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Thu, Jun 7, 2007 23:25 EDT

Role of the Enterprise Architect

Topic: Architecture

Blog: Delivering the Goods

Current Rating: 5 Comments: 10

 I have read several blogs over the past few months arguing over the role of the Enterprise Architect.  Architect and architecture means many things to many people.  Here is my opinion of  what an Enterprise Architect (EA) is.

The EA is responsible for understanding the business mission, strategy, and processes and creating an IT technology strategy that enables the business to meet its goals.  In other words, the EA is responsible for making IT an enabler and not a cost center.

To accomplish this, the EA must excel is the following areas:

  • Leadership
  • Change management
  • Communication
  • Technology
  • Business knowledge
  • Financial analysis
  • Business processes
  • IT governance
  • Infrastructure
  • Security
  • People management
  • Negotiation
  • Vendor management
  • Presentation skills
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • R&D

Many self proclaimed EAs are extremely bright but lack in many of these areas.  Notice that programming skills was not mentioned.  If the EA is developing software, he/she is probably not fulfilling the role as described above.  The EA should have a staff of talented sr. developers who can turn the vision into solutions.

It takes a rare breed to fit the bill of an EA.  I have had the luxury of working with many brilliant developers and designers over the years.  Many of them struggle communicating technical topics to non technical people.  Others focus so much on technology that they fail to align technology with key business drivers.

I have read many blogs that slam EA's who do not code.  These folks obviously have a different definition of EA then the one I described.  My response to them is that there is a huge difference between being an architect and being an EA. 

There are many different types of architects.  I will categorize them into three groups: Solutions Architects, Infrastructure Architects, and Enterprise Architects. 

Solutions architects focus on one or more of the following areas of expertise:

  • Software
  • Data or Information
  • Services
  • Testing
  • Integration

Infrastructure architects focus on one or more of the following areas of expertise:

  • Networks
  • Security
  • Systems

The bigger the company, the more specialized the architects usually are.  Smaller companies may have architects who represent several of these areas while bigger companies may have an architect for each one of these areas.  The EA forms the strategy and direction while the solutions and infrastructure architects execute the plan.

So the next time you come across a blog where the author is slamming EA's who don't code, ask them what their definition of an EA is.  Let me clarify one point before this article shows up on many blogs and gets slammed.  The EA should know how to code and should have spent many years developing, designing, and managing technical projects.  So when I say that the EA should not be coding, that does not mean the EA doesn't know how to code.

With that said, the EA's focus should be on strategy and vision.  The architects below the EA should turn the strategy and visions into reality.  The architects that have many of the skills that I listed above should be groomed as successors to the EA.  The one's that prefer to stay strictly technical can have long successful careers in their area of expertise but should not be given the role of EA as I have defined it.

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.  I am sure that some people will strongly disagree with me.  I am happy to debate this in a civil manner.

Keywords:

architect

You do not have flash or javascript support.
Average (4 votes)
5
 
 
Fri, Jun 8, 2007 9:09 EDT
Posted by: Jordan Haberfield
Rating:

Bravo Mike. This is a topic I have blogged about recently myself. While some might just consider this a semantics issue regarding someone's title, the true 'Architects' will be vetted out appropriately when seeking their next job.

Jordan Haberfield
Excel Partner
www.excelpartner.com
www.agile-elephant.com

 
Fri, Jun 8, 2007 10:37 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: Anonymous
Rating: 90

Mike:

I have been in the architecture field for many years and my current title is Chief Architect. In my role I am responsible for an Enterprise Architecture department. I do not do much coding anymore but have done just about every aspect of IT over the years - Coding, systems analysis, project management, R&D, networking, and infrastructure design.

I agree with your definition but I would add architecture is about managing change.

In terms of types of architects. I have created 3 architect roles each with a number of disciplines.

The roles are solution architect, enterprise architect and principal. Within each of these I have defined the disciplines of applications, data & infrastructure.

I thought you might enjoy hearing from someone who has worked in Enterprise architecture for a long time.

 
Sat, Jun 9, 2007 0:26 EDT
Posted by: Michael Kavis
Rating:

Thanks for the feedback and sharing your experiences.  I mentioned change management as one of the key skills that the EA needs.  As a matter of fact, if I could pick only one area that keeps many architects from ever becoming an EA, change management would be that area.  The combination of change management and leadership skills is vital in the role of the EA.  You can have all of the other skills I listed, but you can't accomplish anything without the ability to lead and foster change.

 
Fri, Jun 27, 2008 16:40 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: Anonymous
Rating:

Can you expand on the roles and responsibilities of the solution architect?

 
Mon, Jun 11, 2007 16:14 EDT
Anonymous user
Posted by: bex
Rating:

Sounds right to me...

I'd agree that nobody deserves to call themselves an architect unless they have actually built something...

--

bex

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