If you ask 10 organisations, you’ll get 10 different answers. Some have very formal definitions, others blend roles, and in some places, “Architect” is just a title for anyone with senior tech responsibilities.
The most common architecture roles
- Enterprise Architect (EA)
- Sets the strategic technology direction, aligns tech with business vision, manages capability roadmaps.
- Solution Architect (SA)
- Designs end-to-end solutions to meet business needs, ensuring they fit within enterprise standards.
- Technical Architect (TA)
- Deep technical expertise in specific platforms or domains, bridging design and implementation.
- Business Architect (BA)
- Focuses on business processes, capabilities, and value streams to ensure tech serves the operating model.
- Security Architect
- Designs security controls, frameworks, and risk mitigations into solutions and enterprise architecture.
- Data Architect
- Defines data models, governance, and integration patterns to ensure data is an asset, not a liability.
- Integration Architect
- Specialises in connecting systems and services for seamless interoperability.
- Infrastructure Architect
- Designs resilient, scalable, and cost-effective hosting and network platforms.
- Cloud Architect
- Crafts multi-cloud and hybrid strategies, migration roadmaps, and governance.
The real question
For a functioning architecture practice — especially in a mid-sized organisation — do you really need them all? Or can a lean team with strong EA + SA coverage, and specialist skills pulled in as needed, be enough?
In smaller teams, wearing multiple hats is often not just appropriate — it’s essential. One person may cover both Solution and Data Architecture, or Enterprise and Security Architecture. But there’s a limit. There are only so many hats a small team or set of contractors can wear before it becomes more effective (and lower risk) to engage a consultancy, where you can access the right experts in each field without carrying full-time overhead.
My take
Start with a core of Enterprise + Solution Architects, then scale to include specialist architects (Data, Security, Cloud) as complexity and regulatory requirements grow. Too many roles too early can bog you down; too few and you risk governance and delivery gaps.