enterprise architecture certifications Archives

Enterprise architecture certifications and the professionals who obtain them give organizations more confidence in their enterprise architecture initiatives. This post outlines the best enterprise architecture certifications and certifications for enterprise architects.

Enterprise architecture (EA) helps align business and IT efforts by documenting and mapping data, applications and assets to the functions they support.

While a number of different approaches exist, EA must be performed in line with recognized frameworks in order to be sustainable. EA certifications serve as proof that an enterprise architect is familiar with these frameworks – benefiting both the organization and the EA professional.

Think about it. If your organization’s EA was modeled and mapped according to an enterprise architect’s own standards – with no basis in recognized frameworks – your EA projects become tied to that employee.

With this approach, complications become inevitable.

A few of the potential issues with tying your EA standards to a person rather than using enterprise architecture frameworks are:

The enterprise architect would have to teach the relevant stakeholders how to understand their models to effectively communicate their plans.
Should the enterprise architect leave the organization, the enterprise architecture practice leaves with them, so future projects would have to be built from the ground up.

Top 7 Enterprise Architect Certifications and What They Cost

Each of the following certifications for enterprise architects have their own advantages – from cost, to versatility, to their suitability in specialist use-cases.

Below lists the top 7 enterprise architecture certifications in order of cost:

AWS Certified Solution Architect – cost: from $100
Dell EMC Proven Professional Cloud architect training and certification – cost: from $200 each
Google Professional Cloud Architect – cost: $200
Salesforce Certified Technical Architect (CTA) – cost: from $200 per exam
Professional Cloud Solutions Architect – cost: $495
The Open Group TOGAF 9 Certification – cost: 2 exams, $360 each or $550 for both
The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA) – cost: $1,250 + renewal fees

The Best EA Certifications

While the enterprise architecture certification that’s best for you is subjective, you should let the context influence your decision.

As a new enterprise architect, prioritizing widely recognized certifications for the most common frameworks makes the most sense. The Open Group TOGAF 9 Certification is a good place to start

See also: What Is TOGAF?

Vendor-agnostic and globally-recognized, the versatility afforded by a TOGAF certification is certainly worth pursuing.

However, some organizations will prioritize recruiting enterprise architects with more specialty or platform-specific certifications.

A common example here is Amazon’s AWS certification: AWS Certified Solution Architect.

Amazon state that AWS Certified Solution Architects can “effectively demonstrate knowledge of how to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on AWS technologies” among other skills the certification validates.

Earning this certification requires hands-on experience with AWS services. Amazon recommends “experience using compute, networking, storage, and database AWS services” as well as “an understanding of the basic architectural principles of building on the AWS Cloud.”

And considering current trends, certifications for cloud platforms are becoming increasingly relevant.

The Google Professional Cloud Architect certification and the Professional Cloud Solutions Architect Certification are two cloud-oriented certifications.

Benefits of Enterprise Architecture Certifications for Employers

Employing certified enterprise architects benefits organizations in the following ways:

Organizations can ensure candidates they interview and eventually hire are up to speed with the frameworks currently observed within the organization
They can achieve faster time to markets because new enterprise architects are brought up to speed more quickly.
They have greater ability to and ease in expanding and upscaling their enterprise architecture initiatives
They have greater confidence their efforts are sustainable beyond the tenure of any one enterprise architect

Benefits of Enterprise Architecture Certifications for Enterprise Architects

For enterprise architects, EA certifications offer these benefits:

Collaborative enterprise architecture becomes easier to implement and manage, since everyone speaks the same language
Certified enterprise architects have demonstrated their understanding of particular EA, solution architecture, cloud architecture or technical architecture frameworks and validated their skills
Certified enterprise architects enjoy improved employability because organizations will look for EAs with specific certifications for continuity in existing projects
Certified enterprise architects can command a premium; the average salary for a TOGAF certified enterprise architect is $137,000