Masters in Enterprise Architect

dave330i

Anyone looked into this? I know there are cert programs out there, but I'm thinking about taking a deeper dive.

N2IT

Not familiar Dave, sounds interesting though.

All the enterprise architects I know are former Java or .Net developers. This has been one of my hang ups, because of my weak development skills and knowledge of procedural code / web services api etc.

philz1982

@N2IT Its easy to close that gap.. I'm doing MCSD web apps right now you should do it with me

philz1982

I think a masters wouldnt be worth the roi. Get an MS CS or IS along with some EA certs

Khaos1911

Penn State Online | Master of Professional Studies in Enterprise Architecture

philz1982

All the archs I have met have cs backgrounds and degrees. I would focus on a ms cs or a ms is. Also avoid penn world campus way to overpriced for the degree.

jamthat

philz1982 wrote: »

All the archs I have met have cs backgrounds and degrees. I would focus on a ms cs or a ms is. Also avoid penn world campus way to overpriced for the degree.

Not if your employer pays!

I just started my first semester today (cyber & info assurance program), but from going through the intros it looks like there are a few people in my course that are pretty far into the EA program. I can solicit some feedback from them if you'd like, Dave.

Khaos1911

Preach, jamthat! If I have to tell one more TechExamer to step their employer game up, lol....I start the Cyber Info And Assurance program in the fall, Jam.

jamthat

Khaos1911 wrote: »

Preach, jamthat! If I have to tell one more TechExamer to step their employer game up, lol....I start the Cyber Info And Assurance program in the fall, Jam.

Hahah, definitely not preaching to philz..he could preach around me all day long.

Definitely stay in touch and let me know when you start, this course is very group-heavy (554) and I think most of the others are too..would be awesome to get in with a fellow TE member.

Sorry OP, back on topic.

dave330i

jamthat wrote: »

Not if your employer pays!

I just started my first semester today (cyber & info assurance program), but from going through the intros it looks like there are a few people in my course that are pretty far into the EA program. I can solicit some feedback from them if you'd like, Dave.

Yup. My employer would be paying. If you can solicit some feedback, that would be great.

philz1982

The employer paying is a valid point, if its funded then all you need to concern yourself with is the opportunity cost.

That is where the RoI breaks down.

IT education, falls into four buckets:

1. General Education Developer -> (this is typically a BSCS and a MSCS) This is the first bucket EA's come out of.
2. General Education Developer Manager -> This is typically a BSIS and a MIS or an MBA. This is the second bucket EA's come out of.
3. General Education Technical -> This is where the majority of folks here fall, this is an AS/BS and Several Certs that progress towards the expert level. This is the third bucket EA's come out of.
4. General Education Non-Technical with Bridge Degree -> This is someone who had a degree in music or business or basket weaving. Then they went back and got a CS or IS degree and gained several years of experience.

Here is how I see it. You will graduate with a Masters in EA. Most employers will look at the degree and not understand it. Simply put you will not make it past HR screens that require MBA/MIS/MSCS. I know that it is stupid that a job titled EA would not accept an EA Masters but welcome to reality.

So now here you sit, with a Masters that no one but yourself sees value in and you find yourself not able to meet EA positions and not able to meet regular CS/MIS Positions.

In my opinion the bast path is either a MIS with a CS Option or a MSCS with an IS Option. The main degree focus will be determined by if you want to be a managerial architect or a technical architect. Overall Managerial Architects get paid more but they spend a lot more time working on fluffy business stuff.

As with anything anyone says on here trust but verify and Google (not the university website) is your friend.

-Phil

philz1982

jamthat wrote: »

Hahah, definitely not preaching to philz..he could preach around me all day long.

Definitely stay in touch and let me know when you start, this course is very group-heavy (554) and I think most of the others are too..would be awesome to get in with a fellow TE member.

Sorry OP, back on topic.

Na, I don't preach around people, that requires physical activity and I will lose my voluptuous figure if I get to active...

Khaos1911

It's all good, Phil. I respect what you're saying. It's just that if I can't get an interview for my "dream" career While having a Masters from a top 1% school in my field, to go along with a decent number of relevant certs, a bachelors in the field from a known state school, years of experience, and this awesome freaking personality....I would blame me, because obviously I did a crappy job of selling myself.

I'd rather invest my time and energy in something I can enjoy and truly be proud of, as oppose to just "checking a box." To each his own though.

---

Good stuff, Jam. that's the first course I plan on taking. I was wondering if it was going to have a ton of group work. What are your thoughts on the program and class so far? We gotta stay in touch, bro. We are Penn st...! Nevermind, too soon. LOL!

N2IT

Penn State is number 1 in enterprise architecture masters?

In CS it's not even top 25.

Philz I agree this smells like a "Project Management" MBA. It seems like it should be integrated or a specialization in a business or computer science masters. (Depending one which department wants to own this and what their focus is).

JMHO

Khaos1911

I'm not in the EA field, I was speaking of graduate schools in general.

N2IT

Gotcha......

Well I agree you should go for the biggest and baddest program. I hope you get into CM!

dave330i

I have a technical BS, so what I really need is business/process focused MS. I don't think CS or IS will get me the knowledge I want. MBA is a possibility, but not exactly what I want. That leaves EA.

I'm working on getting promoted internally, so getting pass HR isn't an issue.

I'll be spending more time diving into low level TOGAF before making any decision on MS.

philz1982

dave330i wrote: »

I have a technical BS, so what I really need is business/process focused MS. I don't think CS or IS will get me the knowledge I want. MBA is a possibility, but not exactly what I want. That leaves EA.

I'm working on getting promoted internally, so getting pass HR isn't an issue.

I'll be spending more time diving into low level TOGAF before making any decision on MS.

Take a look at my TOGAF Cert post as well as my blog articles on TOGAF then, it was an easy pass.

N2IT

But it's expensive! My employer won't pay for it and I really don't want ANOTHER PM certification.

@Dave TOGAF and SOA are legit for EA's. I've profiled stalked at my company and our EA's have SOA certifications.

Another player I noticed from profile stalking is RUP, IBM Rational Unified Process. Looks like it's big for data modelers, full stack devs, solution architects and enterprise architects.

Just reporting my findings gents.

N2IT

I did a search for RUP it had 963 hits nation wide. Seems like a lot of senior BA, engineers, java devs, full stack devs and architects are aligned with this certification.

dave330i

@N2,

Thanks for the cert list.

N2IT

My pleasure Dave. You are always helping out!

dave330i

After talking with few others, it seems like certifying EA and going for a MIS will give me greater flexibility. Thanks for the input everyone.

N2IT

The million dollar question is which EA certification will you be obtaining?

dave330i

N2IT wrote: »

The million dollar question is which EA certification will you be obtaining?

TOGAF. That's the 1 my company really likes and it also seems to be popular in general.

N2IT

Sweet, Philz killed that in 1 week I believe.

dave330i

I wonder if a more business oriented masters like MBA makes more sense. Started looking at GMAT and it seems simple.

philz1982

TOGAF is a good cert, you learn the basics. It's ridiculously easy to pass.

N2IT

Damn

Asked my boss again no dice. It's where I want to end up and it's easy! Geeeesh!