Investigating the Role of Enterprise Architecture in Big Data Analytics Implementation: A Case Study in a Large Public Sector Organization

Big Data Analytics (BDA) offers capabilities that can support a wide range of business areas across an organization. Organizations are increasingly turning to Enterprise Architecture (EA) to manage BDA implementation complexities. Through a case study in a large public sector organization, how EA supports various stages of BDA implementation is examined. The findings show that EA can address BDA challenges through 18 specific roles, which are categorised into four domains: Strategy (6 roles), Technology (4 roles), Collaboration (3 roles) and Governance (5 roles). While EA appears to have the most prominent role in strategy planning process, our study also identifies factors that can lead to the ineffectiveness of EA roles, such as frequent changes in business strategy. This study offers important implications to research and practice in EA and BDA implementation.