16 Enterprise Architecture Principles

1. The enterprise architecture shall be business-enabling. It should help the company conduct its business in a reliable, expansive manner.

2. The enterprise architecture shall be value-enhancing. It should help the company achieve increased value, either through improved cost, new functionality, or new flexibility, etc.

3. The enterprise architecture shall be brand-name advancing. Clearly, it should help the company achieve added customer satisfaction and brand recognition.

4. The enterprise architecture shall be market-share expanding. It should help the company open up new markets and reach a market faster in a more comprehensive manner.

5. The enterprise architecture shall be time-to-market facilitating. It should help the company introduce new products faster, respond to changing consumer needs faster, etc.

6. The enterprise architecture shall be productivity-enhancing. It should help the company conduct its business with fewer or less expensive resources.

7. The enterprise architecture shall be sourcing-enabling. It should help the company rapidly and flexibly bring up a new outsourcing provider.

8. The enterprise architecture shall be process-simplifying. It should help the company conduct its business in a simpler, more direct fashion.

9. The enterprise architecture shall be cost-effective. It should help the company support transactions at a lower cost per transaction (for the same or better level of functionality).

10. The enterprise architecture shall be optimized. It should help the company avail itself of ever-decreasing costs in technology to its benefit. It does so in a way that is the best compared to other approaches.

11. The enterprise architecture shall be global. It should help the company reach/connect providers on multiple continents.

12. The enterprise architecture shall be multi-service. It is often cheaper to have, say, one network that supports voice, video, and data, from a facilities, management, and planning/engineering point of view.

13. The enterprise architecture shall be scalable. It should allow the company to rapidly add specific functionality in a forward-compatible, cost-effective, and rapid manner.

14. The enterprise architecture shall offer multiple levels of quality of service (QoS). It should help the company provide different grades of service to different transactions, products, or clientele.

15. The enterprise architecture shall be reconfigurable. It should help the company quickly (and cost-effectively) redesign/reprovision the topology or relationship matrix to support rapidly evolving business needs.

16. The enterprise architecture shall be unified. It should support a cohesive, consistent, wellarchitected, and well-planned networking infrastructure.

Enterprise Architecture, Daniel Minoli