Business-It Alignment in Higher Education Institutions: United Arab Emirates University Case Study

This thesis addresses the importance of Business-IT alignment in higher education institutions. Business-IT alignment is defined as applying IT in a suitable and timely manner, in harmony with business strategies, goals and needs. Business- IT alignment is an ultimate goal of governmental and non-governmental organizations that requires close attention and continuous monitoring. UAE university has a well-defined business strategy augmented with a well-defined IT strategy. So, to get the most benefits of acquiring and using IT in the university, the IT need to be aligned with the core business and the supporting services. The main objective of this thesis is to review the literature concerning the Business–IT alignment topic with focus on higher education institutions and explore different Business–IT alignment frameworks. Also, to define the as-is enterprise architecture of the UAEU using SAMM (Strategic Alignment Maturity Model) by Luftman. This model is used to measure the Business-IT Alignment level of the university. The Business-IT alignment of the as-is architecture will be assessed then the assessment results will be analyzed and draw conclusions. Also, suggestions for improvements are put forward, based on the results. Finally, in the last chapter, implications and limitations of this thesis are discussed and suggestions for other and/or further research are made