ABSTRACT
Much progress has been made in recent years in developing structures to describe the enterprise and to facilitate the development of information systems that appropriately complement the strategy of the enterprise. Despite the success of the enterprise architecture approach there are still major problems in achieving organisational change and in driving the realignment of IT systems. The complexity of modern organisations in terms of the business, legal and technological environment demands an architectural approach. Businesses are faced with ongoing and continual change to which they must respond in order to ensure success and even survival. The increasingly competitive environment demands a customer-focused approach. All of these factors contribute to the complexity and uncertainty faced by organisations resulting in an inability to be appropriately responsive to both internal and external events. Underlying this complexity and uncertainty is the gap between an organisation's business objectives and its underlying IT infrastructure. There is a need for information that is
timely and understood in order to facilitate appropriate analysis and to appreciate the relevant impacts of decisions made. Organisations are continually faced with the challenge of their IT delivering the business value demanded and responding speedily to the changing business needs.
