This past fall the enterprise architecture community was abuzz with the news that John Zachman, who created the Zachman Framework and is the de facto father of enterprise architecture, was suing his colleague Stan Locke for $10 million. I won’t rehash those details here, but rather use this as my jumping-off point. The issue led to a lot of Zachman-certified enterprise architects worrying about the status of that certification, the continued licensing of the framework’s existing intellectual property, and the prospect of a new training course and certification program coming from Zachman’s son.

The lawsuit news also prompted more existential questions about the Enterprise Architecture framework certification marketplace as a whole. As Gartner’s Philip Allega wrote at the time: “This further weakens the perceived value of marketplace certification in EA Frameworks.”

Does it? More than one enterprise architect replied that in the real world, it’s rare that any single framework alone guides efforts. In fact, The Open Group Architecture Framework, or TOGAF, itself is a distillation of what frameworks such as Zachman and Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF) bring to the table. Not only that, some in the community said, but certification in any framework matters less than doing the work itself. In other words, it’s experience that counts.

It’s hard to argue against the value and virtue of experience such as knowing when, where and how to apply different frameworks to enable a cohesive strategy. But, of course, it’s equally hard to ignore the fact that when enterprise architects are job-hunting, keyword-based resume searches and HR departments expect candidates to prove their enterprise architecture expertise. You can list all the real-world accomplishments you like, but you may still get overlooked in keyword searches if you can’t “prove” that credibility with specifically named certifications. Certification in frameworks — whether Zachman, TOGAF, FEAF, DODAF, ITAC (IT Architect Certification), university-designated/sponsored, or other industry- or vendor-specific — continue to play a role when you look through the job boards. 

Consider this very recent posting in the logistics industry, which illustrates that both real-world experience and specific framework expertise are important to this:

Or this one in the energy sector:

Even a casual survey of postings makes it plain (at least to me) that certifications still carry weight, both in bringing your resume to the top of the pile and in building your brand as an enterprise architect.

That said, if you’re contemplating adding your first or your fifth certification to your credentials, you may want to keep your eye on an effort by the Center for Advancement of the Enterprise Architecture Profession (CAEAP). It’s working to create an accreditation program in certifications, as well as education and training.

Does certification matter to you as an individual enterprise architect and to the profession at large? I’d love to hear why — or why not.