IS/IT Architecture: An Integrated View and Typology

Information system (IS/IT) alignment has been an important issue facing managers for many years. One important aspect of the alignment problem is that the IS/IT function must meet the often conflicting corporate and business unit demands. Although IS/IT architecture has been widely recognized as an important organizational mechanism for optimally coordinating these demands, there are no consistent conceptualizations about what constitutes IS/IT architecture. In addition, there are no integrative frameworks that help understand the key types, dimensions and organizational design considerations of IS/IT architecture. In this paper, based on the need to meet corporate and business units demands, we conceptualize a typology of IS/IT architecture. Drawing from the literature, we conceptualize the key dimensions and characteristics of IS/IT architecture. We then propose an integrated framework that describes the organizational design considerations based on the typology and dimensions of IS/IT architecture. The paper contributes to the research literature by providing an integrative view of the concept, typology, dimension and organizational design considerations of IS/IT architecture.