What Does Enterprise Software Architecture Mean?
Enterprise software architecture refers to an architecture developed for the organized growth and development of an enterprise’s information technology (IT). It focuses on the long-term evolution of IT systems, rather than simply on the procedures being used today. The quality of the enterprise software architecture implemented is vital in determining an organization’s success.
Enterprise software architecture can be used to reduce system complexity, thereby increasing overall efficiency. Organizations that undertake the enhancement of significant IT systems search for specialized enterprise IT architects. By refactoring existing solutions, enterprise software architects consistently aim at increasing the agility of the system.
Techopedia Explains Enterprise Software Architecture
Enterprise software architecture is closely coordinated with an enterprise’s internal organization, business model and processes. To enhance speed and functionality, enterprise software architecture should present the following characteristics:
- Simplicity: It should be simple to facilitate effective communication among key team members. A lot of people with different viewpoints, skill sets and roles regarding the software are engaged in deciding the structure and specification of enterprise software.
- Overall Flexibility and Maintainability: Each enterprise system should continuously adapt to the new demands caused by evolving markets, business reorganizations, or legal changes. So, the architecture must create a highly maintainable and flexible system. The architecture should define unique components that could be reconfigured or rearranged. The reconfiguration or rearrangement should be carried out in a flexible way so that the local modifications done in the system don’t influence the global system.
- Reusability: This can be done by developing an inventory of valuable building blocks and constantly reusing them. Reuse cuts down development and maintenance expenditure. This can be achieved by providing standard functionality in code libraries, which are used across various projects.
- Decoupling of Technology and Functionality: An efficient architecture promotes technological independence. It should decouple the business application landscape’s long life cycle from the underlying technology’s smaller innovation cycles. In addition, architecture that’s built to last must adapt not only to the changes that occur in technologies, but also to the real life cycles of the implemented technologies.