The Impact of managerial Enterprise Architecture decisions on software development employees

Enterprise Architecture (EA) proponents claim that the implementation of EA in an organisation resolves the complexity of increasingly distributed and multi-faceted enterprises. In support of this goal, several EA frameworks exist and the main purpose of most of these frameworks is to assist with the challenges that are the result of the increased complexity of distributed organisations, for instance aligning business vision with information technology (IT) strategy and reducing IT costs. In order to achieve these intended outcomes, the adoption of EA by an organisation needs to be embraced throughout the organisation by its employees. Very little has been published about the impact of EA adoption on the employees within an organisation. This paper reports on the research findings of a study that investigated the impact of managerial EA decisions on software developers in a software development company. The study used an ethnographic case study, literature analysis and surveys, and as contributions, identified the impacts, as well as possible solutions to problems experienced by the company´s software developers as result of EA adoption by management. The findings may be of assistance to managers who consider the adoption of EA into their organisations, especially within software development companies.