Enterprise Architects (Part III)

Name: Enterprise Architects (Part III)
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Enterprise Architects in Organizations

Created bySvyatoslav Kotusev

Last updated 5/2025

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

The archetype of Enterprise Architects with their place, features and occupation
The archetype of Solution Architects with their place, features and occupation
Architecture positions in organizations and possible specializations of architects
Individual and organizational challenges faced by enterprise architects at work
Career paths, professional development and conundrums of enterprise architects

Course content

5 sections • 29 lectures • 7h 5m total length

Lecture 15.1: Enterprise Architects as an Archetype of Architects10:32
Explore enterprise architects as a distinct archetype engaged in high-level strategic planning, driving programs and strategies from organizational drivers and ideation with business leaders and solution architects.
Lecture 15.2: Resources and Instruments of Enterprise Architects9:19
Explore the resources and instruments of enterprise architects, including roadmaps as central artifacts guiding governance, landscapes, and digital transformation.
Lecture 15.3: Activities of Architects in the Organizational Context6:18
Explore how enterprise architects analyze external and internal environments and provide official and unofficial advisory services to drive digital transformation through two-way matching between business needs and available technologies.
Lecture 15.4: Implementation of High-Level Transformation Initiatives11:03
Explore how high level transformation initiatives differ from projects, emphasizing periodic architectural planning updates, revision phases, and governance by technology and strategy committees to stay on course over multi-year programs.
Lecture 15.5: Activities of Architects in the Initiative Context16:15
Enterprise architects guide high level transformation initiatives from conception through execution, balancing diverse driver interests, planning robust architectures, governing exceptions, and revising roadmaps with solution architects and governance committees.
Lecture 15.6: The Work of Enterprise Architects in Its Entirety5:24
Enterprise architects link organizational context and initiative context by advising business leaders, ideating transformation initiatives, and shaping roadmaps, while coordinating with solution architects to drive programs from conception to execution.
Lecture 15.7: Organization-Centric Work of Enterprise Architects32:21
Explore how enterprise architects shift from initiative centric planning to organization centric work, guiding the entire project portfolio through continuous architectural planning and oversight.
Lecture 15.8: Domain Specialization of Enterprise Architects17:33
Examine how domain specialization shapes enterprise architects' resources, instruments, and activities across six domains, including applications and security, with functional vs non-functional and substantive vs non-substantive distinctions.

Lecture 16.1: Solution Architects as an Archetype of Architects13:01
Explore how solution architects function as a distinct archetype, leading project-level digitalization efforts, aligning with enterprise plans, and guiding project teams within capital-expenditure, project-based initiatives.
Lecture 16.2: Resources and Instruments of Solution Architects12:18
Explore the resources and instruments of solution architects, highlighting their deep, specialized business and IT knowledge. Learn how landscape standards and solution designs guide project implementation.
Lecture 16.3: Activities of Architects in the Organizational Context6:33
Solution architects conduct targeted environmental analysis and advisory services, focus on specific technologies, and use landscape diagrams and asset inventories to support existing or pre-planned projects.
Lecture 16.4: Implementation of Digital Transformation Projects23:18
Explore how digital transformation projects use two episodes of architectural planning—organizational and technical—driven by investment decision and technical design gates, producing solution overviews and designs.
Lecture 16.5: Activities of Architects in the Initiative Context14:43
Learn how solution architects guide four project steps—concept, decision, design, delivery—within the initiative context. Align projects with architectural standards, manage architecture debt, and update landscape and technology inventories.
Lecture 16.6: The Work of Solution Architects in Its Entirety4:59
Articulate the end-to-end work of solution architects within organizations, from organizational context to project delivery, emphasizing engineering correctness, collaboration with enterprise architects, and transforming predefined project intentions into realized solutions.
Lecture 16.7: Domain Specialization of Solution Architects17:43
Explore how solution architects specialize by six classic domains—applications, infrastructure, data, security, business processes, and integration—shaping solution overviews and designs, resources, and project roles within enterprise architecture.

Lecture 17.1: Specific Positions for Architects in Organizations3:05
Explore why organizations require specific architecture positions and how specialization defines duties, titles, and reporting, while aligning enterprise and solution architect archetypes with organization needs.
Lecture 17.2: Vertical Tier-Based Specialization of Architects18:49
Explore vertical tier based specialization in enterprise architecture, from one-tier to three-tier structures, pairing enterprise and solution architects with governance bodies to align strategy, programs, and projects.
Lecture 17.3: Horizontal Area-Based Specialization of Architects24:23
Explore horizontal area based specialization in enterprise architecture, comparing domain centric, business centric, and combined functions to balance global optimization with local flexibility.
Lecture 17.4: The Spectrum of Architecture Functions9:49
Discover how architecture functions evolve from a small, one-tier, informal setup to a mid-size two-tier system with enterprise and solution architects, then to a three-tier function guided by governance committees.
Lecture 17.5: Interactions Between Specialized Architects18:33
Discover how specialized enterprise architects coordinate across tiers and domains through five interaction patterns—offering advice, supervising decisions, co-planning transformations, providing drivers, and seeking synergies—to align complex initiatives.

Lecture 18.1: Engagement of Architects with Business Leaders14:45
Examine how engagement between enterprise architects and business leaders shapes digital transformation, weighing involvement for diligence and risk reduction against the speed and autonomy of working without architects.
Lecture 18.2: Involvement of Architects at Different Stages19:28
Engage enterprise architects early in ideation to shape initiative goals and scope, guiding planning decisions and vendor choices for successful digital transformation.
Lecture 18.3: Reputation as a Resource of Enterprise Architects13:00
Reputation is a non-transferable resource for enterprise architects, shaping engagement. Use routes—escalation through senior leaders, networking with IT leaders, networking with business allies, and governance forums—to start engaging business leaders.
Lecture 18.4: Individual Challenges of Enterprise Architects9:57
Explore the individual challenges of enterprise architects, balancing technology expertise and change leadership. Navigate complex landscapes, rapid tech evolution, extensive documentation, and diverse stakeholder politics.
Lecture 18.5: Organizational Challenges of Enterprise Architects44:48
Explore organizational challenges of enterprise architects, including managerial understanding, desire, and distance, and learn strategies to improve engagement with business managers and decision making.

Lecture 19.1: Career Paths of Enterprise Architects10:34
Explore career paths of enterprise architects from it specialists to solution architects and finally to enterprise architects, highlighting the shift from technology to communication and leadership.
Lecture 19.2: How to Become an Enterprise Architect?10:28
Explore how to become an enterprise architect by building knowledge, skills, and experience through diverse learning, on-the-job practice, and long-term, varied projects in mature architecture environments.
Lecture 19.3: Other Topics Relevant to Enterprise Architects16:34
Explore four core topics for enterprise architects: modeling languages, software tools, architecture frameworks, and professional certifications, and learn when to use intuitive diagrams, collaboration tools, repositories, and technology certifications.
Lecture 19.4: Conundrums of Enterprise Architects9:34
Explore the conundrums of enterprise architects, including reasoning through superficial knowledge and deciding under uncertainty. Learn coping strategies to balance business and technical interests while advocating without power.

Requirements

Basic understanding of both business and IT
Completion of Part II of this course (Enterprise Architects in Depth)

Description

Part III of the course Enterprise Architects covers various aspects of enterprise architects related to their work in organizations. This part discusses the specialization of enterprise architects in architecture functions in terms of their general archetypes and specific architecture positions, the challenges of their engagement with business leadership, their professional careers and many other questions of immediate relevance to their occupations.

Part III consists of five consecutive sections:

Section 15 (The Archetype of Enterprise Architects) describes Enterprise Architects as a major archetype of architects driving high-level digitalization efforts with the specifics of their resources, instruments, activities and work in different contexts
Section 16 (The Archetype of Solution Architects) describes Solution Architects as another major archetype of architects serving separate digitalization projects with the specifics of their resources, instruments, activities and work in different contexts
Section 17 (Architecture Positions in Organizations) discusses concrete positions in architecture functions through the lens of the archetypes of Enterprise Architects and Solution Architects with their dependence on the size and structure of organizations
Section 18 (Challenges of Enterprise Architects) analyzes the problem of achieving effective engagement between enterprise architects and business leaders with the ensuing individual and organizational challenges faced by architects
Section 19 (Other Aspects of Enterprise Architects) discusses the career paths of enterprise architects with the associated difficulties, the role of modeling languages, software tools, EA frameworks and professional certifications in their job, as well as the central conundrums of architects

Who this course is for:

Aspiring solution and enterprise architects
Students of enterprise architecture
All other people interested in the occupation of enterprise architects

Enterprise Architects (Part III)

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Section 15: The Archetype of Enterprise Architects8 lectures • 1hr 49min

Section 16: The Archetype of Solution Architects7 lectures • 1hr 33min

Section 17: Architecture Positions in Organizations5 lectures • 1hr 15min

Section 18: Challenges of Enterprise Architects5 lectures • 1hr 42min

Section 19: Other Aspects of Enterprise Architects4 lectures • 47min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: