Good architecture for information systems is as important as good engineering is for automobiles. With good architecture, applications can be scaled up with less hardware, server environments can be automatically managed with fewer human resources, and with complete functional facilities and integration components, analytical business intelligence, end-user information delivery, electronic publishing, and operational business intelligence applications can be implemented with one system. With one system, there's easier installation, lower maintenance costs, and shared re-use of common components such as metadata, security, and adapters to external data. One system also means common concepts, simplifying learning. Designers can build upon their knowledge and use it for more complex and richer applications.

The components in the WebFOCUS architecture are modularized to encapsulate the various services. The easiest way to explain the architecture is to break up the components into layers and describe the services in each layer in a basic self-service environment with the minimal components and a more sophisticated non-stop enterprise environment.