Application Architecture Guidelines and Enterprise Solution Architecture Roles

Application Architecture Guidelines

Application architecture is a subset of Enterprise Solution Architecture (ESA) and serves both as a process (architecture and design) and a deliverable (the architecture content). It helps organizations plan investments in application solutions, ensuring new, legacy, modernized, or purchased applications can coexist.

Application architecture exists at multiple levels:

Concept level: Enterprise Architecture (EA) strategies and plans ensure the application portfolio aligns with business, technical, and information solution architectures.

Logical level: Application architecture extends ESA by designing and reusing software services and interfaces, improving developer productivity, flexibility, quality, and consistency.

The principles apply to all application approaches; Service‑Oriented Architecture (SOA) drives the need for dedicated application architects and centers of excellence to coordinate SOA initiatives.

Enterprise‑wide Scope and Roles

At the concept level, EA strategies ensure the application portfolio works with other solution architectures.

The primary role that implements these strategies is the Enterprise Solution Architect.

Project‑level solution and application architects may also fulfill this role, but separating planning from design/implementation is a best practice.

Enterprise Solution Architecture has two main levels (Figure 2):

EA level with various architects (business, technical, information, solution).

Solution/project level with multiple architects and analysts handling detailed design and implementation.

Enterprise Solution Architect Role

They have two major responsibilities:

1] Standardization and Reuse of ESA

Deliver repeatable standards and guidelines to solution portfolios and use shared services and assets in project work.

2] Coordinating Current and Future State via ESA

Determine what needs to be documented based on the current ESA and keep it updated.

Collaborate to create a future‑state vision, ensuring each solution is planned against that vision and aligns with EA standards.

Ensure appropriate people, processes, and technology are in place for effective collaboration.

Project‑level Scope and Roles

Failing to distinguish between solution architects and application architects leads to missed reuse opportunities.

Application architects design with maximum reuse in mind, eliminating redundancy across projects and business units.

Solution architects focus on creating reusable services but prioritize a complete design for specific project solutions.

ESA team delivers conceptual standards and assets to projects as a starting point.

Solution Architect

Focuses on all architectural aspects of a given project, ensuring collaboration at both enterprise and project levels and delivering a complete design.

Application Architect

Focuses on designing application interfaces and software services, aiming for reusable, flexible, and consistent solutions, reducing redundancy across applications and business units.

Comparison of responsibilities between AAs and development teams, and between AAs and solution architects, is illustrated in Figures 3‑5.