Gartner has identified seven properties that differentiate emergent architecture from the traditional approach to EA: 1. Non-deterministic - In the past, enterprise architects applied centralised decision-making to design outcomes. Using emergent architecture, they instead must decentralise decision-making to enable innovation. 2. Autonomous actors - Enterprise architects can no longer control all aspects of architecture as they once did. They must now recognise the broader business ecosystem and devolve control to constituents. 3. Rule-bound actors - Where in the past enterprise architects provided detailed design specifications for all aspects of the EA, they must now define a minimal set of rules and enable choice. 4. Goal-oriented actors - Previously, the only goals that mattered were the corporate goals but this has now shifted to each constituent acting in their own best interests. 5. Local Influences: Actors are influenced by local interactions and limited information. Feedback within their sphere of communication alters the behaviour of individuals. No individual actor has data about all of an emergent system. EA must increasingly coordinate. 6. Dynamic or Adaptive Systems: The system (the individual actors as well as the environment) changes over time. EA must design emergent systems sense and respond to changes in their environment. 7. Resource-Constrained Environment: An environment of abundance does not enable emergence; rather, the scarcity of resources drives emergence.

Google de son côté est particulier actif ses derniers temps sur le marchés des applications d'entreprise. Parmi les annonces de ces derniers jours, on peut citer Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook, Google Wave, une nouvelle version de sa Google Search Appliance sans oublier Fusion Tables qui n'est encore qu'un outil expérimental, mais qui pourrait bousculer le domaine des bases de données.

« La division entreprise est l'un des trois axes stratégiques de Google parmi les outils de recherches (search), les liens publicitaires et commerciaux (ads) et la suite applicative bureautique Web 2.0 en mode SAAS (apps) »

Contrairement aux éditeurs traditionnels, Google a une phase de développement de produits qui s'appuie largement sur les utilisateurs. Il peut donc proposer des versions beta accessibles en libre service auprès de développements, sans trop se soucier de l'intérêt commercial de ces nouveaux outils.