Solutions Architecture's Relationship to Enterprise Architecture

Overview

Enterprise Architecture and Solutions Architecture relate to each other the way a centralized function relates to a federated one. Specifically, EA is the centralized function and SA is the federated function. The centralized singular EA organization collects data & information from and shares data and information with each federated SA engagement.

Enterprise Architecture spans the entire enterprise; Solutions Architecture is practiced locally, one engagement and one problem at a time. Solutions Architecture determines the data for each SA Dimension of a given engagement and feeds it into the Enterprise Model and the broader EA Platform that Enterprise Architecture maintains.

This is not a one-directional reporting relationship. Solutions Architecture also draws on the EA Platform — the data, artifacts, and services Enterprise Architecture maintains — to do its own work more efficiently and reliably.

The three chapters that follow develop this relationship in depth: why Solutions Architecture is naturally perceived as valuable and what that means for Enterprise Architecture’s own credibility; why Solutions Architecture produces a more reliable current-state picture than typical Enterprise Architecture baselines; and the specific bidirectional mechanics of how the two exchange information, covered in “How Solutions Architecture and the EA Platform Reinforce Each Other.”

Note: In a large consulting company that uses their own customized version of a SAF, their EA Platform consists of all the reusable knowledge the consulting company has accrued over time — used to 1) make their current engagement faster and 2) leverage past knowledge as proof they can solve complex problems for their current and future customers.

Best Practice: Treat the Relationship as Genuinely Bidirectional

Do not treat Solutions Architecture as merely a data-collection exercise on behalf of Enterprise Architecture. At the start of every engagement, actively query and leverage what the EA Platform already knows, rather than starting from a blank slate.

Benefit(s)

Treating the relationship as bidirectional improves the efficiency and quality of both sides: Enterprise Architecture receives richer, better-vetted data, and Solutions Architecture engagements move faster and with less risk by building on what is already known, rather than each engagement operating as if it were the first.