Technology Architecture or Technical Architecture vs Technical Expertise
Luc Bories
- 4 minutes read - 643 wordsBeyond the terms that may vary from one organization or methodology to another, it’s essential to understand what defines Technology Architecture (or Technical Architecture) and what distinguishes it from Technical Expertise.
It’s therefore necessary to separate governance roles from implementation roles. Both are crucial, and individuals can navigate between them over the course of a career.
Within Enterprise Architecture, Technology Architecture focuses on functionality—data persistence, executing workloads tied to a business process, and so on. Its goal is to organize, standardize, and govern the use of technologies in implementing the Application Architecture.
In contrast, Technical Expertise centers on specific equipment or products—Unix servers, Windows servers, AWS cloud, MariaDB databases, and the like. Its documentation drills into the nitty-gritty of implementation: building, installing, configuring, interconnecting hardware or software components, and ongoing maintenance.
Roles and Professions in Technology Architecture
In everyday language—especially in job postings—you’ll often see confusion around the title “Technical Architect.”
This role typically involves:
- bringing and maintaining a forward-looking technology vision
- understanding the organization’s needs
- emphasizing business objectives, analyzing functional requirements, and proposing technical solutions
Depending on the organization’s size, a Technology Architect (or Technical Architect) may also contribute to team motivation, guide activity planning, and help organize workstreams.
Sometimes the Chief Technology Officer assumes this role, blending architectural oversight with strategic decision-making and leadership responsibilities.
Deliverables of the Technical Architect
Regardless of the exact title, one of the key deliverables is the Technical Architecture Dossier (TAD). Its form varies by context, but its scope always matches the architect’s domain of responsibility.
The TAD’s purpose is to capture architectural considerations and decisions for a set of organizational requirements from a tactical standpoint. It also outlines the work to be done and serves as a communication bridge between teams.
To achieve this, the TAD addresses functional requirements (the context) and non-functional constraints (technical conditions) across four layers:
- a functional view: what user actions occur, and how data flows
- an application view: how application components fulfill functional needs
- an infrastructure view: which technical resources are involved and how they interact
- an operational view: how technical resources integrate into existing IT operations
Once drafted, the TAD is typically reviewed in a Technical Architecture Committee or by one or more architects outside the committee.
Other specialized deliverables enrich the Technology Architect’s toolkit, such as:
Network Architecture
Network Architecture maps each addressable element as a node, with links denoting physical connections, supported protocols, addressing schemes, and data types exchanged. Security and routing overlays specify the position and role of firewalls, gateways, proxies, and other controls.
Depending on complexity, Network Architecture may include multiple views:
- a global network or security overview
- detailed views (per segment or protocol)
- a business-domain perspective
Complementary documents detail addressing plans, routing configurations, NAT/translations, and security rules (IP/port filtering, user-based policies, content inspection).
Systems/Server Architecture
Systems/Server Architecture groups servers by business domain/application, technology stack, network zone, or physical site. It can appear as a graphical diagram, an inventory spreadsheet, and/or reference sheets. Relationships between servers illustrate technical or application data flows.
Diagrams may include configuration specifics—hypervisor layers, operating systems, storage partitions, middleware, and application components. Supporting documents describe installation and configuration steps for each layer on physical or virtual systems.
Technology Architecture (or Technical Architecture) and Technical Expertise are two indispensable pillars of Enterprise Architecture. They work hand in hand.
Together, they establish and maintain the organization’s technology standards—implementation approaches, equipment selection, software choices, configuration and usage guidelines—and map out and justify each technological building block.
They also capture governance decisions, standards, and implementation details, delivering a valuable knowledge base for onboarding new participants in the architecture and technology domain.
Technology Architecture provides governance over technology usage across the organization.
Technical Expertise delivers deep knowledge of technologies and practical guidance on their use and implementation.
When applied together and at the right time, architecture and expertise ensure technologies are used effectively, securely, and opportunely.