ILLUMINATION Book Chapters
A Modern Enterprise Architecture Approach — Chapter 2
Transform the enterprise with Mobility, Cloud, IoT & Big Data
The purpose of this book is in this article. Chapter one can be found at this link.
Chapter 2: Redefining the Roles & Responsibilities of Enterprise Architect
Introduction
This descriptive chapter redefines Enterprise Architects’ vital roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities within modernization and transformation contexts.
Unfortunately, the traditional roles and responsibilities of these architects do not suit the needs and demands of these complex programs.
Consequently, the 15 points provided in the subsequent sections are not job roles, position titles, or general duties.
Instead, these points help recruiters and human resource specialists recognize the critical role of Enterprise Architects, specifically in modernizing the enterprise.
Understanding these skills for aspiring Enterprise Architects can be valuable for planning their development for the job role.
The context is critical in this chapter. We are not focusing on creating a brand-new enterprise architecture.
Instead, we are trying to modernize an established enterprise architecture to meet growing consumer demands, create new business insights, and generate new business opportunities and potential revenue streams.
The following sections introduce Enterprise Architects’ day-to-day activities and interactions to empower the modernization programs and associated technology solutions for achieving strategic success.
1 — Architecture and Design Responsibilities
Applying a rigorous enterprise architecture approach is critical for modernization initiatives, including multiple emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, mobility, and big data analytics.
If the enterprise architecture process goes wrong in a modernization initiative, everything else goes wrong.
Other architecture types, such as solution, system, infrastructure, integration, and other architecture domains, depend on the quality of the enterprise architecture process.
Apart from architecture, the subsequent design activities in the modernization life cycle are also adversely affected.
After a validated, business-focused, and pragmatic architecture supporting the modernization strategy, the high-level and detailed design activities are the following vital aspects for careful consideration in the modernization lifecycle.
Thus, Enterprise Architects also perform the role of a Design Authority at the enterprise level.
However, this does not mean that Enterprise Architects perform design activities. They cannot cope with the responsibility of a myriad of design activities.
For example, there may be multiple architects and solution designs for various components. The role of Enterprise Architects is to supervise the design using a Design Authority structure in the business organization.
A Design Authority consists of multiple architects with diverse expertise in different domains.
Enterprise Architects are like symphony orchestra leaders. Similarly, they orchestrate the activities with their broad knowledge and understanding of the strategy, architecture, technical matters, and business issues.
They govern the Design Authority by using their organizational skills coupled with deep architectural skills and business acumen.
Enterprise Architects must have strategic, architectural thinking, and design thinking skills.
In addition, they need to articulate the current enterprise environment to the sponsoring business executives and set future enterprise environment goals.
Finally, they need to show how to bridge the gap for modernization goals between these two environments.
Enterprise Architects must understand the overall modernization scope for enterprise, requirements, and use cases of the modernization solutions at a high level. Besides, Enterprise Architects need to perform Viability Assessments.
These assessments are critical for the success of modernization programs. Therefore, they must regularly assess risks, issues, dependencies, and constraints, considering daily strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
2 — Flexible Governance Support
Enterprise Architects are responsible and accountable for architectural and technical governance. The enterprise modernization programs require a particular governance model. A flexible governance model is necessary.
The traditional, stringent, extremely rule-based, and oppressive governance models can be roadblocks to progress. Agile principles best suit the dynamic governance models.
Enterprise Architects usually perform the role of technical governance head in significant modernization programs.
In addition, they can undertake formal governance roles. For example, these architects can run the architecture review boards. They can also lead Design Authority forums established for complex programs.
One of the common frameworks for technical governance in the industry is COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related technology).
This framework can help organizations gain optimal value from their technology investments by balancing benefits, optimizing risk levels, and improving resource use.
However, other governance models can be based on the industry to which the enterprise belongs and adheres.
3 — Technical Excellence
Enterprise Architects performing modernization programs must have distinct technology expertise covering various technology domains. In addition, they must be technically eminent.
Technical eminence refers to outstanding technical expertise. They are recognized internally and externally by the organization. These technical leaders are influential in both technical and business communities.
The professional depth and technical eminence of Enterprise Architects require both expertise in technical and architectural areas. They also need to understand related domains in a broader scope.
Strong industry skills are essential for Enterprise Architects. They demonstrate thought leadership in multiple domains. As a result, they are highly regarded and sought after for their ideas and contributions to the vitality of business organizations.
Leading the enterprise for modernization requires distinguishing factors in multiple technology domains, including broad and deep understanding. Therefore, technical eminence and professional distinction are prerequisites for recruiting Enterprise Architects for modernization programs.
4 — Technical and Business Communication
Enterprise Architects need to speak both business and technical languages. They must communicate the business vision, strategy, organizational values, tactics, project plans, and business goals across all departments and lines of business.
Besides, they need to communicate architecture strategy, goals, and objectives to increase awareness throughout the enterprise.
Exceptional communication skills are essential for Enterprise Architects. Their communication skills are well respected by their peers, managers, and customers.
They can communicate at all levels with confidence. They can articulate the most complex situations and technical matters to all stakeholders. They can also customize their messages based on audience profiles in the business organization.
Enterprise Architects need to encourage their team members to communicate clearly and effectively to share their knowledge in the architecture team or outside the immediate groups.
They are expected to be mentors and coaches as they can observe the behaviors of team members and provide constructive feedback on their communication capabilities.
Enterprise Architects must particularly articulate sophisticated technology matters and tools to technical people in detail and succinctly to the business stakeholders using the correct terms and references with clarity.
5 — Change Facilitation
Change is inevitable in enterprise modernization programs. Everything changes rapidly. Thus, change leadership and facilitation are vital functions.
However, dealing with rapid change is not easy and requires soft and hard skills, significant experience, and deep insights.
Enterprise Architects can be catalysts for enduring change by being role models for their peers and subordinates. With their facilitation of changes, they can refresh the culture into agile, collaborative, innovative settings.
Their professional attributes, such as being responsive to change, sharing and learning mutually with an agile approach, and having fun with joy in a friendly team setting, can significantly impact the culture for uplifting and positive changes.
6— Innovation Management
Enterprise Architects must be innovators and catalysts for spreading innovation in the organization. They are expected to be creative and inventive.
These architects can combine, compare, and contrast things to create new meanings, understandings, use cases, and value propositions for the business.
They need to look at things with fresh eyes. These architects must create new values from old concepts, terms, and ideas. They must look at things from multiple angles.
This type of inventive thinking is an essential requirement for achieving modernization goals in complex enterprises.
Enterprise Architects must understand the value of innovation for the organization at all levels. They need to become a catalyst for the adoption of innovation. These architects are expected to create an innovative culture and embed it in the organization’s ecosystem.
7— Professional Support
Mentoring and coaching are core cultural requirements of modernizing environments. There must be nurturing and knowledge transfer from top to bottom.
To this end, Enterprise Architects can be mentors for their team members, other team members, and people from partnering organizations. They can generously share their knowledge and transfer it to anyone who needs it.
These architects can coach their peers, subordinates, and other team members by actively listening to their concerns. Unfortunately, subordinate team members can be easily overwhelmed by the rapid changes in these complex programs.
From my observations, some distinguished Enterprise Architects are exceptional listeners. They are so good that they can even contribute to their team members’ well-being, providing coaching sessions for stressful colleagues resulting in therapeutic outcomes.
These are well-respected and sought-after leaders, making fundamental cultural shifts to meet large business organizations’ demands.
Enterprise Architects can provide technical mentorship to managers and executives who are not as technologically knowledgeable and struggling with the demands of complex initiatives.
Their mentoring and coaching aptitudes can help non-technical team members to stretch themselves to better roles in the enterprise.
They can coach these non-technical team members on a one-on-one basis and in groups when required. Mentoring and coaching can be a continuous activity in enterprise modernization programs.
8 — Unique Learning Approaches
Learning is a never-ending process in the modernization of legacy enterprises. Due to rapid change in technology stacks, processes, techniques, and tools, Enterprise Architects must learn rapidly.
They can have various learning styles. Based on conditions, they can learn formally and informally. They can turn informal interactions into potential learning opportunities.
Enterprise Architects can create learning opportunities for team members. They can educate other people on demand.
By teaching team members, they learn more. This new learning and teaching approach is critical to meeting the educative demands of enterprise modernization goals.
9 — Supporting Talent
Enterprise modernization solutions comprise talented employees. Thus, Enterprise Architects must understand the value and the importance of talent for modernization programs.
Without talent, these programs cannot progress productively.
Enterprise Architects must be very cautious to keep talent in high-performing teams. They can make a conscious effort to retain valuable talent in their units.
We cannot emphasize enough that talent is a crucial enabler of core products and services of modernizing enterprises.
Without talent, business organizations cannot remain competitive. We know that constant talent hunting in the industry to secure these scarce resources are evident.
Enterprise Architects can perform talent management and facilitation roles. They can encourage junior team members to serve better and transform them into talented team players gradually. These architects can identify poor performance in the team.
When required, they replace them with more capable and qualified team members who can firmly contribute to the vision and mission of the organization.
10 — Building High-Performance Teams
Enterprise Modernization programs require team members who can perform and produce constantly. These team members are expected to perform optimally at all times to meet the business demands.
In addition, their skills and capabilities must be tested and validated to suit the type of work they are performing.
Building high-performance teams are critical for the success of these programs. Therefore, Enterprise Architects are expected to create collaborative and high-performing teams to design and operate successful initiatives.
These experienced architects need to create engaged technical teams and communities of practices as giveback activities. These high-performing teams and collaborative community of practices can together generate innovative solutions with an agile approach.
11 — Detecting Blind Spots
We all have blind spots. It is inevitable. However, blind spots can be hazardous if not identified. We need the support of experienced people to pinpoint our blind spots.
Our habits and thinking patterns might cause blind spots. For example, focusing on details without noticing the big picture can cause confused thinking and lead to hazardous blind spots.
Enterprise Architects are astute observers. They can look for big pictures from multiple angles. They can deep dive into issues when needed. Thus, they can rapidly identify blind spots, failings, and instabilities.
These architects can articulate conditions with positive feedback, clarifying examples, and using great metaphors. This articulation approach can help people see their blind spots, understand their flaws, and transform them into strengths.
In addition, hidden agendas and hidden costs are types of blind spots in these transforming originations. Thus, Enterprise Architects are also expected to deal with these complex situations.
12 — Measuring Progress
Taking necessary measures for progress is essential for the success of an enterprise modernization program. Enterprise Architects can focus on both qualitative and quantitative progress measures.
These architects can manage complex matrix structures. With the metric-oriented approach, Enterprise Architects can use key performance indicators. They use dashboards to observe the trends and hence qualify and quantify progress in visual formats.
Enterprise Architects must encourage team members to create their dashboards and leverage shared dashboards to monitor the progress.
They can turn their units into a data-driven establishment measuring goals structurally, methodically, and proactively with collaboration.
One of the key measures for progress is customer support mechanisms. These architects ensure a customer-centric outlook is provided, focusing on continually improving client experience with measurable scores.
13 — Thought and Idea Leadership
Enterprise Architects are thought and idea leaders in their organizations. Thought leadership is a critical requirement for changing cultures and transforming ecosystems.
These architects can think digitally. This is a new type of thinking which does not exist in traditional documents. Thus, there is a cultural shift in digital transformation programs.
We now use the term digital thinkers and digital thought leaders. In the past, we used to call these types of people technology-minded leaders. The vital point in this context is to be a role model by observing digital trends and adopting them quickly to the organization.
Enterprise Architects can be drivers of pervasive digital transformations at a personal and organizational level. Since many business organizations nowadays conduct modernization programs, Enterprise Architects leading these businesses must think digitally. They must be digital thought leaders at the forefront of digital initiatives.
14 — Outcome Focus
Tangible outcomes are the main focus for the success of enterprise modernization initiatives. These programs require results iteratively rather than uniform. F
or example, some real effects can be virtualizing platforms, creating virtual containers, producing reusable and shared resources, reviewing products, and validating agreed services.
Enterprise Architects must pay special attention to providing tangible outcomes with the support of various team members. The modernizing environment presents a rapid change, and any change matters for producing tangible results.
These rapid changes can lead to more significant tangible outcomes at later stages of modernization. For example, the systems may need to be loosely coupled, software-defined, fully automated, service-oriented, self-learning, self-managing, and self-recovering are a few points to mention in this context.
15 — Business Acumen
Business understanding is critical for Enterprise Architects. They not only must comprehend business details but also come from deep technical backgrounds.
Enterprise Architects coming from technical backgrounds can be much different from their peers coming from a management background with limited technical knowledge, skills, and experience.
While both types of architects are valuable for the business, the subtleties can differ from innovation, agility, collaboration, and technical excellence perspectives.
My observations reveal that Enterprise Architects selected from extensive technical backgrounds with excellent business and people skills can be more productive and effective in these complex environments.
I noticed that architects coming from solid technical backgrounds are exceptionally hands-on and sound more confident and authoritative in decision making.
We know that not every technical person can be a competent Enterprise Architect. Thus, recruiters need to explore the attributes that make a technical person an excellent Enterprise Architect.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
I hope you find it valuable. I will be happy to answer your questions in the comments section.
Introduction Chapter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Links to My Other Books on Medium
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