Information architecture is the design and organization of data and information assets in an enterprise, such as databases, documents, metadata, and taxonomies. Enterprise architecture (EA) is the holistic view and planning of the business strategy, processes, systems, and technology in an enterprise, such as business architecture, application architecture, data architecture, and technology architecture1. Aligning information architecture with EA means ensuring that the data and information assets are consistent, coherent, and supportive of the EA goals and objectives2.
The primary benefit of aligning information architecture with EA is that it enables the tracing of data to business functions, which means that the data can be linked to the business processes, activities, roles, and outcomes that use or produce it. This benefit has several advantages for the enterprise, such as34:
Improving data quality, accuracy, and reliability by identifying and resolving any data issues or gaps in the business functions
Enhancing data governance, security, and compliance by defining and enforcing the data policies and standards for the business functions
Increasing data value, usability, and accessibility by providing the data consumers with relevant and timely data for their business functions
Supporting data-driven decision making and innovation by enabling the analysis and evaluation of data for the business functions
The other options are not the primary benefit of aligning information architecture with EA, but rather secondary or potential benefits. Improving communication with senior management and the business is a benefit of EA in general, but not specific to information architecture alignment. Ensuring the adoption of enterprise data quality standards is a benefit of data governance, which may be facilitated by information architecture alignment, but not guaranteed. Facilitating appropriate access to data consumers is a benefit of data security and privacy, which may be improved by information architecture alignment, but not directly.
[References: 1: What is Enterprise Architecture? | Gartner1 2: Aligning Information Architecture with Business Strategy - DATAVERSITY2 3: The Benefits of Enterprise Architecture in Organizational …3 4: An Enterprise Architecture Approach for Assessing the Alignment Between, , , , , ]
