A lot of people ask what architecture actually is. This is an interesting question as there is I believe no single definition of architecture. Additionally, architecture is often slightly different things to different people, and varys to some degree across technical competencies (application, infrastructure, security, etc).
Throughout my career, I have performed various roles in the infrastructure architecture space and they have included the following
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Solution prototyping
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Technical design
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Technical delivery lead
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Technical delivery engineer
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Technical governance and strategy
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Program and project support/ Technical Design Authority (TDA)
As you can see, depending on where I have been engaged, both the role, and the perception of the role have differed and can be diverse. It certainly pays to be flexible! However, over the years I have developed my own view of what an architect really needs to have by way of attributes to perform the most important, and valued parts of the role. Here is my view.
Key requirements of an architect
- Have as much technical depth as possible across a broad variety of technical subjects
- Be able to translate technical and project requirements from all parties
- To be able to bridge the communication gap between project managers, management, and technical subject matter experts (SME’s)
- To able to document a solution in a way that is readable by the management, while still been able to be used to develop a solution by sme’s, and allow completion of lower level design
- To be able manage workshops and parties with multiple agenda’s such that requirements can be gathered
All in all an architects life is varied, and much of it only has a cursory relationship to technology, and has everything to do with been able to communicate idea’s at a variety of levels to a diverse audience who commonly have very different perspectives. In a recent role, I used a term coined by Douglas Adams in Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy in which there is a fish, which when put in your ear translates all languages. The fish is called a babel fish. This is very apt because an architect commonly performs the role of a Babel Fish between parties within a project to ensure that a common understanding can be reached.
All for Now
Author: Byron Wilkinson. IT. Architect and Consultant.