1. So you want to be an
Architect…
Josh Holmes
Architect Evangelist
josh.holmes@microsoft.com
http://joind.in/talk/view/2346

2. Josh Holmes
@joshholmes
josh.holmes@microsoft.com
http://www.joshholmes.com
http://slideshare.net/joshholmes

3. 3
What is the role of
an architect?
What is software
architecture?
Do I want to
become an
architect?

4. 4
Architecture
as a
profession
New York City – 1857
Thirteen 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 Profession
Marc & Laura Sewell

5. 5
The role of the architect
Explorer
Designer
Advocate

6. 6
The role of the architect
Explorer
Designer
Advocate

7. 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. 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 Leibniz
17th Century

9. 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. 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. 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. 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. 13
Architect as Explorer
Explorers are visionary
Explorers are persuasive
Explorers are accountable
Vasco da Gama

14. 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. 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. 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. 17
The role of the architect
Explorer
Designer
Advocate

18. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 24
Architect as Advocate
Advocates must listen
Advocates must observe
Advocates must
think strategically

25. 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 Profession
Marc & Laura Sewell
Listen to:
- Customers
- Partners
- Users
- Managers
- Developers
Understand:
- Resources
- Needs
- Unique Challenges
- Preferences
- Business Climate

26. 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 Profession
Marc & Laura Sewell

27. 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. 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 Profession
Marc & Laura Sewell

29. 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 Profession
Marc & Laura Sewell

30. 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. 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. 32
The role of the architect
Explorer
Designer
Advocate

33. 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. 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. 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. 36
Architecture
The product
of design

37. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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

45. So you want to be an
Architect…
Josh Holmes
Architect Evangelist
josh.holmes@microsoft.com
http://joind.in/talk/view/2346