If the definition of chief Enterprise Architect is to architect / design the enterprise and it's strategy then it sounds a lot like the definition of CEO. To resolve this conflict the chief enterprise architect should be responsible for defining and documenting rather than design and strategy. Also the chief enterprise architect should take on the role of auditor, accountant and policeman while the chief executive officer is responsible for deciding on a design and strategy to implement. This is similar to a building architect who draws a picture based on the house owner's requirements. The architect then presents a few alternative pictures to the house owner who picks one of them. The house owner then contracts the builders to build according to the architecture he has chosen (according to engineering specifications). Therefore the chief enterprise architect should report to the board and not the CEO because he is the draftsman and the CEO is the builder at the strategic level of organisational managment. Organisational management planning levels:
The architecture vs. execution organisational structure can be defined as follows:
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