Adaptive information systems architecture

The adaptive information systems(AIS) architecture efforts are a subset of the IS architecture efforts.

The aim of begin adaptive is to allow an enterprise architecture (EA) to be resilient to the changing environments surrounding and electronic based organization.

First of all, the EA may encompasse the following layers:

  1. strategic architecture
  2. business processes architecture
  3. information architecture
  4. aplication architecture
  5. technological architecture

Each layer offers different tools to achieve adaptiveness. Some examples mechanisms regarding adaptiveness are:


  • generalization
  • specialization
  • reuse
  • consistency
  • correctness
  • modularity
  • formalization
  • extensibility
  • rastreability

A methodological approach to clear understand the structure and dynamics of AIS comprises:

AIS qualities identification (based in software engineering approaches[1])

AIS qualities evaluation (based in software engineering approaches [2])

AIS design (based in best-practices from industry and academy)

AIS controllability

Application fields examples that take benefit from AIS:

  • project management - reusing the former IS architecture for other projects
  • software industry - specializing the software whenever new requirements are launched

--Slguerreiro 11:27, 31 July 2009 (UTC)


  1. Roger Pressman
  2. Roger Pressman