Enterprise Architect focusses on working the chief executives of an organization in deciding the high-level direction that an organization/enterprise needs to take from a technology standpoint.
Enterprise Architects usually have the following traits:
Analyze the Business Structure & Processes of the organization
Use the Quantitative & Qualitative data collected from internal & external systems to the goals of the organization
They measure & evaluate if existing products/platforms/tools/technologies are used effectively and efficiently to achieve the goals of the organization
They take adequate steps to keep the business operations running with the help of technology
Work with the Infrastructure teams on ensure optimal use of resources to keep the organization expenditure under control
Work on Enterprise Design (to align the IT and Business concerns)
Work on Enterprise Integration (achieve greater coherency between the various departments/divisions of an enterprise)
Work on Ecosystem Adaptation (foster and maintain the learning capabilities of enterprises so that they are sustainable)
Critical in adopting changes/innovation in the organization
The benefits of enterprise architecture are achieved through its direct and indirect contributions to organizational goals. It has been found that the most notable benefits of enterprise architecture can be observed in the following areas:
Organizational design – Enterprise architecture provides support in the areas related to design and re-design of the organizational structures during mergers, acquisitions or during general organizational change.
Organizational processes and process standards – Enterprise architecture helps enforce discipline and standardization of business processes, and enable process consolidation, reuse, and integration.
Project portfolio management – Enterprise architecture supports investment decision-making and work prioritization.
Project management – Enterprise architecture enhances the collaboration and communication between project stakeholders. Enterprise architecture contributes to efficient project scoping and to defining more complete and consistent project deliverables.
Requirements Engineering – Enterprise architecture increases the speed of requirement elicitation and the accuracy of requirement definitions, through the publishing of the enterprise architecture documentation.
System development – Enterprise architecture contributes to optimal system designs and efficient resource allocation during system development and testing.
IT management and decision making – Enterprise architecture is found to help enforce discipline and standardization of IT planning activities and to contribute to a reduction in time for technology-related decision making.
IT value – Enterprise architecture helps reduce the system’s implementation and operational costs and minimize the replication of IT infrastructure services across business units.
IT complexity – Enterprise architecture contributes to a reduction in IT complexity, consolidation of data and applications, and to better interoperability of the systems.
IT openness – Enterprise architecture contributes to more open and responsive IT as reflected through increased accessibility of data for regulatory compliance, and increased transparency of infrastructure changes.
IT risk management – Enterprise architecture contributes to the reduction of business risks from system failures and security breaches. Enterprise architecture helps reduce risks of project delivery.