Why Organizations Fail in Implementing Enterprise Architecture Initiatives?

Enterprise architecture (EA) initiatives consist of functions, processes, tools, instruments, and principles to guide the design of IT and its alignment with business. EA is often presented as a silver bullet to ensure that IT contributes to business. Yet, many EA initiatives do not work out or even fail, but in the literature this area is undertheorized. This study aims to understand the factors influencing the failure of EA initiatives. We identified 15 factors and invited 8 EA experts to evaluate the factors and their influence based on an approach combining grey systems theory, Decision-Making and Trial Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), and Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM). The findings indicate that the factors are correlated and interwoven in complex causal chains. This study reveals the root factor and suggests enhancing high-level managers’ EA knowledge and ensuring communication and leadership skills of enterprise architects as the starting point to avoid EA failure. Only later, organizing the EA function becomes important.