so you want to be an architect
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
So you want to be an Architect…
Josh HolmesArchitect [email protected]
http://joind.in/talk/view/2346
3
What is the role of an architect?
What is software architecture?
Do I want to become an architect?
4
Architecture as a
profession
New York City – 1857Thirteen powerful men—friends of presidents, capitalists, intellectuals, and architects—emerged from horse-drawn carriages to gather together with a singular purpose: to elevate the practice of architecture to a profession in its own right.
The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell
5
The role of the architect
ExplorerDesigner
Advocate
6
The role of the architect
ExplorerDesigner
Advocate
7
Explorer
In the 15th century Europe had a business problem. The silk road which had served as an overland trade route for thousands of years had disintegrated along with the Mongol empire and now business was interrupted
Marco Polo at court of Kublai Khan c.1280
8
Explorer
“Everything exquisite and admirable comes from the East Indies… Learned people have remarked that in the whole world there is no commerce comparable to that of China”
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz17th Century
9
Explorer
Spain, only recently unified through the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella was desperate for a competitive edge over other European countries, in trade with the East Indies. Columbus promised them that edge.
Isabella I, queen of Castile 1451-1504
10
Explorer
Columbus estimated the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan as just 2400 nautical miles when it is actually 10,600 nautical miles
“and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that anyone has gone.”
Entry from the journal of Christopher Columbus on his voyage of 1492
11
Explorer
Although Columbus died believing he had opened up a direct nautical route to Asia, in fact, he established a nautical route between Europe and the Americas. It was this route to the Americas, rather than to Japan, that gave Spain the competitive edge it sought in developing a mercantile empire.
12
Architect as Explorer
Architects must be able to help business find technology solutions to pressing business problems.
As an explorer your role is to help the business consider how to apply new and innovative technology solutions for competitive advantage
Vasco da Gama
13
Architect as Explorer
Explorers are visionary
Explorers are persuasive
Explorers are accountable
Vasco da Gama
14
Visionary
What are the top 3 new technology trends that will impact your organization in the next 2 years?
How could these trends be used as a competitive advantage for your organization?
Vasco da Gama
15
Persuasion
What are the pros / cons of exploring these emerging trends?
What type of exploratory project could you propose to test the waters?
Vasco da Gama
16
Accountable
What are your projections for benefit to the organization?
What evidence or metrics could you produce to demonstrate that the exploration was a success?
Vasco da Gama
17
The role of the architect
ExplorerDesigner
Advocate
18
Advocate
ad·vo·cate [ ádvə kàyt ] 1. somebody giving support: somebody who
supports or speaks in favor of something
2. helper: somebody who acts or intercedes on behalf of another
3. law legal representative: somebody such as a lawyer, who pleads another's case in a legal forum
19
Advocate
Alan Dershowitz• At the age of 28 he became the youngest
full professor in Harvard law school history
Successfully defended high profile clients• O.J. Simpson• Claus von Bülow
20
Advocate
March 16, 1982 Claus von Bülow pronounced guilty on 2 counts of attempted murder of his estranged wife Sunny.
Sunny von Auersberg
Claus von Bulow
21
Advocate
“I can’t be both your friend and always be straight with you. I can be your lawyer ... and I will always be straight with you. A lawyer has to be brutally honest.”
Sunny von Auersberg
Claus von Bulow
“Believing in the innocence of my client is not a relevant factor in deciding which cases to take”
22
Advocate
Sunny von Auersberg
Claus von Bulow
Scotland Yard found that washings containing a combination of Amobarbital and Valium but no insulin can result in false positive results for insulin tests.
Blind Experiment Test Results• 4 Samples• 2 false positives for Insulin• 1 Accurate positive for Valium
June 15, 1985 – Conviction is reversed on appeal
23
Architect as Advocate
“The sole duty of an architect is to serve the public, to meet and surpass, if possible, a client's needs.”Defining Architecture - Brian Nank
24
Architect as Advocate
Advocates must listenAdvocates must observeAdvocates must think strategically
25
Art of Listening
“The architect’s design cannot meet the client’s expectations if the architect cannot hear the client and enter his or her domain.”
The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell
Listen to:- Customers- Partners- Users- Managers- Developers
Understand:- Resources- Needs- Unique Challenges- Preferences- Business Climate
26
Art of Observing
“One architect hired to design software to track and control a large manufacturer’s assets actually followed a piece of equipment through its entire life cycle, asking questions of all who came into contact with it.”
The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell
27
Failure to Observe
• 1981 – FAA begins work on the Advanced Automation System – next generation air traffic control
• 1994 – The project is cancelled after massive delays and poorly designed systems
28
Failure to Observe
“Instead of being able to turn a knob by touch to create an airplane's vector line the controller would have to enter 16 keystrokes.”
The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell
29
Failure to Observe
“The architect must “design by walking around”… If the trained eye of an architect had fallen upon an actual workstation of an ATC it would have been clear… the design was impossible to implement.”The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell
30
Art of Strategy
How can the design be used to advance the client’s business?
How could the architecture transform the enterprise?
How could the software transform the users work?
31
Art of Strategy
Learn the business domain
Understand the business strategy
Apply your technology vision to the strategy to identify opportunity for competitive advantage
Solve the right problem at the right time
32
The role of the architect
ExplorerDesigner
Advocate
33
Designer
Believed that humanity should be central to all design
Practiced what is known as organic architecture, an architecture that evolves naturally out of the context, most importantly for him the relationship between the site and the building and the needs of the client
Frank Lloyd Wright
“A doctor can bury mistakes, an architect can only advise their client to plant vines.”
34
Designer
“A structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas (strength), utilitas (utility), venustas (beauty)”Vitruvius 25 B.C.
Frank Lloyd Wright
“An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site.”
35
Designer
Designers must understand engineering (strength)Designers must be able to translate user needs into functional structures (utility)Designers must be able to create a solution that is pleasing to the eye (beauty)
Frank Lloyd Wright
36
Architecture
The product of design
37
Architecture ar·chi·tec·ture [áarki tèkchər]noun 1. building design: the art and science of designing and
constructing buildings 2. building style: a style or fashion of building, especially
one that is typical of a period of history or of a particular place
3. structure of computer system: the design, structure, and behavior of a computer system, microprocessor, or system program, including the characteristics of individual components and how they interact
network architecture
38
Architecture is an idea, a plan about the solution that will be built.
To collaborate effectively you will need to communicate the architecture to different audiences using a variety of tools, media and means.
Your job is to create an architecture that will meet the need
39
What problem are we solving?
What are the practical limits of the solution?
How good does the solution need to be?
What resources do we have to build the solution?
40
Solve the right problem
Requirements are the way we define the problem we are trying to solve.
“Houston, we’ve got a problem” The Apollo 13 Service Module after it was released from the Command Module and set adrift in space
To get Apollo 13 home would require a lot of innovation… I certainly agree that without the splendid people in Mission Control, and their backups, we'd still be up there. - Commander Jim Lovell
41
Practical limits
Constraints limit the solution in some practical ways. These limits include time, money, technology, legacy systems etc.
“The Lunar Module was designed to support two men for two days. Now it was being asked to care for three men nearly four days.”
- Commander Jim Lovell
42
How good the solution?
The solution must perform well, be secure, be robust and easily managed these characteristics are considered non-functional requirements
“We cut down to six ounces each per day, a fifth of normal intake, and used fruit juices; we ate hot dogs and other wet-pack foods when we ate at all”
- Commander Jim Lovell
43
Available resources
Resources include people, technology, legacy systems, technical know-how etc.
“They had thought up a way to attach a CM canister to the LM system by using plastic bags, cardboard, and tape- all materials we had on board. Jack and I put it together: just like building a model airplane”
- Commander Jack Lovell
44
Becoming an architect is a
journey toward
becoming one who dreams
of the solution rather than the
one who builds it
“Find purpose, the means will follow. “- Mahatma Gandhi
So you want to be an Architect…
Josh HolmesArchitect [email protected]
http://joind.in/talk/view/2346