How to Define Enterprise Architecture Principles

How to Create Great Enterprise Architecture Principles

Do not look for universal enterprise architecture principles and attempt to apply them.

There are no universal principles

Another organization's principles do not support your strategy, value proposition, opportunities, and threats. Always define enterprise architecture principles based on your organization.

Each Architecture Principle must connect to your strategy, goals, and value proposition.

The steps to define enterprise architecture principles are simple to say. Doing the work requires skill, knowledge, and finesse.

Defining enterprise architecture principles is a critical thinking exercise. You need to focus on the guidance that matters most. Guidance that protects where your organization is strong. Guidance that drives the changes needed. All to the point. After all, you should only have 10-15 enterprise architecture principles.

What are the Steps to Define Enterprise Architecture Principles

• Know your Target
• Protect & Change
• Test the Principles
• Test in-flight Architecture Development
• Use the Governance Process

Know your Target

Architecture principles are an architecture specification. Like all specifications, they drive towards a target. At a minimum, you need a summary target. This is one time your candidate architecture can be weaker - developing the principles will strengthen the target.

• Review organization mission, vision, value proposition, and business model
• Review any existing goals and strategies

Goals are gaps written backwards. Strategies are action plans. They express a target and a path to get there.

Describe a summary target. Potentially create an Architecture Vision.

• Review your existing enterprise architecture principles
• Cross out any that do not directly drive to your target.
• Cross out any that you do not follow.

Protect & Change

First, guard your current success. Most organizations are successful and want to get incrementally better. Never surrender hard won successes!

Ask:

• Where is your organization continuously successful?
• What are the roots of success?
• Which existing enterprise architecture principles reinforce the success?
• Which elements of success are not supported by an enterprise architecture principle?

Second, look for change to support.

Ask:

• Where is your organization consistently missing?
• What is the reason you are missing?
• Which existing enterprise architecture principles reinforce the needed change?
• Which existing enterprise architecture principles point away from the gap?

Last, cover the basics. Sets of standard architecture principles like 7 Architecture Principles You Should Know cover overall good practices. Practices like asking 'Why Not One?'

Draft new principles

Start with just the Principle Name. It isn't worth getting involved at this stage. Principles should come and go.

Remeber:

• Fill the gaps
• Reinforce current organizational success
• Include important good practices

Keep a working list between 20 and 25 principles. Start with capturing reasonable ideas. Refining will shorten the list.

Test the Principles

• Test a few good and weak decisions
  Explore whether the draft principles reinforce the good and guide us away from the weak
• Test a few initiative ideas
  Explore whether the draft principles reinforce ideas supporting the target and guide you away from ideas that do not directly support the target
• Test a few gaps or strategies
  Explore whether the draft principles reinforce filling the gap and following the strategy
• Test the Name to make sure it suggests the right course in your organization

Cross out any that fail the test

Wherever possible, do the tests with your stakeholders. Challenge their thinking just like you do in trade-off.

For every principle that is passing the tests, fill in the template. Write a statement that explains what do do. Write a rationale that traces directly back to your organization's mission, vision, value proposition, and business model through the gap or success. Write an implication that highlights the work or constraint.

Go back to testing the draft:

• Test the Statement to ensure it explains the better path in your organization
• Test the Rationale to ensure any goals or objectives are front and center
• Test the Implications - will you do the work

During this stage, keep crossing out and refining principles. Look for a new principle when you don't have coverage for:

• Gaps
• Current organizational success
• Important good practices

Test in-flight Architecture Development

You are working on two separate objectives - testing the principles and testing the enterprise architecture as it is being developed.

Look for mis-alignment:

• Find draft principles that do not reflect architecture decisions in your developing architecture. Cross these out.
• Find candidate architecture that does not align with your strong principles
• Find important candidate architecture decisions that are not supported by principles

Draft new principles and refine.

Cycle between Protect & Change, Testing the Principles, and Tesing in-flight Architecture until you have a solid set of 10-15 principles.

Use the Governance Process

Take the draft enterprise architecture principles through your governance process. Principles are top-level architecture and will require approval by your key enterprise stakeholders.