Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
This lesson introduces the various architect roles and highlights their specific tasks and responsibilities:
An Enterprise Architect is responsible for designing and overseeing an organization’s entire IT infrastructure to support business objectives and develop long-term IT strategies.
This training starts off with discussing the roles by looking at different types of architects that companies employ. The first role that is investigated, is the role of Enterprise Architect
Enterprise Architects (EA) are IT experts who align an organization's IT strategy with its business objectives. They analyze company and business environment characteristics, and define all IT requirements taking into account these characteristics.
EAs work closely with stakeholders, management, and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to develop and implement the organization's overall IT strategy, including (but not limited to) how IT will support the acquisition and use of information needed for the organization to be successful, how It will help with business process design, development and execution, and the specific IT assets that will be utilized to meet these ends. EAs are responsible for aligning the IT and business parts of the organization based on their efforts.
EAs for the most part put more emphasis on the strategic focus of IT as opposed to specific technological detail.
Solution architects develop and implement solutions that fulfill specific business requirements. They ensure that the solutions are technically feasible and economically viable.
Modern organizations have deep and complicated business processes. The IT stack necessary to implement these processes is by necessity equally deep and complicated. The solution architect is the piece necessary to make sure the IT stack is designed and configured in such a way as to achieve success. More specifically solution architects design and configure software products such that a specific business problem is solved. To effectively do this solution architects must have detailed expertise in the IT domain and be experts in tailoring it to improve technological and business performance. While not limited to a specific environment solution architects have become more important as cloud technology has assumed central importance in almost all organizations IT approach.
Solution architects are responsible for the architectural design of the solution and the translation of the business requirements within an organization into technical solution designs that can be implemented by software architects and software developers.
One difference in the focus for solution architects relative to EAs is that they are more focused on the specific technological decisions that must be made to design a proposed solution that will enable successful business outcomes.
The strategic focus and the technological focus are roughly the same.
Software/IT architects are specialized in the development and maintenance of software systems. They are experts in the programming and technical implementation of solutions.
Having talked about enterprise and solution architects the training now turn to the third and final role: the software architect. A software architect, often referred to as an IT architect, is responsible for bringing together various sub-tasks from different areas. These include those of the programmer and the project manager or leader.
At the same time, they are also a trusted customer advisor and they help ensure smooth back and forth communication within the company between the IT and business sides of the house . Their main task is to contribute to the effectiveness of software from planning to release to maintenance and support. This contribution takes several forms. From the development of new software applications to the configuration of packaged solutions to the implementation of extensions.
Quality checks, system compatibility, user-friendliness, and compliance with customer specification all fall under the umbrella of the software/ IT architect.
Relative to EAs or solution architects, software/IT architects put the greatest focus on technological factors and relatively little on strategic factors.
The most important tasks of a software architect or IT architect are:
The three roles vary in regard to their relative emphasis on strategic and technological focus. Enterprise architects put the greatest emphasis on strategic focus whereas software architects likewise put the greatest emphasis on technological focus. Solution architects give an equal weight to both.
One of the things noticeable regarding the three different types of architects is the relatively different emphasis or focus that they have in regards to adopting a strategic or technical orientation. In this regard the solution architect is the link since their approach requires an equal focus on both strategic knowledge and technological expertise. They live in both worlds.
An enterprise architect checks whether IT strategies and system architectures are in line with the prevailing corporate structure and business objectives. They focus on the big picture and a take a holistic view of the company.
The solution architect designs a specific solution for an existing business challenge thereby enabling a successful business outcome.
Software architects are technically oriented and deal with the development of software architectures for specific systems. They monitor and implement software architectures and sometimes develop software themselves.
The cooperation between enterprise architects and solution architects creates the link between the technological vision and its effective implementation.
Software architects are responsible for translating the solutions proposed by solution architects into an integrated system. They also provide in-depth technological insight into hardware and software issues.
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