Research Methodology for Enterprise Interoperability Architecture Approach

As technology becomes more far-reaching and interconnected, the need of interoperability is becoming increasingly important. The Ontology of Enterprise Interoperability (OoEI) was defined as a scientific reference model regarding interoperability leading to a common understanding involving this topic. The OoEI was proposed in the general context of Enterprise Interoperability with high level concepts using the system theory. This needs to be enriched with concepts from Enterprise domain. The discipline of Enterprise Architecture (EA) advocates the use of models to support business services on enterprises. Among them, this work focuses on ArchiMate. In order to provide business services support, ArchiMate, should be amenable to analyze of various properties, as e. g. the interoperability requirements. This paper proposes a set of concepts covering the EA and interoperability domains. Through literature review and framework research, we identify key aspects of interoperability and EA and their associations, resulting in a reference conceptual model for integrated Enterprise Architecture Interoperability. The proposed model is defined based on the Design Science Research methodology. A case study illustration will be used for the evaluation as part of the research approach.