Enterprise architecture development approach in the public sector

Abstract

Despite the increasing interest to adopt enterprise architecture (EA) concept, there is a scarcity of literature that discusses the development of EA in the public sector. Hence, the purpose of this article is to empirically investigate the development approach of EA in the public sector. The research used a qualitative case study to build an in-depth understanding of the development approach as well as the enterprise architects roles and the stakeholders' roles played at each development stage. The government architecture framework (GAF) of the Omani public sector was used as the case study that included GAF documentation review and interviews with architects and stakeholders who participated in the development of GAF. The findings showed that the GAF development started by establishing architecture knowledge, EA frameworks & IT standards analysis, high-level architecture framework, working group formation and the development of architecture documents. The enterprise architects had six roles whereas the stakeholders played three roles during the development of GAF. The findings are expected to expand the knowledge of the EA development approach to promote developing a standard EA framework for the public sector.