The 9 Traps of Enterprise Architecture—and How I Learned to Avoid ThemOver the years, I’ve worked with startups, PE-backed SaaS companies, and enterprise teams to scale platforms, modernize legacy s

Over the years, I’ve worked with startups, PE-backed SaaS companies, and enterprise teams to scale platforms, modernize legacy stacks, and reduce operational chaos. One common thread across all these experiences? Enterprise Architecture (EA) can either accelerate innovation—or grind it to a halt.

I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the unnecessarily complicated. So here are the nine traps I’ve repeatedly encountered in EA (yes, even in my own projects)—along with what I’ve learned about avoiding them.

TL;DR: Architecture is only powerful when it’s human-centered.Whether leading platform modernization, advising PE-backed companies, or scaling an IoT analytics platform like Ajax—I've learned that the most effective architecture lives close to the code, the team, and the customer.

🔺 Ivory Tower Architectures

At Level 3, we had architecture groups that operated independently of delivery teams. It led to beautiful PowerPoints that never saw daylight.Fix: At Alchemer, I embedded architects directly into product squads—especially during our dashboarding and platform modernization work. That shift made architecture real-time, contextual, and practical.

⚙️ Over-Architected

While transforming KPA into a SaaS-first company, there was pressure to “future-proof everything.” But overly abstract designs delayed product delivery.Fix: I embraced Just Enough Architecture—start with today’s needs and evolve. The greenfield launch of KPA’s mobile compliance platform taught me how to balance speed with scale.

📜 Eternal Blueprints

We’ve all seen them: static Confluence pages from three years ago, labeled “Reference Architecture.”Fix: On projects like the Alchemer Identity initiative, we kept documents dynamic—updated every sprint, reviewed in standups, and versioned alongside code.

🛡️ Governance Police

In early PE transitions, it’s tempting to clamp down hard. But I’ve learned (often the hard way) that top-down controls stall momentum.Fix: At Ajax Analytics, we adopted a “Guide and Assist” approach—especially helpful while building a data harmonization platform under tight deadlines and lean teams.

📉 Metrics Missing

In M&A diligence, one red flag I often see is EA teams that can’t prove their impact.Fix: At Alchemer, we tied architecture initiatives to throughput, defect rates, and customer NPS. This was critical during our PHP tech debt payoff and containerization roadmap.

⚡ Tech Debt Blindness

During our legacy tech migration at Alchemer, the backlog of untouched debt was massive. Everyone acknowledged it—no one prioritized it.Fix: We built a pay-down plan tied to customer pain and system reliability. Tech debt became part of OKRs, not a footnote.

🔌 Shadow IT Wars

I’ve lost count of the Slack channels where someone was secretly testing a better tool than what was “approved.”Fix: Let teams experiment. Then support integration paths that are secure and scalable. That’s how we transitioned Ajax’s data team to modern ETL tools without friction.

🛠️ Tool Worship

“Let’s buy the new low-code platform—it’ll solve everything!” Spoiler: it didn’t.Fix: Tools follow problems. At KPA, we defined our use cases first—only then did we select systems that actually solved them.

🧠 Talent Plateau

Architects can get stuck in “I’ve seen this before” syndrome.Fix: I built continuous learning into orgs—from AWS immersion days to GenAI use case labs. At Alchemer, this helped re-energize senior engineers and attract cross-functional talent.

Avoid the traps, embrace the mess, and architect for outcomes.