You're considering a career in Business Architecture. What's the most important thing you need to know?

1 What is business architecture?

Business architecture is a discipline that applies architectural principles and methods to the design and transformation of business models, capabilities, processes, and systems. Business architects use various tools and frameworks, such as value streams, capability maps, business motivation models, and business scenarios, to analyze the current and future state of an organization, identify gaps and opportunities, and define solutions and roadmaps. Business architecture is often part of enterprise architecture, which covers the broader alignment of business, information, technology, and security domains.

2 What are the roles and responsibilities of a business architect?

A business architect is responsible for creating and maintaining the business architecture of an organization, as well as facilitating its implementation and governance. A business architect typically works with senior leaders, stakeholders, and subject matter experts across different functions and domains, to understand the business vision, strategy, goals, and needs, and to translate them into clear and consistent requirements, specifications, and designs. A business architect also collaborates with other architects, analysts, developers, and project managers, to ensure that the business architecture is aligned with the technical architecture, and that the solutions delivered meet the expected quality, performance, and value.

3 What are the skills and competencies of a business architect?

A business architect requires a variety of skills and competencies, such as business acumen, analytical thinking, communication and collaboration, creativity and innovation, and leadership and influence. They must have a comprehensive understanding of an organization's context, environment, objectives, and challenges, as well as industry trends, best practices, standards, and regulations. They must be able to analyze complex problems, identify root causes, evaluate alternatives, propose feasible solutions that are aligned with the business strategy and vision. Additionally, they must be able to communicate effectively with various audiences using diagrams, models, presentations, and reports. Moreover, they must be able to collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders to build trust and rapport and facilitate consensus and buy-in. Furthermore, they must be able to think creatively and innovatively to design business capabilities that deliver value to customers and the organization. Lastly, they must be able to lead others to drive change and transformation and ensure alignment of the business architecture.

4 What are the qualifications and experience of a business architect?

A business architect typically has a bachelor's degree or higher in business administration, management, information systems, computer science, engineering, or a related field. A business architect may also have relevant certifications, such as the Certified Business Architect (CBA) from the Business Architecture Guild, or the TOGAF 9 Certification from The Open Group. A business architect usually has several years of experience in business analysis, process improvement, project management, or IT consulting, as well as exposure to different business domains and functions, such as finance, marketing, operations, or customer service.

5 What are the benefits and challenges of being a business architect?

Being a business architect can be a rewarding and fulfilling career, offering you the chance to make a positive impact on the organization and its customers, learn and grow continuously, enjoy flexibility and variety, and earn a competitive salary and recognition. However, it can also be challenging, as you may face resistance and ambiguity due to conflicting expectations, pressure and complexity from managing multiple demands, deadlines, and risks, as well as gap and change from bridging the business and IT domains.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?