Event-driven architecture (EDA) describes an architecture where action is driven based on the occurence of defined events. These events may be defined as a combination of states. When an event occurs, the action taken is as specified in configuration-time information, and may depend on information content at the time.

The EDA concept lends itself to management by exception. The key point about an EDA is that IT components are decoupled rather than loosely coupled as they would be in an SOA (service-oriented architecture). EDA also lends itself to the publish and subscribe model of operations, where an event is published whn it occurs, and interested parties are now triggered to take action.