Enterprise architecture

Abstract

Digital sourcing in today’s world of rapid technological change puts certain requirements on the enterprise. Above all, it asks for the flexibility to quickly respond to changes in the environment and to flexibly start and end collaborations with other parties in various value networks. Enterprise architecture must design the necessary flexibility into the structure of the enterprise. The discipline of enterprise architecture consists of both the enterprise architecture artifacts, distinguishable into models and principles, and the enterprise architecture management function of developing and applying the enterprise architecture artifacts. This chapter discusses how enterprise architecture can be an important enabler of digital sourcing by applying a service-oriented approach, modeling independent business capabilities at the right level of granularity, standardizing on interfacing instead of technology and formulating architectural principles from an outside-in, customer-centric perspective. The balance between robustness and flexibility can be supported by a multi-modal approach, varying the level of normative statements using principles on one occasion and rules on another.