Enterprise Architect of SAFe

"Strategy is about making choices and trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different." ~ Michael Porter

Enterprise architects establish various technical as well as business structures and processes of an organization. They create a technical strategy and roadmaps which qualify the portfolio to upkeep the business in current and future capabilities. They are the ones who create value streams and business competencies. Enterprise architects are contributory in providing strategic guidance, reference architectures, and technology standards to the teams so that they work consistently. This helps in avoiding rework within organization misalignment and standards. As the role-play of an enterprise architect is challenging it doesn't need to be carried out by an individual it may include a complete team of skilled members. Let’s have a look at how this enterprise architect role helps in organization development and SAFe framework adaptation.

Responsibilities of Enterprise Architect

• Simplify the reprocess of code, components, and proven patterns.

• Provide a high-level vision for enterprise solutions and development initiatives by teaming up with portfolio management.

• Guiding APMO and LACE in rectifying and designing development value streams.

• Actively contribute to the strategy of building and maintaining architectural runway.

• Contributing to adhere the value stream to budget guardrail for retiring solutions.

• Understanding and interacting with the strategic themes, business drives for architectural to system and solution architectures, and non-technical participants.

• Driving architectural initiatives and helping in analyzing them wherever required.

• Provide opinion at modeling, design, and coding practices

• Promote DevOps capabilities and Continuous Delivery Pipelines

• Bring together, generate, and evaluate innovative ideas and technology which are helpful in business.

• Synchronizing the system-data security and quality, production infrastructure, solution user experience, and non-functional requirements disciplines around the solution wherever applicable.

Collaborations of roles

As we have seen in our blog SAFe consists of three architectural roles; Enterprise, solution, and system architect. They address all the architectural concerns and their solutions at their respective levels. They all need to collaborate regularly and ensure alignment and address the issues. Similarly, the Enterprise architect role also has a responsibility of involving and communicating with other architectural and SAFe roles for addressing the issues and alignment of the organizational goals respective of technical and business current and evolving visions.

Enterprise Architecture Strategies

Enterprise architect drives strategies that involve embracing organizational change at velocity and provide a significant competitive advantage. The main five elements of enterprise architectural strategies are

1. Solution strategy- Enterprise architects work closely with the solution and system architect as they need to confirm individual program and product strategies are aligned with business and technical objectives.

2. Choice of technology and usage strategy-While choosing a new and appropriate technology enterprise architects have to ensure and participate in research and prototype, understand applicability and scope of technology, and assess the maturity of innovative technologies.

3. Implementation strategy- It is an important process as it builds the technical foundation for epic businesses on the architectural runway. It helps in fast feedback allowing synchronous growth in architectural and business functionality.

4. Infrastructure strategy- Enterprise architects have to provide directions in challenging tasks such as developing and maintaining plans for infrastructure. This task of system architect is more challenging and requires the help and guidance of enterprise architect because its responsibilities include reuse of configuring patterns, physical infrastructure, knowledge sharing across ART, and solution trains.

5. Inter-program collaboration strategy- Standard design and variable architectural design are shared and discussed among ART and it is necessary to collaborate as standard design helps in simplifying through different teams and programs. But still, value stream and ARTs have enough degree of freedom.

An enterprise architect is a key role in the SAFe framework. As it provides an overall architecture to the organization at a higher level. It provides strategic guidance to the development team, reference architect model, regulatory constraints, and technology standards. Along with this they also have to maintain the alignment between intentional architecture and emergent design.

About Advance Agility

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together