Principles in an Enterprise Architecture Context

Prof. dr. H.A. (Erik) Proper
Senior Research Manager, Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, Luxembourg

Danny Greefhorst
Principal Consultant and Director, ArchiXL, The Netherlands

Key concepts in enterprise architecture include concerns, principles, models, views, and frameworks. While most of these concepts have received ample attention in research, the concept of principles has not been studied much yet. In this article, we therefore specifically focus on the role of principles in the field of enterprise architecture, where we position enterprise architecture as a means to direct enterprise transformations. In practice, many different types of architecture principles are used. At the same time, principles are referred to by different names, including architecture principles, design principles, and IT policies.

The primary goal of this presentation is, therefore, to arrive at a conceptual framework to more clearly clarify and position these different types. It starts with a discussion on enterprise architecture as a means to govern enterprise transformation. This provides a framework to position the different types of principles, and highlight their roles in enterprise transformations.

Prof. dr. H.A. (Erik) Proper is a Senior Research Manager at the Public Research Centre .. Henri Tudor in Luxembourg, where he leads the Services-oriented Enterprise Engineering research program. He is also a Professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where he heads up the Theories for Enterprise Engineering group.

Danny Greefhorst, MSc. is a Principal Consultant and Director of ArchiXL in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, and acts as an architect and consultant for clients in the financial and public sector. Danny is also responsible for the EA portal Via Nova Architectura ( www.via-novaarchitectura.org). He is also a member of the governing board of the architecture department of the Dutch Computer Science Association (Ngi).

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