Enterprise Architecture: A Strategic Specialism

In this paper we are not so much concerned with enterprise architecture as a product or process, but rather with the competencies of the professionals who are responsible for the creation of an enterprise architecture, i.e. the enterprise architects themselves. We present the integrated result of three surveys held in the Netherlands, on the competencies required from enterprise architects. The surveys were also used to clarify the distinction between the competencies needed from enterprise architects, and the ones needed from information architects. The surveys indeed indicated there to be a fundamental difference in the competencies required from these two roles. The reported research is part of the larger research programme General Enterprise Architecting (GEA) on the governance of coherence in enterprises by means of enterprise architecture.