Chief information officer to enterprise architect
A chief information officer already meets 53% of what the enterprise architect role asks for. The move turns on 18 required skills not yet in the profile.
60.6/ 100
1 How much of what an enterprise architect is expected to do is already part of a chief information officer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the enterprise architect role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An enterprise architect role treats 5 of its required skills as things a chief information officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ICT architectural frameworks
- ICT project management methodologies
- implement ICT security policies
- information architecture
- review development process of an organisation
What stands in the way is 18 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 61 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An enterprise architect role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a chief information officer background worth leading with.
- already held review development process of an organisation management skills
- already held ICT architectural frameworks information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held Rapid application development information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held Spiral development information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held Waterfall development information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held incremental development information and communication technologies (icts)
All 61 carried skills, including the 5 the enterprise architect role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 30 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn define software architecture required
- still to learn design enterprise architecture required
- still to learn design information system required
- still to learn manage ICT data architecture required
- still to learn provide ICT consulting advice required
- optional, not held apply conflict management optional
- optional, not held apply systemic design thinking optional
- optional, not held build business relationships optional
- still to learn keep up with the latest information systems solutions required
- still to learn collect customer feedback on applications required
- still to learn execute feasibility study required
- still to learn perform risk analysis required
- optional, not held manage cloud data and storage optional
- optional, not held analyse business requirements optional
- optional, not held provide cost benefit analysis reports optional
- still to learn ICT market required
- still to learn business strategy concepts required
- still to learn legal requirements of ICT products required
- optional, not held business process modelling optional
- optional, not held business requirements techniques optional
- still to learn identify processes for re-engineering required
- still to learn perform project management required
- still to learn align software with system architectures required
- still to learn use an application-specific interface required
- still to learn object-oriented modelling required
- optional, not held system design optional
- optional, not held unified modelling language optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an enterprise architect role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ICT market study this
- 02 align software with system architectures practise this
- 03 apply ICT system usage policies practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 61 skills that carry over
- already held ICT architectural frameworks knowledge
- already held ICT project management methodologies knowledge
- already held implement ICT security policies skill
- already held information architecture knowledge
- already held review development process of an organisation skill
- already held ABAP knowledge
- already held AJAX knowledge
- already held APL knowledge
- already held ASP.NET knowledge
- already held Agile development knowledge
- already held Agile project management knowledge
- already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
- already held C# knowledge
- already held C++ knowledge
- already held COBOL knowledge
- already held CoffeeScript knowledge
- already held Common Lisp knowledge
- already held DevOps knowledge
- already held Erlang knowledge
- already held Groovy knowledge
- already held Haskell knowledge
- already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
- already held JavaScript knowledge
- already held Lisp knowledge
- already held MATLAB knowledge
- already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
- already held Objective-C knowledge
- already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
- already held PHP knowledge
- already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Perl knowledge
- already held Process-based management knowledge
- already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Prototyping development knowledge
- already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
- already held R knowledge
- already held Rapid application development knowledge
- already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
- already held SAP R3 knowledge
- already held SAS language knowledge
- already held Scala knowledge
- already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Spiral development knowledge
- already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
- already held TypeScript knowledge
- already held VBScript knowledge
- already held Visual Basic knowledge
- already held Waterfall development knowledge
- already held computer programming knowledge
- already held coordinate technological activities skill
- already held incremental development knowledge
- already held iterative development knowledge
- already held lean project management knowledge
- already held manage staff skill
- already held monitor technology trends skill
- already held optimise choice of ICT solution skill
- already held software architecture models knowledge
- already held software design methodologies knowledge
- already held use different communication channels skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn apply ICT system usage policies required
- optional, not held apply information security policies optional
- optional, not held emergent technologies optional
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held apply information security policies optional
- optional, not held business process modelling optional
- optional, not held business requirements techniques optional
- optional, not held manage cloud data and storage optional
- optional, not held system design optional
- optional, not held unified modelling language optional
- optional, not held analyse business requirements optional
- optional, not held apply conflict management optional
- optional, not held apply systemic design thinking optional
- optional, not held build business relationships optional
- optional, not held emergent technologies optional
- optional, not held provide cost benefit analysis reports optional
28 held skills the enterprise architect role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
- not needed by the target role administer ICT system skill
- not needed by the target role attack vectors knowledge
- not needed by the target role carry out statistical forecasts skill
- not needed by the target role carry out strategic research skill
- not needed by the target role decision support systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role define technology strategy skill
- not needed by the target role deploy ICT systems skill
- not needed by the target role digital systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role engineering processes knowledge
- not needed by the target role ensure adherence to organisational ICT standards skill
- not needed by the target role ensure information privacy skill
- not needed by the target role establish an ICT customer support process skill
- not needed by the target role forecast future ICT network needs skill
- not needed by the target role implement ICT risk management skill
- not needed by the target role implement corporate governance skill
- not needed by the target role information structure knowledge
- not needed by the target role internet governance knowledge
- not needed by the target role lead technology development of an organisation skill
- not needed by the target role maintain plan for continuity of operations skill
- not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
- not needed by the target role manage software releases skill
- not needed by the target role market analysis knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor ICT research skill
- not needed by the target role oversee development of software skill
- not needed by the target role protect personal data and privacy skill
- not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge
- not needed by the target role utilise decision support system skill
9 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn ICT market required
- still to learn object-oriented modelling required
- still to learn business strategy concepts required
- still to learn legal requirements of ICT products required
- optional, not held business process modelling optional
- optional, not held business requirements techniques optional
- optional, not held system design optional
- optional, not held unified modelling language optional
- optional, not held emergent technologies optional
Other moves recorded from chief information officer
Common questions about this move
Can a chief information officer become an enterprise architect?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A chief information officer already covers 53% of what an enterprise architect is expected to do: 61 skills carry over, 5 of which the enterprise architect role treats as required.
What skills does a chief information officer need to become an enterprise architect?
18 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is ICT market.
How hard is the move from chief information officer to enterprise architect?
Its learning distance is 60.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.