The Open Group's ITAC-3 hopes to standardize the role of top-level IT architects across organizations.The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium focused on open standards in the IT industry, will announce Nov. 13 a new level in its IT Architecture Certification program—the Distinguished Certified IT Architect, or level three.
Hoping to establish industry-wide standards for enterprise architects across three distinct career paths—including chief or leading architect, professional or executive architect and enterprise architect—the ITAC program debuted two years ago, and has since certified 2,000 individuals as either Certified IT Architects (ITAC Level 1) or Master Certified IT Architects (ITAC Level 2).
"One of the things we found when we started sharing information within the working group was that the different organizations had a surprisingly consistent view of the skill sets necessary for architects, and the roles they inhabit," James de Raeve, vice president of certification for the Open Group, told eWEEK.
The ITAC-3 is the highest level yet, and to receive it individuals must demonstrate responsibility for significantly complex architecture engagements, an architectural vision for business initiative, governance expertise and executive-level communications and leadership skills. The Open Group has developed this in response to growing demand for highly experienced IT architects.
The group also found that the career ladder for architects was surprisingly similar across organizations, even when the language that described the roles was different.
"There was almost always an entry level, a supervised practice level and a master level," de Raeve said. "The master level is responsible for whole projects that can cut across multiple business units. They interact with C-level reports, and are almost always a director level or vice president within their company. We wanted a certification that recognized that these people existed."
Most of those interested in pursuing the ITAC-3 already have some equivalent of top-level certification through their organizations, but are eager for something more transportable between jobs—carried by the individual, not the company.
"In the best of worlds, I wouldn't have to go through the process again because I've been through it already at IBM," Andras Szakal, master-level Certified IT Architect through The Open Group ITAC program and chief architect at IBM's Federal Software Group, told eWEEK.
"That's the idea of an open standard. Previously, though these companies shared views on what the standard was, your credentials left you as you went from one company to the next."
Szakal sees the role of certification in the IT architecture field as essential, but also inevitable.
"In the future, it's going to be very hard not to have some sort of professional certification in architecture, because it's going to be the norm. As computing moves into our daily jobs, it's important that we have people with a proven track record architecting our systems. You wouldn't go to an unaccredited surgeon," Szakal said.
Though they conceivably could be in line for a CIO position, the career path for IT architects is not always a direct line to the top.
"Conceivably, they'd be good CIO candidates, but those who are top-level architects often stay in this role for a long time because they are very hard to find and there are not a lot of them. They're often a direct report of the CIO," said de Raeve.
He added that the next step for IT architects is likely to be a move to a larger organization.
"My experience is that these people are architects because they didn't want to be managers. They tend to stay on an individual contributor level," de Raeve said.
