How can you work better with enterprise architects?

2 Share your insights

Business architects (BAs) are responsible for analyzing and modeling the business strategy, goals, capabilities, value streams, and stakeholders of the organization. They provide insights and recommendations on how to improve the business performance, efficiency, and effectiveness. They also facilitate the alignment and integration of the business architecture with the other architecture domains.

As a business architect, you should share your insights and recommendations with the enterprise architects, and show how they support the enterprise architecture vision and objectives. You should also explain the rationale and benefits of your business architecture decisions and changes, and how they impact the other architecture domains.

3 Collaborate on projects

Enterprise architects and business architects often work together on projects that involve significant changes or innovations in the organization. They can leverage each other's skills and knowledge to deliver better outcomes and value for the stakeholders. They can also help each other identify and resolve issues, risks, and dependencies in the architecture.

As a business architect, you should collaborate with the enterprise architects on defining the scope, objectives, and requirements of the projects, and developing the architecture solution and roadmap. You should also communicate and coordinate with them throughout the project lifecycle, and report on the progress and results.

4 Learn from each other

Enterprise architects and business architects have different backgrounds, experiences, and expertise, which can enrich their mutual learning and development. They can exchange best practices, tools, and techniques, and provide constructive feedback and support to each other. They can also participate in joint training, mentoring, and coaching activities, and join professional communities and networks.

As a business architect, you should learn from the enterprise architects about their domain knowledge, methods, and tools, and how they apply them in different contexts and scenarios. You should also share your domain knowledge, methods, and tools with them, and how they can benefit from them in their work.

5 Align your vision

Enterprise architects and business architects share a common vision of creating a better organization that delivers value to its customers, employees, and partners. They both strive to align the strategy, structure, and capabilities of the organization with its environment, needs, and opportunities. They both contribute to the transformation and innovation of the organization.

As a business architect, you should align your vision with the enterprise architects, and articulate how your business architecture supports and enables the enterprise architecture vision. You should also celebrate the successes and achievements of your collaboration, and acknowledge the value and contribution of each other.

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?