Roadmaps · L6
Enterprise Architect
An enterprise architect looks not at a single solution but at the whole technology landscape of an organisation. They align technology investment with business strategy, shape shared standards and plan the paths of transition.
How it differs from the previous level
A solution architect looks for the best architecture for a specific solution. An enterprise architect considers how all systems in the portfolio will evolve together: reducing duplication, managing risk and setting long-term direction. Decisions are made at a level that affects several projects and teams rather than one project.
Expected knowledge
- Business capability maps and how capabilities relate to technology
- The application portfolio: the list of systems, their owners, lifecycle and dependencies
- Current, target and transition architectures
- Standards and principles: when they are mandatory and when they are recommendations
- Architecture governance: light-touch oversight, an exception process, decision rights
- Roadmaps: investment priorities, migration order, dependencies
- Decisions at the level of cloud, integration and data strategy
- How risk, compliance and security requirements shape architecture
Practical skills
- Produce an organisation's capability map and show the gaps
- Analyse the application portfolio to find duplication, ageing systems and risks
- Describe a target architecture and the stages of the transition to it
- Write a standard and manage its exceptions
- Speak the different languages of leadership and engineering teams
- Check that architecture decisions are followed using light mechanisms
Common mistakes
- Treating architecture as document production detached from the teams
- Standardising everything and stifling the teams' ability to decide well
- Turning governance into a bureaucratic chain of approvals
- Drawing a target architecture without the path to it or its cost
- Producing a technology map without knowing the business strategy
- Leaving portfolio data outdated instead of maintaining it
Learning priorities
- 1Understand business strategy and capabilitiesTechnology decisions should tie to business capabilities and goals.
- 2Make the portfolio visibleWhich systems exist, who owns them, what stage of the lifecycle they are in, and what depends on what.
- 3Plan target and transition architecturesShow the direction and the realistic steps towards it, together with risk and cost.
- 4Standards and light-touch governanceA few precise standards, a clear exception process and oversight that helps the teams.
- 5Influence and communicationConvey decisions in language suited to leadership, solution architects and teams.
Architecture maturity
At enterprise level, architecture is the stewardship of the portfolio and how it changes over time, not of a single system. Decisions reach teams through standards, principles and a roadmap while preserving the teams' autonomy. The architect does not draw every solution personally; they create the frame that helps solution architects and teams decide well.
Example questions
- How does enterprise architecture differ from solution architecture?
- How would you build a business capability map and what would you use it for?
- Explain the difference between target and transition architecture.
- When would you make a standard mandatory and when a recommendation?
- How would you set up governance without turning it into bureaucracy?
- What would you do on discovering five systems that perform the same function?
Exercises you can do on your own
- Produce a map of 10 to 15 business capabilities for a small company and link the supporting systems to each.
- Prepare a table for a hypothetical portfolio: system, owner, lifecycle, criticality, risk.
- Describe the current, target and two transition architectures for one capability.
- Write one standard: purpose, scope, exception process and how it is checked.
Articles for this level
- Enterprise architectureEnterprise architecture: capabilities, portfolios and governance without bureaucracy
- Solution architectureThe solution architect role: from requirements to a working solution
- ADRsWriting Architecture Decision Records that survive the team
- C4 modelThe C4 model: architecture diagrams that people actually read
- MicroservicesDrawing microservice boundaries
- Event-driven architectureEvent-driven architecture trade-offs
- Cloud architectureCloud architecture basics for backend engineers
Programs that fit
How close are you to this level?
The skills assessment builds a personal gap report from your answers. It is a recommendation, not a certificate.