CEA - Certified Enterprise Architect Business and Technology Alignment Questions and Answers

Question 1

A retail company's new strategy is to 'create a seamless omnichannel customer experience.' An enterprise architect is tasked with translating this strategy into actionable IT initiatives.
Which of the following approaches provides the MOST effective and direct link between this business strategy and the required technology investments?

Accepted Answer

Conducting a business capability mapping exercise to identify and prioritize core capabilities like 'Unified Customer Profile Management' and 'Cross-Channel Inventory Visibility.'

Answer

Performing a technology portfolio rationalization to decommission legacy systems and reduce costs.

Answer

Creating a detailed solution architecture for a new mobile application.

Answer

Implementing a new IT governance framework based on COBIT.

Question 2

An enterprise architect at a global conglomerate with highly autonomous and diverse business units (e.g., chemicals, consumer goods, finance) needs to define an IT strategy. The corporate strategy emphasizes business unit independence and innovation within their respective markets. According to the MIT CISR framework, which IT operating model would BEST align with this business structure?

Accepted Answer

A Diversification model where IT decisions, standards, and services are managed locally by each business unit.

Answer

A Unification model with centrally mandated, shared services for all business units.

Answer

A Coordination model that requires shared customer data and seamless cross-selling between all business units.

Answer

A Replication model where standardized business processes and systems are rolled out to all units.

Question 3

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) wants to demonstrate to the board of directors that the enterprise architecture program is successfully improving business and technology alignment. Which of the following metrics would be the MOST effective and direct indicator of this alignment?

Accepted Answer

Percentage of strategic business objectives directly supported by funded IT projects on the technology roadmap.

Answer

Number of architectural compliance reviews completed per quarter.

Answer

Average time to resolve high-priority system incidents.

Answer

Percentage reduction in annual IT infrastructure costs.

Question 4

Which of the following activities BEST represents an enterprise architect moving from a reactive support role to a proactive, strategic partner for the business?

Accepted Answer

Publishing a technology trends analysis that identifies emerging technologies and suggests potential new business models or capabilities the company could develop.

Answer

Ensuring all new technology projects pass a rigorous architectural review for standards compliance.

Answer

Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date repository of all application and technology assets.

Answer

Creating detailed solution architecture documents for approved business projects.

Question 5

A company's enterprise architecture mandates a 'cloud-first' strategy and has a preferred public cloud vendor to ensure data integration and security controls. The Marketing department wants to urgently purchase a specialized SaaS marketing automation tool that runs on a different, non-preferred cloud platform. What is the MOST appropriate initial action for the enterprise architect?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion with Marketing to understand the unique business capabilities the tool provides and assess the risks and costs of integrating a non-standard solution.

Answer

Immediately veto the purchase as it violates the established architecture standard.

Answer

Grant an exception immediately to avoid delaying a critical business initiative.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the Chief Technology Officer to make the final decision.

Question 6

An enterprise architect needs to present the proposed technology roadmap for the next three years to the executive leadership team, most of whom are not technologists. The primary goal is to demonstrate how IT investments will directly enable the company's strategic goals. Which artifact would be MOST effective for this audience?

Accepted Answer

A business capability roadmap that shows how key capabilities will mature over time, linked to the strategic initiatives they support.

Answer

A comprehensive application portfolio catalog listing all current and future applications with their lifecycle status.

Answer

A detailed network topology diagram showing future state infrastructure.

Answer

A Gantt chart detailing the project timelines and resource allocations for all IT initiatives.