“What makes a great business architect?”
“My organization is looking to hire business architects. What should we be looking for?”
“How do I know my business architect is doing the ‘right’ things?”
These are questions I regularly receive from leaders of organizations trying to develop business architects and business architecture practices. At this point in the evolution of the business architect role, there is no definitive, industry standard certification or job description. Also, there is no general agreement about which information artifacts collectively make up a complete business architecture framework. Because the role description and scope of responsibilities of the business architect typically lack clarity, and often vary greatly, it is difficult to predict with any certainty whether a candidate for a business architect job will thrive.
Based on the attributes of several great business architects I’ve been fortunate to observe and work with, I have developed a series of questions that has proven successful in predicting whether or not a Business Architect will be successful (great) or not.
GREAT OR NOT GREAT? A BUSINESS ARCHITECT QUIZ
Creative/Innovative
1. Does your business architect search relentlessly for new ideas, disregarding the motto “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?”
2. Is your business architect the individual others seek out to solve complex problems?
3. Is your business architect able to remove the constraints of organizational or political boundaries and think “outside the box?”
Persuasive
4. Is your business architect the one who is sent to “sell” large or complex initiatives to senior management?
5. Does your business architect understand the political aspects of your organizational culture and is he or she able to navigate it successfully?
6. Does your business architect employ different techniques to persuade different audiences in various situations?
Commands Respect
7. Is your business architect considered a trusted advisor to one or more areas of the organization?
8. Do junior business architects seek out your business architect for advice?
9. Does the business architect have a track record of delivering high-value results?
Thinks “Big Picture”
10. Can your business architect remove him- or herself from the low-level details to address high-priority issues and opportunities?
11. Does your business architect identify opportunities for consolidation and efficiencies across lines of business or products?
12. Does your business architect always consider the foundational aspects of the business and the industry when problem solving?
Strategic
13. Has your business architect established a documented three- to five-year roadmap of your organization’s business architecture discipline?
14. Can your business architect understand and articulate how the business strategy gets executed at the tactical level?
15. Does your business architect understand your organization’s competitive positioning in relation to the industry?
A Good Communicator
16. Can your business architect prepare presentations that visually communicate his or her messages?
17. Does your business architect make complex ideas more manageable and understandable?
18. Is your business architect capable of translating “the grey” into clear, concise messages and actions?
Has a Grasp of Technology
19. Does your business architect understand the basic components, concepts, and lifecycle stages of solution development?
20. Can your business architect identify and describe the components of a complete enterprise architecture?
21. Is your architect familiar with the responsibilities, processes, and deliverables of data architecture, security architecture, and application architecture?
If your business architect received between 19 and 21 yes answers, congratulations, you have a great business architect.
If your business architect received between 16 and 18 yes answers, you have a very good business architect who definitely has the potential to be great.
If your business architect received between 12 and 15 yes responses, your architect can adequately perform in the role and work independently, but do not expect greatness.
A business architect who received between 7 and 11 yes answers will require significant mentorship and training just to be able to work independently.
Finally, if your business architect received fewer than 7 yes responses, he or she is not a good fit for the business architect role.
Suppose your business architect is not “great.” Now what? While greatness may be hard for a business architect to achieve, the absence of greatness does not mean business architecture will fail in your organization. A business architect who displays competency in 16 or more of the areas in question will be able to make a significant difference in any organization.
