© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel The Architect Abilities Ido Flatow Senior Consultant, Sela Group

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 2 Agenda Introduction Required Skills Who Can Become an Architect Check-List for Aspiring Architects Who Can’t Become an Architect How to Train Them

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 3

4 What makes an architect ? A very skillful programmer ? A system analyst with a thirst for technology ? A person of a different, new profession? Or maybe a mix of all of the above?

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 5 The 5 areas of expertise IT Environment Business / Technology strategy Design Skills Quality Attributes Human Dynamics

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 6 IT Environment Architects are archeologists –Uncover details about the organization using documents and artifacts –Sometimes dig and explore to have the complete picture of the requirements –Document the process of their work

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 7 IT Environment Architects must be innovative –Keep track of existing and new technologies –Explore how their customer can benefit from new technologies But beware…

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 8 IT Environment Architects do risk assessment –Assess the organizational readiness for the changes to come –Estimate the impact the solution will have on the “Users” / ”Customers” If they don’t manage risks …

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel IT Environment Architects are negotiators –Convince co-workers and leadership that their ideas will work –Resolve problems that often escalate into political conflicts 9

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 10 Business / Technology strategy Architects have direct contact with clients –Identify stakeholders among the IT team –Interview stakeholders and gather requirements for the solution

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 11 Business / Technology strategy Architects extract requirements –Extend the non-functional requirements written by the system analyst –Document the requirements of the IT team –Address the underlining hidden assumptions to find alternate approaches “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Henry Ford

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel Business / Technology strategy 12

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 13 Design Skills Architects are experienced designers –Patterns and best practices are the “Bread and Butter” of the daily work of the architect –Have sufficient knowledge about the framework they work on (.NET framework, Java J2EE …) –Experienced enough to know how not to do things and what to avoid (Anti-Patterns) –Have a good understanding of the desired target User Experience

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 14 Quality Attributes Architects address quality attributes that are important to clients –Security –Availability –Reliability –Usability –Efficiency –Flexibility –Interoperability –Robustness

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 15 Quality Attributes Architects address quality attributes that are important to developers –Maintainability –Portability –Reusability –Testability

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 16 Human Dynamics Architects deal with conflict of interests –Know when to engage and when to disengage –Know when to lead and when to follow

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 17 Human Dynamics Architects mentor and educate others –Good speaker (in front of audience) –Clearly explain ideas in writing –Lead others and motivate others Architects learn continuously –Listens to other people –Aware of their surroundings and can receive criticism

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 18 So … Who can be an architect ? Which of the following figures has the skills suited for an architect ? –Program Manager –IT Professional –System Analyst –Designer / Team Leader –Programmer

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel So … Who can be an architect ? 19 Should we look for someone who is an expert at a specific field? Should we look for someone who has sufficient knowledge about several fields?

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 20 The check list for aspiring architects 1.Enthusiastic 2.Technology-agnostic 3.General in technology outlook 4.Well-respected and influential 5.Able to represent a constituency 6.Articulate and persuasive 7.Persistent 8.Good at "helicoptering" 9.Strategic

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 21 The check list for aspiring architects 10.Focused on what is truly best for the organization (limited personal agendas) 11.Knowledgeable of the business 12.Focused on the long-term 13.Able to facilitate 14.Able to negotiate 15.Able to effectively use the whiteboard 16.Able to lead 17.Able to be taught Excerpt from "Characteristics of an effective Enterprise Architect" by Scott Bittler.

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 22 One should not become an architect if … They don’t deal well with organizational politics They like writing code all day long They can't see the big picture (or don't like to) They prefer getting specific plans They don’t like dealing with ambiguity

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 23 You found one, what now ? Appoint them a mentor Do job shadowing Make them an apprentice to a senior architect Train, train and then train some more Learning and hands-on work will transform any aspiring architect to an experienced architect !

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel 24 Resources What do you need to know to become an IT Architect? become-an-IT-Architect_3F00_.aspx become-an-IT-Architect_3F00_.aspx The IT Architect Skills Library Foundations of Solutions Architecture Enterprise Architecture - Skyscraper Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Solution Architect Characteristics of an effective enterprise architect f f2ec7fe f f2ec7fe Architecture

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel Questions ? 25

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel Go out and seek them ! 26

© Copyright SELA Software & Education Labs Ltd Baruch Hirsch St. Bnei Brak Israel Thank you ! 27