Enterprise Architecture (EA) Glossary Definition

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a discipline for proactively and holistically leading enterprise responses to disruptive forces by identifying and analyzing the execution of change toward desired business vision and outcomes. EA delivers value by presenting business and IT leaders with signature-ready recommendations for adjusting policies and projects to achieve target business outcomes that capitalize on relevant business disruptions.

This term is commonly used in software engineering, programming, scripting, application design, testing, and development lifecycle work.

This concept helps architects document current state, plan target state, govern standards, and make technology decisions traceable to business needs.

Additional Resource: The Open Group TOGAF Standard.