Date of Award

3-2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Kevin L. Elder, PhD

Abstract

The Air Force is developing and implementing an enterprise architecture to meet the Clinger-Cohen Act's requirement that all federal agencies use an architecture to guide their information technology (IT) investments. However, this act does not provide guidance on how to effectively manage an enterprise architecture. Prior research applied maturity models and competency stages to manage an enterprise architecture by defining layers of enterprise architecture management maturity. However, these efforts tend to view enterprise architecture development as a one-time planning process rather than an iterative progression. Enterprise architecture is not a one-time exercise, but rather it is an on-going effort within the organization to rationalize, integrate, and optimize the IT capability within an organization across many projects and business units. Hence, the critical success factors to effectively manage an enterprise architecture must be identified to ensure the structure, processes, and governing mechanisms are established within the organization for maintaining an enterprise architecture. This research draws from existing academic, professional, and government literature to identify the key issues affecting the Air Force's ability to manage its enterprise architecture effectively. Once identified, a quantitative analysis will assist in interpreting the qualitative findings in hopes of determining the underlying factors driving these issues.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GIR-ENV-05M-16

DTIC Accession Number

ADA434306

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