Achieving Alignment: An Analysis of Enterprise Architecture Best Practices Within the United States Air Force

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This research uncovers areas of best practices that support achieving alignment between an organization's Information Technology (IT) and its business processes. One principal finding of this effort revealed that the means used to achieve alignment exists within the effective application of Enterprise Architecture (EA), a common practice found throughout the Federal Government, Department of Defense, and the Air Force. EA is the tool used to achieve alignment; likewise, the reason for developing architecture is to achieve alignment of IT investments and mission objectives. This research groups the best practices into vision, identification, framework, and governance. Interestingly, these practices relate to an Enterprise Architecture's depiction of the to be target state, the as is baseline, the tools and models used for communication, and the motivation and management of the transition plan. The insights achieved by this research should strengthen the use of Enterprise Architecture within the Air Force by enabling senior leaders and decision makers to align strategy and IT investment towards improving mission accomplishment.