06.01.10
How to Select an Enterprise Architect
If you have heard you need an Enterprise Architect (all large organizations do), how should you select one? Let’s be honest. Most folks don’t know what an Enterprise Architect is, much less how to select one.
First, there are some things you don’t want to do. You are probably considering selecting an Enterprise Architect because you have a problem and someone recommended that you should get one. This would seem to lead to a selection based upon someone having success in solving a similar problem. This sounds good, but it is very wrong. Solution Architects solve problems. Enterprise Architects prevent problems from occurring.
Looking for a problem-solver will lead you towards software infrastructure vendors that will be all too happy to sell you their services. They will even throw in their “Enterprise Architects” to help design your solution. They will give you a current-state diagram and a future-state diagram of your infrastructure software. Moving from the current-state to the future-state will be accomplished by following a roadmap. The roadmap will show early implementation of their products followed by a transition to the products. They will also include the consulting support to implement the products and make the transition to them.
So what should you do? You should get some help making the selection. Contact a consulting company that specializes in Enterprise Architecture. They should not be certified architects of any software infrastructure providers. They should have no partnerships with infrastructure providers. (Infrastructure providers include: IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and many more.)
Enterprise Architects are business-focused. They will produce current-state and future-state diagrams. These diagrams will show your business and how it can transition to where you want it to be. Under the business layer diagrams, there may be an assessment to improve the approach to how business systems are deployed and integrate. This will be part of the roadmap, but will not include any recommendation for particular infrastructure providers. Infrastructure determination will be part of the roadmap.
To select an Enterprise Architect, the process is about who will be best for your business. It is only indirectly about technology.
Closing the Business / IT gap
