Enterprise Architecture vs Solution Architecture vs Technical Architecture: Key differences

IT architecture is the cornerstone of any successful strategy, encompassing everything from logistics to technical expertise. Each component must be carefully considered to enhance a company’s efficiency, while also fitting within the budget and technical environment. Although the triad of Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, and Technical Architecture has its hierarchical order, none of these elements can be underestimated in terms of their inherent importance.

So, what is the difference between an enterprise architect vs a solution architect vs a technical architect?

This blog will explore this hierarchy, the differences between these concepts, and their primary focus areas. Finally, we’ll demonstrate why any business seeking an efficient and profitable strategy needs to consider all three of them.

What is Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a strategic planning framework that aligns technology with business strategies and objectives. It provides an exhaustive view of an organization’s key processes, IT systems, data, and goals, aiding in visualizing how these various elements interconnect and support the overall business strategy.

What is an enterprise architect?

Enterprise architects are the keystones in this framework. They need to be knowledgeable about the company’s capabilities and resources while staying updated on the latest technologies and market trends. It involves strategically incorporating these insights into the environment. This role is one of top responsibility, requiring constant communication with Solution Architects and Technical Architects to align each finding with the overarching goal.

What does an enterprise architect do?

The primary purpose of EA is to guide the procedures, infrastructure, and systems necessary to achieve business goals. It plays a significant role in decision-making processes regarding IT investments, changes, and transformations.

As mentioned, EA typically encompasses several domains, such as Business Architecture (focusing on business strategy and processes), Information Architecture (centred on information and data management), Application Architecture (dealing with software applications), and Technology Architecture (concerned with infrastructure and hardware).

While Enterprise Architects need to be technically proficient, they often delegate specific tasks to Technical Architects, as their main focus is on the bigger picture – establishing the principal roadmap and identifying the goals that need to be achieved.

How to become an enterprise architect?

For most IT architects, entry-level positions typically require a bachelor’s degree in computer science. However, for enterprise architects, it is essential to have a master’s degree. Also requires Project management experience for this position due to its highly strategic nature. Good communication skills are also a must, as this role involves constant interaction with multiple sectors within the organization.

An enterprise architect must be highly fluent in solution architect frameworks and capable of strategizing, promoting, and managing solutions throughout their lifecycles. Finally in particular this type of professional must have several years of experience in similar positions.

What is Solution Architecture?

Solution Architecture is concerned with designing and managing the solution to a specific business problem or set of requirements within the limitations of the enterprise architecture. It acts as a link between a particular business requirement and the technology used to solve it.

What does a solution architect do?

The goal is to create a detailed solution blueprint that is viable, feasible, and tailored to solve a specific business problem or meet a clear set of business requirements. It involves selecting the right technologies and ensuring this solution fits within a broader enterprise context.

It contains various elements such as software design, necessary hardware, system integration methods, and data migration tools. A Solution Architect often requires a deep understanding of multiple technologies, ensuring they are combined effectively.

How to become a solution architect?

To begin a career as a solution architect it’s necessary to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Similar to enterprise architects, professionals in this field must possess technical expertise. The difference lies in the necessity for in-depth knowledge of various technologies, platforms, and programming languages. Also, knowledge related to project management is required, but at a more practical level.

What is Technical Architecture?

Technical Architecture specifically focuses on the execution of technology frameworks. It guarantees a detailed delivery of IT infrastructure, software, and network systems.

What does a technical architect do?

Its primary purpose is to define the technical specifications, standards, and methodologies to be used in a solution. It ensures that the technology infrastructure can support the application or solution efficiently and effectively.

A Technical Architect covers aspects such as server configuration, network design, data storage, software functionality, and security architecture. It is deeply technical and often requires expertise in Java or Python.

How to become a technical architect?

A technical architect needs to have an extensive understanding of programming languages like Java or SAP. A bachelor’s degree in computer science is also essential, along with deep knowledge of hardware and network environments. It’s worth noting that this position requires the most in-depth technical knowledge among the other positions mentioned, as it is mainly focused on the execution part of the problem-resolution process.

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What is the difference between Enterprise Architecture (EA), Solution Architecture (SA), and Technical Architecture?

The three pillars of IT architecture – Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, and Technical Architecture – while sharing similarities, also possess key differences. These differences mainly manifest in their scope and level of detail.

Let’s examine in more detail each of these elements to dissect and understand their distinctive characteristics:

Scope and Focus

Enterprise Architecture:

• Scope: Broadest in scope, encompassing the entire organization.
• Focus: Aligns IT strategy with business goals, focusing on the big picture of how IT supports business processes and objectives. It includes business processes, IT infrastructure, data management, and technology strategies.

Solution Architecture:

• Scope: Narrower than EA, focused on specific solutions or sets of solutions.
• Focus: Bridges the gap between the strategic view provided by EA and the detailed technological view provided by the technical architecture. It involves designing and managing the architecture of a specific system or group of systems based on specific business requirements.

Technical Architecture:

• Scope: Most specific and detailed, focusing on individual technology components.
• Focus: Concentrates on the technology layer, including hardware, software, network resources, and technical services. It deals with the specifications and design of individual technology components.

Level of Detail

1. Enterprise Architecture: Operates at a high level of abstraction, dealing with strategic considerations and long-term planning.
2. Solution Architecture: Provides a more detailed view, but still at a higher level than just technology, incorporating aspects such as system design, technology choices, and integration strategies.
3. Technical Architecture: Involves the most detailed and technical level of design and planning, focusing on specific technical implementations, standards, and protocols.

Responsibilities

1. Enterprise Architects: Responsible for understanding and documenting strategic business requirements and translating them into an IT strategy and architecture.
2. Solution Architects: Tasked with creating solution blueprints that solve specific business problems, ensuring they align with the enterprise architecture.
3. Technical Architects: Focus on the technical issues of system design and implementation, including detailed hardware, software, and network specifications.

Curious about learning more about business architectures? The following article might interest you: DevOps: Monolithic Architecture vs Microservices

Enterprise Architecture vs Solution Architecture vs Technical Architecture: Summary

Below is a table that provides a summary of the comparison between EA, SA and TA:

Is Enterprise Architecture higher than Solution Architecture?

The short answer is yes: there is an evident hierarchy within Enterprise Architecture (EA), Solution Architecture (SA), and Technical Architecture (TA). As we previously proved, the differences among these can be attributed to the level of detail each one possesses, particularly in terms of their strategic or technical focus.

Let’s examine this hierarchy and define at which point they complement each other:

The hierarchy between EA, SA and TA

At the top, EA offers a broad, strategic overview, aligning IT infrastructure and strategy with overarching business objectives. It sets the foundational framework and guidelines within which the other architectures operate. One level down, SA translates the enterprise-level directives into actionable, detailed plans for specific solutions or systems, focusing on how they fit within the larger enterprise context. Finally, at the most granular level, TA delves into the technical specifics, detailing the hardware, software, and network design needed to implement individual components of a solution following the guidelines set by the solution architecture.

Why are these three concepts not exclusive of each other?

While hierarchically structured, these components – Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, and Technical Architecture – are deeply interdependent, requiring seamless coordination to ensure that IT strategies and solutions are both technically sound and aligned with business goals. This is why Enterprise Architecture typically holds the top position, orchestrating the rest of the processes and maintaining a focus-oriented approach in the architecture.

How Chakray can help advance the need for IT architectures in organizations

When looking to build an IT architecture that withstands the challenges of the future, Chakray’s team of in-house experts excels at leading with confidence, adopting innovative approaches such as API-first and cloud-first.  

Chakray is not only a global leader in the integration space but also excels at delivering the best solutions from multiple industry-leading vendors such as WSO2, Boomi, Workato and Microsoft Azure, where we have received numerous partner awards.

Our mission is to grow your business into the digital future, and we do this by embracing the diversity of integration technologies and guiding you in selecting the technology that best fits your business needs.

Conclusion

These three elements of IT Architecture reviewed – though focused on similar tasks related to enhancing businesses’ technical strategy – are designed for distinct and specific types of tasks. There exists a hierarchy that unites and coordinates them, ensuring that the processes of strategy development and execution work seamlessly and in a coordinated manner. Each element serves a purpose in the larger process, and that’s why, despite there being a detailed order of responsibilities, none of them lacks importance. Also, it’s important to note that the use or non-use of any of these three elements depends on a business’s specific needs and infrastructural constraints. 

Chakray, as an IT expert company with a vast portfolio of technical solutions, is capable of handling the technical aspects of initiatives and also takes care of the strategic components of IT Architecture. 

Our team of experts is ready to provide clear answers and solutions tailored to your specific needs. Whether you are looking to strengthen your IT architecture, integrate cutting-edge technologies or improve operational efficiency, we are here to help you achieve your goals.

If you need expert support from a specialized team, we are always here to assist you!