Enterprise Architect (EA)

Definition - What does Enterprise Architect (EA) mean?

An enterprise architect (EA) is an enterprise architecture specialist that works closely with stakeholders, including management and subject matter experts (SME), to develop a view of an organization's strategy, information, processes and IT assets. An EA is responsible for using this knowledge to ensure IT and business alignment.

An EA connects an organization’s business mission, methodology and processes to its IT strategy and established in-depth documentation with the help of an array of architectural models, or views, which provide a picture of how an organization's existing and future requirements may be accomplished in an effective, agile, sustainable and flexible manner.

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Techopedia explains Enterprise Architect (EA)

Enterprise architects function across organizational as well as computing silos to drive standard strategies and uncover information assets and techniques within the enterprise. An EA's primary goal is to provide an architecture that will support the most effective and reliable IT environments and satisfy an organization's business requirements.

Some typical responsibilities of an EA are as follows:

Synchronization of IT strategy and planning with the organization's existing and future business goals
Optimization of information management strategies via a perception of growing business requirements and technological functionalities
Promotion of shared applications and infrastructure to cut expenditures and enhance the flow of information
Works closely with solutions architects to provide an opinion based enterprise solution that is flexible, scalable and capable of synchronizing with continuously changing business requirements
Administration of risks related to IT assets by means of proper security policies and standards
Direct/indirect participation in developing policies, guidelines and standards that steer the development, selection, application and utilization of IT within an organization
Develop employee know-how and abilities in particular areas of expertise
Long-term tactical responsibility for an organization's IT systems

An EA should have the following skills and knowledge:

Good business knowledge about the developed/developing architecture
Leadership and interpersonal skills, such as servant leadership, facilitation, collaboration and negotiation
Communication skills (spoken and written)
Ability to clarify complicated technical concerns to non-technical individuals
IT governance and operation knowledge
In-depth expertise in software, hardware and systems engineering
Organizational, project and program management planning skills
Expertise in financial modeling
Customer service skills
Time management skills