A fuzzy group multi-criteria enterprise architecture framework selection model

  • Authors:

  • Faramak Zandi;Madjid Tavana

  • Affiliations:

  • Information Technology Management and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran 19938-91176, Iran;Management Information Systems, Lindback Distinguished Chair of Information Systems, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA 19141, USA

  • Venue:
  • Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

A large body of intuitive and analytical models has evolved over the last several decades to assist decision makers (DMs) in enterprise architecture (EA) framework selection. While these models have made great strides in EA framework evaluation, the intuitive models lack a structured framework and the analytical models do not capture intuitive preferences of multiple DMs. Furthermore, crisp data are fundamentally indispensable in traditional EA framework selection methods. However, the data in real-world problems are often imprecise or ambiguous. The prior research in EA framework selection does not embrace both qualitative and quantitative criteria exhibiting imprecise and ambiguous value judgments. In this paper, we propose a novel fuzzy group multi-criteria model for EA framework evaluation and selection. The contribution of the proposed model is fourfold: (1) it takes into consideration the qualitative and quantitative criteria and their respective value judgments; (2) it considers verbal expressions and linguistic variables for qualitative judgments which lead to ambiguity in the decision process; (3) it handles imprecise or vague judgments; and (4) it uses a meaningful and robust multi-criteria model to aggregate both qualitative and quantitative data. We use a real-world case study to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework and exhibit the efficacy of the procedures and algorithms.