The need for enterprise architecture increases as business scales, and with the current interest
in ecosystems, it is one of the most in-demand issues for study. The article provides a comparative analysis
of existing approaches to management of IT-architecture of an enterprise. As a result of the study, several
problems specific for the approaches under consideration were synthesized, one of which is the isolation of
the IT-architecture from the corporate one. As part of the goal of mitigating the identified risks, the author
proposes to use an innovative “Architecture as a Code” approach, which is devoid of identified
vulnerabilities. The article pays special attention to exploring the capabilities of this principle, and how
it makes the process of managing IT architecture more efficient. The author has developed a set of
criteria that clearly define the “Architecture as a Code” approach. For this purpose, a study of the
“Diagram as a Code” concept was conducted, which showed the fundamental difference between the
concepts. The features of virtualization and reuse of program code, which are the fundamental principles
of the approach, were studied in detail. Based on the principles and criteria, the author formulated and
classified the requirements for the successful integration of a new process into the organizational
structure of the enterprise.