the use and ensuring data interoperability.
of enterprise architecture. Now considering the importance of the
IoT as one of the most important drivers of digital transformation,
and the need to apply the appropriate architectures to exploit the 3 The Evolving Enterprise Architecture
features of the IoT in the enterprise, a question is raised: Can the
concept that we know as enterprise architecture these days, support In this section, we introduce the evolving enterprise architecture.
the enterprise IoT and move align with it and its evolution? The The evolving enterprise architecture consists of three well-
forecasts suggest that by 2020, we will see very strong growth from developed schools of thought, all of which are complementary [15].
the IoT trend in enterprise architectures. The IoT in enterprise The first one refers to enterprise architecture for aligning IT with
architecture will be accompanied by an increase in the diversity of the business strategy. In fact, the business strategy is accepted and
architectural blocks [13]. Of course, it should be noted that enterprise architecture is intended to support the business strategies
integrating these constructive blocks is also a concern for enterprise by the use of Information Technology. The second school of
architecture that needs to be managed. Considering these thought is broader and covers all aspects of the enterprise such as
requirements, meta-models and approaches in enterprise human resources, enterprise culture, and economic factors. Here
architecture should be changed. Moreover, enterprise architecture the goal is implementing the overall strategy in the enterprise,
should consider the enterprises' agility and its ecosystem. There is improving its coherence and integrity, and minimizing the conflict
a believe that the use of enterprise architecture will not be at the enterprise level. The third school of thought discusses the
responsive to requirements, and there should be a new approach to enterprise in the ecosystem. The goal is to move beyond having an
align enterprise architecture with IoT. How can enterprise integrated and efficient complex. From this point of view, the
architecture be responsive in such situations? enterprise is looking for a solution to be a survival in a complicated
 COINS’19, May 05-07, 2019, Crete, Greece H. Kashfi et al.

and uncertain ecosystem. Even more, the enterprise is expected to

turn threats into opportunities, have innovations, adapt to
conditions, and improve learning. In fact, the third one is a kind of
ecosystem adaptation, which considers the learning enterprises as a
constant principal.
So far, how the third school of thought on the enterprise
architecture can contribute to apply the IoT in the enterprise is
discussed. This issue could also be examined from the opposite
side. In fact, if an enterprise tends to use the third school of thought
on enterprise architecture, considering the various challenges that
enterprises face today, the IoT is one of the best tools to help the
enterprise. Figure 2 presents the challenges confronting today's
enterprises [16]. In such a situation, there is a need for a new
instrument in the enterprises. Taking into account the challenges
such as merges, acquisitions, novel technologies, virtual Figure 3: The levels of capability maturity model in the
enterprises, and achieving competitive advantage, the IoT can be enterprise
considered as one of the most suitable tools. Therefore, the use of
the IoT can facilitate the implementation of the third school of This model considers the aforementioned schools of thought.
thought on enterprise architecture. Discussing the capability levels in this model, the first level is the
Figure 3 shows the levels of capability maturity model in the conceptual representation of enterprises that does not focus on their
evolving enterprise architecture. capabilities. Second level is about the enterprises that have made a
process from their capabilities. This process can be iterative. The
third level is about a systematic capability in the enterprise. The
next capability level refers to the creative capability, which is
associated with functionality and performance in the enterprise.
The fifth level relates to strategic capabilities which is beyond the
system. The last level is about the versatility and relevance of the
enterprise ecosystem.
The perspectives and the interrogatives of the Zachman
framework are developed to support the ecosystem of the
enterprises. This change results in an evolving enterprise
architecture. Customizing these general changes for the IoT, would
result in a sensing enterprise. A sensing enterprise will be a
sustainable enterprise in its ecosystem due to gathering and
processing information in a structured way [3, 10].

4 Conclusion

Figure 2: Challenges confronting an enterprise [16]

In this study, industry 4.0 and digital transformation and IOT were
reviewed as representatives of technological developments in
enterprises. Existing challenges were examined and the complexity
and new realities and other challenges highlighted the importance of
using enterprise architecture more than ever. The change that is
needed in enterprise architecture to support these developments is
indisputable. Therefore, in such a situation, the evolving enterprise
architecture considering the ecosystem of the enterprise will be
appropriate for the enterprise. On the other hand, since the
ecosystem is a determinant element in the evolving enterprise
architecture, the IoT as a strong tool is needed to cover the third
school of thought.
The evolving enterprise architecture from a digital
transformation perspective has other areas to study such as the role
of big data and data analytics, which can be introduced as the future
work of this article.
 The Evolving Enterprise Architecture: A Digital Transformation
COINS’19, May 05-07, 2019, Crete, Greece
Perspective

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