Looking to develop your career in EA?
Technology increasingly enables and accelerates business change and whilst the role of the Enterprise Architect is crucial to business success, it's also becoming more challenging.
Enterprise Architecture ensures an organisation effectively achieves its objectives by aligning the IT strategy with the business goals. Improved processes, increased efficiency & better decision-making are some of the values Enterprise Architecture brings to modern businesses. This requires digital expertise to understand the technical structures and capabilities, business knowledge to interpret deliverables and the skills to communicate with non-technical business leaders. It is both a strategic and a technical role
Employers often tell us their organisations lack the architecture skills needed to deliver on business objectives. In fact, research shows that 28% of Chief Information Officers around the world are experiencing a skills shortage in this area.
It's crucial that if you are looking to move into this in-demand role, you have the right skills to succeed.
The TOP 3 SKILLS you need to succeed in enterprise architecture
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STRATEGIC THINKING
Introducing new technology is relatively straightforward; the hard (and most important) bit is making sure it delivers on business objectives. That’s why good IT architects always relate technical decisions back to strategic drivers.
As an architect, you’re not just there to action technical requests. You must first unpick the reasoning behind them and make sure everyone agrees on objectives, even if this means challenging senior leaders and asking difficult questions. After all, you can only devise an effective technical solution when you understand the underlying needs of the business.
Keep projects focused by defining key performance indicators at the outset and measuring them after implementation.
Ideally, you’ll be involved with projects early on so you can help shape them, but this relies on the skill of building trust with senior stakeholders.
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TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
In the role of an Enterprise Architect, your business architecture knowledge may be more useful than specific IT skills. However, with technical expertise you will find it easier to engage in conversations with stakeholders within the IT department.
But having a good understanding of both business and IT processes would enable you to produce solutions to complex objectives. Understanding how systems align and interact is important and a broad technical knowledge is key here, rather than specific indepth know how. Applying this knowledge effectively to technical and data analysis, trouble shooting, evaluation and problem solving are where you will have the most impact.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
IT architecture is about clear communication as much as technical expertise. Employers need people who can build a common understanding with colleagues throughout the business, not just in the IT department.
As an architect, it’s your job to make technical jargon meaningful to stakeholders in every department, from finance to sales. You may also need to explain complex concepts to external customers who have little technical knowledge.
Used well, IT architecture allows people to talk about business data and processes in a universal language. With the right communication skills, you can even mediate between senior leaders and technical colleagues to resolve misunderstandings and build a clear vision for the project at hand.
Not all architects are confident communicators, but developing this skill means you can gain buy-in by explaining the value you bring to the business. Effective communication goes back to using clear, relatable language instead of technical jargon. It also means staying focused on results rather than technical processes.
How do you get these skills?
At BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT we work with employers, industry experts, learners and training providers to identify the skills that are most in demand, and create programmes and certifications that will deliver them. These are mapped out for IT Architecture in a clear pathway to support your career progression - click on the image below to download a useful PDF.
We have additional certifications in other portfolio areas that will also add to your skill set - like business skills and business architecture.
The skills, knowledge and behaviours you will learn on these courses will demonstrate to future employers that you can meet their digital demands.
Click on the pathway below to go to a downloadable version on bcs.org
Foundation Certificate in Architecture Concepts and Domains
This provides a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of IT architecture so that you can clearly explain them to stakeholders. It also looks at how architecture fits into the broader business, helping you support strategic objectives and communicate the value of your ideas.
Practitioner Certificate in Enterprise and Solution Architecture
Going one step further, this explores how architecture links to an organisation’s strategy, mission, vision and purpose, and how it relates to each area of the business. You’ll learn to tailor solutions to different stakeholder needs, influence senior leaders, and present a strong business case.
Professional Certificate in Business Architecture
A certification for anyone who needs to understand the principles, rationale and techniques of the business architecture discipline. Suitable for business analysts, business architects, business change managers, project managers and business managers.
BCS Practitioner Award in Business Skills for the IT Professional
Develop your soft skills too and maximise your opportunities as well as your impact. The knowledge you'll gain will enable you to support successful business change programmes within your organisation, particularly applicable in Enterprise Architecture roles.