We define enterprise architecture as the organizing logic of the business operating model of an enterprise, comprising its business functions and business processes, as well as the information, applications, services and technology infrastructure that support them. To draw an analogy with bricks and mortar, enterprise architecture is broadly equivalent to town planning, as opposed to solution architecture at the project level, which is analogous to the design of an individual building.

Enterprise architecture provides the essential understanding of how the business and IT capabilities of an enterprise are configured, interrelated and deployed in order to support what the business is trying to achieve. The result should be a set of interlocking architectures reflecting all of the required capabilities.

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