Strategical role of an Enterprise Architect
Enterprise Architects play a very big strategical role in an Enterprise. Where the Technical Architects are trying to solve the day-to-day issues, and the Solutions Architects are trying to solve a specific business problem, the Enterprise Architects are busy strategizing the roadmap of 1–3–5 year plan. So what do they actually do and in this fast changing world how can some one plan 5 years down the line? Is it even possible? Let’s try to understand more about the role and the planning.
Enterprise Architects enforce alignment of IT Strategy with the Enterprise goals.
There are 5 strategical and 1 tactical areas where the EA Practice or an EA focuses:
Application Portfolio Management: In this area of focus, the EA analyzes the current applications and determine which applications need more investment and which ones can be decommissioned. EA will also be aware of how the business capabilities of the Enterprise will map to the current applications and how they will evolve over time. Remember the 1–3–5 year plan?
Technology & Risk Management: In this area of focus, the EA analyzes any security and compliance issues the current applications and their versions pose. Maintaining these applications, respective risks and mitigation plan is one of the crucial roles of an EA.
Tactical — IT operations: Tactical literally means “steps taken to carry out the strategy”. Though tactical positions are generally taken by Solutions and Technical Architects, in this modern world this is one area of focus which an EA cant avoid. Most of the modern Enterprises or Unicorns don’t have the role of EA, but concentrate more on Technical Architects. It doesn’t mean they will be less succesful or will run into issues. It means their IT strategy is executed at much smaller level than an enterprise, sometimes even at a specific functionality level. So to adapt to the modern enterprises, an EA has to play a tactical role too.
IT Security & Privacy: In this area of focus, an EA tries to work with other architects — Solutions/Security & Privacy Architects to ensure that Stakeholder Information and Individual Privacy is addressed in the applications. EA provides a setup of guidelines, in terms of Artifacts, or best practices, or frameworks for the SA’s and TA’s to abide by.
Integration & Data: According to me, this is the most important aspect where the modern EA’s should concentrate.
Data is the new oil of Digital Economy.
Data plays a very important role, not just in the applications but in the revenue generation of an Enterprise. Data is the new oil which corporates are using for various purposes — market advantage, selling and reselling etc. It’s important the EA strategize how the enterprise will collect, store, process and aggregate for the greater good.
Financial: The obvious focus is on the finance. Revenue generation and operational efficiency should be considered in any planning.
From the focus areas above, its clear that an EA plays a encompassing role across the Enterprise IT — defining the applications, architecture principles, best practices, digital transformations, using Enterprise Framework, decommission legacy applications, data migration, security, privacy etc.
It takes time to analyze, define frameworks/best practices, and mentor the team to move the organization from current architecture to a target architecture. Sometimes, it takes meticulous planning and an ability to see the future state 1–3 years down the line. I consciously refrained from using 5 years, as in this modern agile world its a challenge to give such a long term vision.
References:
Enterprise Architecture’s Fit with Security and Privacy Controls | The EABOK Consortium
