Enterprise architecture is widely misunderstood, and there is a deficit of trained and educated architects that can concieve of the full scope. There are several basic concepts you should be aware of in understanding enterprise architecture. Different schools of thought treat these differently, some including this and excluding that as adjacent, but they are each part of that picture. These concepts include:
Strategic Planning
Implementation
Architecture
Vision
Alignment
Transformation
Strategic Advantage
Technology
Line of Business
Frameworks
Artifacts
Business Processes
Levels
Areas
Governance
IT Investment
Return on Investment
Performance
Portfolio
Systems
Lifecycle
Integration
If your enterprise architects do not see the full picture and do not understand these basic concepts, you are not getting the full value of enterprise architecture. If you are an enterprise architect and do not see the full picture or do not comprehend how these basic concepts relate to your practice, you are not delivering the full value to the customer. As training, education and certification improve the full picture should, over time, become better understood.
"If you do anything long enough, you eventually get good at it." MK