Usage of the model element: achieving strategic outcomes and support governance

Partnership architecture principles are a crucial foundation for achieving strategic outcomes as they establish the basis for a set of rules and behaviours for any member of the partnership.

The Global partnership architecture principles (‘principles’) are based upon addressing the importance of getting results, obtaining maximum return-on-investment and cost efficiency of operations, providing quality information and technology, protecting privacy, maintaining secure information, providing service to the public for agencies, and ensuring benefits for private sector members and citizens.

The principles, as a key enabler for whole-of-society (WofS) outcomes, will contribute to:
- for the public sector: aligning agency and cross-agency services and solutions with goals and strategies at both the agency and whole-of-government (WofG) levels - see also the multiple levels of scope in the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework;
- for the private sector: aligning value creation activities with contextual factors for maximum return-on-investment and cost efficiency of operations.

The principles are not just part of the partnership capability of members in the partnership, they must also affect the systems life cycle, capital planning and investment decision-making processes by actors at levels pico (persons), micro (organisations), meso (sectors) and macro (landscape) in the social architecture.

How principles matter to planning is explained in the Principle/goal to plan pattern (Plan).

Note: The phrasing of the above statements has been inspired by the Australian Government Enterprise Architecture Principles (March, 2014) (© Commonwealth of Australia 2013) which moreover provides a brief and good illustration of principles for government agencies, and explains their origin, role and the approach in applying them.

Basic definitions

In Wikipedia: Principle


In the ArchiMate Framework, a principle is a normative property of all systems in a given or described context, or of the way in which the systems are realized.

Principles define intended properties of systems. A principle defines a general property that applies to any system in a certain context. A principle is motivated by some goal.

Category: Motivation Extension

Examples: "Systems should be customer facing", "Customers should have a great experience", "Colleagues should be informed"

Typical Relationships: Composition, Aggregation, Specialisation, Influence

Source: Archimate 2.0 and Archi - The Free ArchiMate Modelling Tool - Hint for the model element.


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.

In their turn, principles may be just one element in a structured set of ideas that collectively define and guide the organization, from values through to actions and results.

Source: TOGAF 9.1, Chapter 23.1; See also TOGAF 8, Chapter 29


Examples of principles: