Architecture principles are guiding statements that link business strategy to architectural decisions. The pairings reflect this direct link. Minimizing water loss is a specific environmental and compliance goal. A nuanced cloud strategy (reluctant but open) directly matches the "cloud first, not cloud only" principle. Product initiatives like smart batteries are drivers of innovation and business agility. Replacing bespoke applications is an explicit move towards common, standardized software. Finally, optimizing TCO is achieved by reducing technological variety and preferring subscription/purchase over costly custom builds ("subscribe before buy before build"), which simplifies maintenance and support.

The Open Group, TOGAF® Standard, 10th Edition, Section 17.2, "Architecture Principles": This section explains that principles are general rules and guidelines that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission. A good principle is tied to a business outcome. For example, the principle "Minimize technology diversity" directly supports the business outcome of "lower total cost of ownership."

URL: https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/togaf-standard/chap-17.html

MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), "Enterprise Architecture as Strategy" by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David C. Robertson: This book emphasizes that a company’s enterprise architecture is a key component of its foundation for execution. The authors discuss how EA choices, such as standardization (substituting bespoke applications) and data access policies (cloud strategy), are direct enablers of strategic objectives like operational efficiency (TCO) and business agility (innovation).

Reference: Chapter 3, "Building a Foundation for Execution."

Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute (SEI), "Enterprise Architecture Principles": This resource outlines how EA principles guide decision-making toward a desired future state. It provides examples showing how a principle like "Data is a shared asset" drives specific architectural choices and supports business objectives related to data access and collaboration, aligning with the "cloud first but not cloud only" scenario.

URL: https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/blog/enterprise-architecture-principles/