The Up-And-Coming Business Architect

Forrester recently labeled the business architect as an "extremely hot" IT role — and it's an equally hot role in the business. But in spite of the role's popularity, it's hard to find agreement on its attributes. To uncover current trends, Forrester surveyed 250 companies online and 20 companies over the phone regarding their business architecture programs. We found that at the highest level, most business architects are responsible for creating views of the business to improve business decision-making and business performance. Business architects are likely to be homegrown, wear more than one hat, and come from a variety of backgrounds. Technology skills are a plus, but more importantly, employers target strategic business experience as one of the most highly valued qualifications for potential business architects. A slight majority of business architects serve in the role part time; however, expanding these roles to full-time positions adds value.