[adamkl]

Enterprise Architecture is a very different discipline from software development (and even solution architecture), and are usually found in non-tech organizations (i.e. banks, insurance companies, etc).

EA is focussed on evaluating the business processes and technical solutions that make up the operations of a large scale organization. They try to identify and remove redundancy (e.g. multiple billing systems) and ensure the solutions in place (custom internal, or vendor purchases) are fit-for-purpose from technical, business, and strategic standpoints.

It’s very far removed from the practice of software development (since the correct solution, from an EA standpoint, might just be to stitch together a handful of vendor systems and do away with custom development completely).

[a9h74j]

Is this closer to System Analyst, or -- as it sounds -- even higher level, like strategic infrastructure acquisition?

[adamkl]

Much higher level than a System Analyst. Enterprise Architects often work directly with the CIO/CTO to shape an organization’s long term technology strategy (i.e. 5+ year time horizons).

The idea being, they are supposed to be “architecting the enterprise”.