An enterprise has been defined as a business association, consisting of a recognized set of interacting business functions, able to operate as an independent, stand-alone entity. There are enterprises within enterprises. For instance, a business unit within the overall corporate entity may be considered an enterprise as long as it could be operated independently.
Information Technology Project managers and Leaders will usually observe productivity improvement accruing from the use of a common Information Management development methodology and a commonly used suite of development tools. EA facilitates the ability to move to new and improved methods and tools, for example, Object Orientation, Rapid Application Development, and the Data Warehouse