8/26/2023 0 Comments Technical architect meaningWhen an organization has so many applications and infrastructure inter-dependencies that it is a full-time job to ensure their alignment and strategy without being involved in the code of any of them, that is a solution architect. Application architects also often mentor and/or lead developers, and know the code of their responsible application(s) well. When an application becomes so vast and complex that dealing with the overall technical vision and planning, and translating business needs into technical strategy becomes a full-time job, that is an application architect. However, it is not only a legitimate role, but a highly strategic one for smart companies. We use the title "engineer" for everyone, and "engineer" means deciding and building.įor people who have never worked in a very large organization (or have, but it was a dysfunctional one), "architect" may have left a bad taste in their mouth. Companies that emphasize "all builders are deciders, and all deciders are builders" will move faster than their competitors. People who are still hanging on to their architect title will chafe at this and protest "but I am hands-on!" Great, if you're just a builder then give up your meaningless title and stop setting yourself apart from the other builders. Creating a career path / hierarchy that implicitly tells people "building" is lower than "deciding", and "deciders" are not directly responsible (by the difference in title) for "building". That says a lot, also by what it doesn't say. So the title "architect" really means "decider". The fundamental problem is that "architecture" is nothing more or less than the sum of all the decisions that have been made about your application/solution/portfolio. If this sounds crazy to you, wait a few years and your company will probably catch up, or your competitors who figure it out will catch up with (and pass) you. I've come to the conclusion that the future in our technology industry is one mostly without architects. I've been an architect at varying levels from application, to solution, to enterprise, at multiple companies large and small. I tend to live a little closer to the bleeding edge in our industry than the majority (though certainly not pushing the boundaries nearly as much as a lot of really smart people out there). Update - over the last 9 years, my thinking has evolved considerably on this topic.
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