What skill sets does an enterprise architect need?
Moore: As the profession grows, our skill sets need to change. A lot of people in the profession have come from purely technical approaches and are focused on the infrastructure aspects of architecture. They’ve had to grow to realize architecture is more about the application space, more about methodology and how you interact with your business and business drivers, and the goals involved with tracking what you’re doing with technology. We’re trying to think more broadly that way. Russell Heinsen, Intel: Enterprise architects have to have the right mix — the business acumen, the technical acumen, and also the ability to stand back and be abstract thinkers, strategic thinkers, and, ultimately, very strong influencers. They require solid networks and strong presentation skills. Nayaki Nayyar, Valero: They are traditional IT only when it comes to the technical side. Today, the enterprise architects in IT have accounting degrees or marketing degrees or engineering degrees. They have joined
