Enterprise architecture · Retained monthly
Virtual Enterprise Architecture Department
The whole enterprise architecture capability as a monthly retainer: a named UK lead architect with a bench behind them, the design authority run, the systems register kept alive and vendor designs challenged before they become commitments. Roughly a third of the cost of the permanent Head of EA it replaces.
The department at a glance
Definition
What is a virtual enterprise architecture department?
A virtual enterprise architecture department is the whole EA capability delivered as a monthly retainer: a named senior architect leading it, a bench behind them, and the standing work of architecture run: the design authority, the systems register, roadmap input, vendor review, standards and board reporting. It exists because most mid-market organisations need enterprise architecture continuously but cannot justify, or cannot find, the permanent senior hire.
Intelance runs Virtual EA Departments from the UK in three capacity tiers: from £6,500 + VAT per month for eight senior days, from £11,000 for twelve and from £22,000 for twenty or more, on a three month minimum with thirty day notice. A permanent Head of EA typically runs £180,000 or more in salary plus around thirty percent in employer costs, if you can find one.
Starting from an unknown estate? The EA QuickScan gives the department its evidence base, from £18,000 + VAT in ten working days.
A named lead with a bench behind them
One accountable senior architect every month, with specialists flexing behind them.
The forums run
Design authority and decision log kept at delivery pace rather than steering pace.
The register kept alive
Systems, costs and dependencies maintained monthly, in your tools.
The board kept informed
The architecture position reported in business terms, with evidence.
The standing work
What the department runs month by month
Enterprise architecture fails when it is done occasionally. These six functions run as standard, every month, whichever tier you hold.
The design authority
Significant design decisions made in a standing forum, challenged and recorded, at delivery pace rather than steering pace.
OutputA decision log the estate can rely on.The systems register
What you run, what it costs and what talks to what, kept alive month by month rather than rebuilt every two years.
OutputA living register in the tools you have.Roadmap and investment input
Architecture judgement inside budget rounds and business cases, before money is committed.
OutputRoadmap positions with evidence behind them.Vendor and project review
Vendor designs and project architectures challenged before they become commitments you own for a decade.
OutputReviews on record, before signature.Standards and patterns
Integration, data and platform patterns set once and applied, so each project stops reinventing them.
OutputPatterns teams use.Board reporting
The architecture position reported to the board in business terms: risk, cost and readiness, with evidence.
OutputA board view that survives scrutiny.How it runs
How the department runs
The department starts from whatever state the estate is in, settles into a monthly rhythm, and scales up or hands over on your terms.
Take on
Your systems, the decisions in flight and the calendar mapped honestly, the meeting schedule agreed, the register created or adopted.
The rhythm
The same senior people each month, with the bench flexing behind them as the work demands. Forums run, register kept, reviews delivered.
The roadmap cycle
The roadmap and investment view refreshed against what happened, in time for budget conversations.
The surge
A programme lands or a deal appears, and the tier steps up for a quarter. A department absorbs surges. A single architect cancels leave.
Scale or take back
Hire your own team around the running of it, with our help on the hiring, or carry on. Thirty day notice either way. The exit is a deliverable.
The exit is designed in from month one: everything lives in your tools, so hiring your own team around it, with our help if you want it, is a handover rather than a rescue.
The alternatives
Your options side by side
Three ways organisations try to keep architecture running. The difference is what still exists after a resignation, a surge or a quiet quarter.
A senior hire at £180,000 or more plus around 30% employer costs, if you can find one
Everything, until the single point of failure hands in a notice period
A three to six month search, then ramp up
Organisations with a full time book of architecture decisions
One good architect, part time, or day rates of £2,500 to £5,000 buying advice by the visit
Advice arrives. The register, forums and reporting still belong to nobody
Fast for opinions, never for the standing work
A single domain needing senior judgement now and then
A named lead and bench running the whole capability, from £6,500 + VAT a month
The design authority, register, roadmap, reviews and board reporting, every month
Take on in month one, rhythm from month two
Organisations that need architecture continuously rather than occasionally
Scope
What this includes and what it does not
You get
A named UK lead architect accountable to you, with a bench flexing behind them.
The six standing functions run monthly: authority, register, roadmap, reviews, standards, board reporting.
Everything in your tools: the register, log and patterns are yours from day one.
Surge capacity when a programme or deal lands, without a new procurement.
An exit that is a deliverable: handover to your own hires, with our help on the hiring if you want it.
This is not
A body shop. Capacity is senior days with named people rather than a rotating bench of juniors.
Delivery. We build nothing. Project delivery stays with your teams and vendors.
Programme architecture. Dedicated intensity inside one programme is ProjectEA.
A dependency. The operating model, register and patterns are built to run without us, and the exit is designed in.
Before and alongside
Where the department sits in the sequence
The department stands alone, and it lands better on evidence. These are the services that usually come before it or run alongside it.
EA QuickScan
Before the department: the evidence base, with every system scored and the roadmap priced in ten working days. FeeFrom £18,000 + VAT 02EA Operating Model & Governance
The decision rights and forums the department runs, designed properly where they do not yet exist. FeeFrom £18,000 + VAT diagnostic 03ProjectEA
Alongside the department: dedicated senior architecture inside a major programme, at programme intensity. FeeFrom £45,000 + VAT 04Technology Board Assurance Pack
When the board wants the architecture position independently verified, a separate team delivers it. FeeFrom £18,000 + VATWhy Intelance
The commitments we put in writing
The same senior people each month
The same accountable senior architect leads the department month after month, with the bench behind them, so context never resets.
Continuity across the year
Day rates buy advice by the visit. The department runs the standing work every month: the forums, the register, the reviews and the reporting.
Priced against the alternative
Tiers run roughly thirty to forty percent of the cost of the permanent Head of EA they replace, and the fee is fixed monthly with thirty day notice.
Everything in your tools
The register, decision log and patterns live in your systems from day one, which is what makes the exit a handover rather than a rescue.
Handover designed in
Scale up, carry on or hire your own team around the running of it, with our help on the hiring. Thirty day notice either way.
Who you will work with
Every department is led by a senior partner. Nothing is offshored and nothing is handed to a junior bench.
Case studies
All case studiesReady to talk?
Speak to a senior architect
Thirty minutes on where architecture stands today and what the department would run first. If your architect has just resigned, say so: take on is designed to start from whatever state the estate is in.
FAQs
Questions about the Virtual EA Department
How much does a virtual enterprise architecture department cost?
Three capacity tiers, all monthly: from £6,500 + VAT for eight senior days, from £11,000 for twelve, and from £22,000 for twenty or more, on a three month minimum with thirty day notice. That is roughly thirty to forty percent of the cost of the permanent Head of EA it replaces, once salary and employer costs are counted.
How is this different from hiring a Head of EA?
A permanent hire makes sense when there is a full time book of architecture decisions and you can find the person. The department gives you the capability now: a named lead, a bench behind them, no single point of failure, and a fee around a third of the fully loaded hire. If you later make the hire, the department hands over to them, and can help you recruit them.
How is this different from a fractional architect or contractor?
One person part time gives you advice by the visit. The department runs the standing work: the design authority, the living register, vendor reviews, standards and board reporting, every month, with a bench that absorbs surges instead of cancelling leave.
What does the department run each month?
Six standing functions as standard, whichever tier you hold: the design authority, the systems register, roadmap and investment input, vendor and project review, standards and patterns, and board reporting. The tier sets how many senior days flex across them.
How does take on work?
Month one maps your systems, the decisions in flight and the calendar honestly, agrees the meeting schedule and creates or adopts the register. The rhythm starts in month two. If the estate has never been mapped, the EA QuickScan is the usual starting evidence.
Can we change tier or leave?
Tiers flex with the work: step up for a programme quarter, step down after. After the three month minimum the arrangement rolls monthly with thirty day notice, and the exit is a deliverable: everything already lives in your tools.
Does it work alongside architects we already have?
Yes. The department can run the forums and standing work around an in house team, mentor them, and hand functions back as your people take them on. The goal is a running capability rather than a dependency.
Who you will work with?
A named UK based senior architect leads every department, TOGAF certified and accountable to you, with senior specialists flexing behind them and established associates across cyber, data and AI where depth is needed. Nothing is offshored.