DfE Target Architecture

Definition of an engine

• Part of: Architecture: work in progress collection
• Last reviewed: 23 June 2026
• Owner: Head of Architecture

In DfE target architecture, an engine is a reusable service that provides a specific capability used by multiple products and user journeys across the department.

An engine typically:

• implements a clearly defined business capability or data entity
• exposes functionality through APIs or integration interfaces
• is designed to support multiple services
• provides a stable, performant and scalable platform capability
• evolves independently from the user interfaces that consume it

Instead of every service building its own versions of common capabilities, engines allow DfE to provide them once and reuse them widely.