• Information Systems
• Strategic IT Management
• Enterprise Architecture
• IT Governance
• Shadow IT

Prof. Dr. Stephan Zimmermann has been a Professor of Information Systems at Technische Hochschule Augsburg (THA) since 2018, with a focus on Enterprise Architecture and Platform Management. His research concentrates on IT governance, Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM), strategic IT management, business-IT alignment, technology transformation, shadow IT, and business-managed IT. His work bridges rigorous academic inquiry and applied problem-solving, with a particular interest in how organizations jointly govern business and IT to successfully navigate digital transformation.

• Introduction to Business Administration and Financial Accounting (B.Sc. Information Systems / International Information Systems)
  Foundational theories of economics and business administration: business models, entrepreneurship, value creation and leadership processes, and financial accounting – consistently contextualized within IT strategy and information systems.
  
  
• IT Consulting (Elective)
  Techniques, personal skills, and challenges of IT consultants in digital transformation; analysis and introduction of innovative information technologies; alignment of information systems with business processes; in-house and external consulting formats.
  
  
• Lean IT and Enterprise Architecture (Elective)
  Lean IT management, value streams; model-centric enterprise architectures; ArchiMate; TOGAF; COBIT; governance of digital platforms and enterprise architectures.
  
  
• Strategic IT Management (M.Sc. Business Information Systems)
  CIO role; IT strategy and enterprise alignment; IT portfolio management; value-oriented IT steering; business-IT partner models; digital strategy; formal and relational governance mechanisms for strategic business-IT alignment; decision archetypes; COBIT; shadow IT management; board-level IT governance.
  
  
• Enterprise Architecture Management (M.Sc. IT Project and Process Management)
  Advanced topics in enterprise architectures, IT governance, and digital transformation in the context of enterprise architecture; case studies; modeling tools; application in real organizational projects; ArchiMate; TOGAF; COBIT.
  
  
• Corporate Governance (M.Sc. International Business and Finance)
  The Corporate Governance course examines the legal and factual framework for the management and supervision of companies. Drawing on principal-agency theory, international governance systems, and real-world corporate governance scandals, students analyze governance mechanisms such as incentive systems, board structures, market control, and stakeholder pressure.

• IT Governance: This research line investigates how organizations deploy formal and relational governance mechanisms to achieve strategic business-IT alignment. In long-standing collaboration with Prof. Dr. Christopher Rentrop (HTWG Konstanz), foundational governance concepts – from decision archetypes and steering committee design to board-level IT governance and adaptive task division between business and IT (Business IT Fusion) – have been empirically investigated and translated into actionable design approaches.
  
  
• Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM): EAM research analyzes how enterprise architectures serve as a steering instrument for digital transformation decisions – from the modeling of technical and domain architectures to the governance of platform and system landscapes. Particular attention has been paid to the interplay between shadow IT phenomena and EAM coherence: multiple studies demonstrated that uncontrolled application landscapes can substantially undermine the value of formal architecture frameworks.
  
  
• Strategic IT Management & Digital Strategy: This strand investigates the organizational capabilities required to govern IT as a strategic resource – covering the CIO role, IT portfolio management, and value-oriented IT steering in the context of digital change. A qualitative longitudinal study identified and conceptualized organizational capabilities for business-IT integration in digital enterprises. Complementary work on IT integration examines the strategic continuity of established IT management concepts under modern digitalization requirements.
  
  
• Shadow IT & Business-Managed IT: Shadow IT research is the most-cited contribution in the author's portfolio: building on a transaction cost-based explanation of shadow IT emergence (ECIS 2014, 106 citations), a comprehensive body of concepts, evaluation models, and governance methods was developed. In collaboration with Prof. Dr. Christopher Rentrop and co-authors, "business-managed IT" was established as a distinct category beyond classical shadow IT and anchored in leading international journals and conferences.
  
  
• Business-IT Alignment & Business-IT Dialogues: This research strand focuses on the operational dimension of business-IT alignment: how business and IT communicate at the level of interface roles (IT business partners, domain architects), and how strategic dialogues can be structured to amplify IT value contribution. Using action design research, a structured end-to-end process with eight design principles for business-IT dialogues was developed and validated in real organizational settings. Complementary studies analyze the role, design, and success factors of the IT business partner organization as a pivotal interface between business units and IT.
  
  
• AI / Low-Code / No-Code Platform Adoption & Citizen Development: The proliferation of low-code/no-code platforms shifts development responsibilities from IT to business units (citizen development), creating new governance challenges – particularly regarding shadow IT risks and uncontrolled application landscapes. Two sequentially related PACIS contributions produced a maturity model for low-code platform adoption that guides organizations in the structured rollout and governance of citizen development programs. This research bridges the long-established shadow IT expertise with current questions of AI-assisted application development.
  
  
• AI Governance and Strategy: The integration of generative AI and LLM-based systems into organizations creates new governance requirements that extend well beyond classical IT governance structures: accountability for AI-driven decisions, risk assessment of algorithmic recommendations (automation bias, overreliance), and the responsible integration of AI into governance processes are moving center stage. This research strand addresses these questions in the context of IT governance boards and interface roles, in connection with IT strategy and enterprise architecture.

• (2025) Riedinger, C., Rentrop, C., Huber, M., & Zimmermann, S. Partnerschaft auf Augenhöhe: Faktoren für eine erfolgreiche Gestaltung der IT-Business-Partner-Organisation. HMD, 62, 274–293. 
  https://doi.org/10.1365/s40702-025-01151-1
• (2025) Riedinger, C., Zimmermann, S., Rentrop, C., & Felden, C. The operationalization of strategic alignment: Driving IT value through business-IT dialogues. HICSS 2025. 
  https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2025.723
• (2025) Prinz, N., Felden, C., Huber, M., Rentrop, C., Riedinger, C., & Zimmermann, S. A maturity model for managing low-code development platform adoption. PACIS 2025.
• (2025) Riedinger, C., Rentrop, C., Huber, M., & Zimmermann, S. Leveraging Business-IT Collaboration: Effective Design and Challenges of the IT Business Partner Role. FedCSIS 2025, IEEE. 
  https://doi.org/10.15439/2025F9798
• (2018) Kopper, A., Fürstenau, D., Zimmermann, S., et al. Shadow IT and business-managed IT: a conceptual framework and empirical illustration. IJITBAG, 9(2). [66 citations]
• (2017) Zimmermann, S., Rentrop, C., & Felden, C. A multiple case study on the nature
• and management of shadow information technology. Journal of Information Systems, 31(1). [71 citations]
• (2014) Zimmermann, S., & Rentrop, C. On the emergence of shadow IT – a transaction cost-based approach. ECIS 2014. [106 citations]
• (2012) Rentrop, C., & Zimmermann, S. Shadow IT. [HMD Best Paper Award 2012] HMD, 49(6). [101 citations]

Stephan Zimmermann on Google Scholar

Stephan Zimmermann on OPUS

EAM – Research, Teaching, Practice – Academic Community @ CBA-Lab e.V.

The project, 'EAM – Research, Teaching, Practice – Academic Community @ CBA-Lab', focuses on enterprise architecture (management) and the content of the Cross-business architecture lab (CBA-Lab e.V.), such as enterprise architecture governance, capabilities, reference models, building blocks and best practices for digital transformation. These topics are reflected on, explored in depth, and further developed within an academic community. Relevant formats, including academic days, topic-specific academic calls and practice-oriented paper reviews, are designed and implemented in cooperation with KIPS at HTWG Konstanz. Additionally, over 40 German-speaking universities have been integrated into the academic community, contributing their perspectives, research projects and teaching formats to joint activities.

Mentor for STARTUP TEENS

STARTUP TEENS offers the largest network of mentors for students—free of charge. The mentor network includes more than 800 professionals (entrepreneurs, managers, representatives from chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, business incubators, foundations, and universities). Prof. Dr. Stephan Zimmermann is one of them.

• https://www.startupteens.de/mentoring/