1.2. What are Principles? Architecture principles are a set of statements that inform architecture decisions (e.g. “Doing the Right Thing”) and work (e.g. “Doing EA Right”). Bizbok and TOGAF, define principles as: • An agreed upon truth that can guide one’s reasoning. (Bizbok 7.5 glossary) • EA principles are general rules and guidelines, intended to be enduring and seldom amended, that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission (TOGAF 9.2 Chapter 20.1). To that end the essence of ESDC EA Principles are: • EA Assement Principles: “Doing the Right Thing” inform architecture decisions to ensure the department is doing the right thing to acheive its strategic goals and act on its mandate. • EA Program Principles: “Doing EA Right”, inform architure work to ensure architectures are being developed and implemented the correct way. (e.g TOGAF EA Principles, GC Architectural Standards) In general, the EA Principles are high-level statements of the fundamental values that guide business and IM/IT decision-making. EA Principles the foundation for architectures, policies, standards and processes. Because the EA Principles define a value system, once they are defined and agreed upon, they are not likely to change frequently; however they will be reviewed on an annual basis. To be effective, EA Principles must be considered as a set, not individually. It is common to have sets of principles form a hierarchy in those more detailed principles are informed by and elaborate on the principles at a higher level. • Enterprise Architecture Principles are comprised of: o Domain Architecture Principles (Business, Information and Data, Application, Technology, Security & Privacy) o Reference Architecture Principles o Security Architecture Principles o Solution Architecture Principles  Design Principles ESDC Enterprise Architecture Principles are informed and constrained by the Government of Canada and the ESDC Service Strategy principles. Employment and Social Development Canada’s Service Strategy Overview 1.5. Value of EA Principles The EA Principles are intended to simplify, not complicate business decisions. They are most valuable in evaluating complex situations with multiple competing goals and where no clear rules or directives have been established. Conformance to the EA Principles as outlined in this document will: • Optimize business value and departmental benefits realization; • Provide a framework for assessing and prioritizing changes; • Allow for change to be accommodated in a less disruptive manner; • Facilitate the fulfilment of the business requirements; • Lower the overall life cycle cost of applications; • Improve the manageability of the architectural components; • Support an active vs. reactive approach to planning service delivery projects.