An introduction to architecture and architects

An Introduction to
Architecture and Architects
Warren Weinmeyer
May 2012
Updated: Sept. 2014

Contents
• What is Architecture?
• How does Architecture benefit an organization?
• A closer look: how its structured and delivered
• Architect Roles & Responsibilities
• What to look for in a resume
2

Tip: This presentation is best
viewed in slide-show mode
3

Architecture is an answer to the problems caused by
compartmentalization in complex organizations.
• At it’s essence, Architecture is all about recognizing the importance to
understand a problem, think through a solution to that problem and
methodically drive towards that solution. It seems so easy!
• But even if everyone did that, there would still be problems, because there’s
no-one looking at how all these different ideas interact: it’s all done in a silo.
see plan act
5
see plan act
see plan act
see plan act
see plan act see plan act
see plan act
• Architecture addresses this by looking at problems and opportunities at all
levels and scope of an organization, understanding how these may be related,
identifying an overall plan, and managing the coordinated realization of
harmonious solutions through a reliable process. Architecture is disciplined
planning that is holistically integrated with disciplined delivery.

Architecture is a Discipline, not a Profession
• The difference between the two is the standardization of ideas, approaches and
qualifications – a profession has that, a discipline is “working on it”
• Architecture as a discipline is similar to Project Management as a discipline:
• Project Management has evolved over time to its current state:
• PM used to be done by people who had a “knack” for it: the result was
that project success was highly unpredictable. Companies soon
recognized that being a PM required specific skills.
• Project Management established itself as a defined discipline as full-time
PMs became common, and formalized their lessons learned into
6
best practices that work.
• Now, we have established PM standards and certifications, and good
professionals know about them and use.
• Architecture has followed this same trajectory fairly rapidly, but:
• has not standardized to the same degree as Project Management,
• Project Management was developed to focus on a fairly specific area, but
Architecture as a concept is very broad, so there is a wide variation in what
Architecture means from one company to the next and there is wide
variation in the qualifications of people who call themselves “architect”
• This makes interviewing for an Architect very challenging: you have to look
past the candidate’s role titles and instead look closely at the activities they
performed.

Architecture has Matured
• Despite the variation in how Architecture is being practiced in companies, there
is a fairly good agreement on where Architecture as a concept is today
• Architecture philosophies and best practices have been consolidated into
just a handful of architecture frameworks
• These frameworks have become increasingly specific and prescriptive,
becoming more like cook-books than philosophical treatises, providing real
guidance on the full end-to-end spectrum of architectural activities
• The authors of these frameworks have done a good job of comparing how
their frameworks complement or can integrate with the other frameworks
• There is a considerable amount of guidance regarding how these
architecture frameworks complement and integrate with non-architecture
frameworks, such as ITIL, PMBOK, etc.
• Research has shown that companies that have successfully implemented a
modern, full-featured architecture practice:
• have higher project success rates while delivering faster
• significantly reduce standard operational costs
• have an improved ability for IT to deliver strategic competitive advantage
for the rest of the enterprise
• enjoy better perceived alignment to the Business, by the Business
themselves
7

Architecture complements other Disciplines
Business Area “Z”
Business Area “Y”
Architecture
8
Architecture
See the
Business Opportunity
Plan how to get
there
Implement the Plan
Transformation
opportunities
Solutions to
current
problems
Long-term
planning
Short-term
planning
Requirements
& Design
Detailed
technical
design
Project Management
Hardware/Software Engineering
Business Analysis
Business Area “X”
Business Analysis
Solution
Develop
ment &
Delivery
Manage
Resources
& Risk
Business Management
Project
Management
• Architecture integrates its best practices with the best practices of the other
disciplines to provide a holistic and cross-enterprise level of coordination. A
fundamental role of the Architect is to bring people together and span silos.

How does Architecture
benefit the organization?
9

Business
Segment
Business
Segment
Business
Segment
Operations
• Current State
Landscape
Standards •
& Ref Arch
Capacity •
Planning
Security
Security •
Compliance
Governance •
Support
• Operational
Issues
Technical •
Roadmaps
• Security
Policy
and
Standards
Executive Business •
Objectives
IT Business •
Objectives
IT Mgmt
• Capability Modeling
• Capacity Planning
• Risk Assessment
• Strategic Vision,
Planning & Roadmaps
• Strategic & Technical
Forecasting
• Demand
Prioritization
• Gap & Dependency
Identification
• Business Strategy & Priorities
• Impact
Analysis
• Needs &
Solutions
Facilitation
• Opportunity
Identification
• Business
Roadmaps
• Business
Models
PMO
Program Roadmaps •
Risk Assessment •
Program Architectural Oversight •
Solution Discipline & SDLC •
Identification •
of Required Project
Technical Skills/Roles
Project •
Dependencies
Project •
Prioritization
• Project
Visibility
• Pending
Project Demand
• Pending
Resource Demand
Pending •
• Capacity
Planning
Landscape Changes • Risk
Change
Mgmt
Assessment
• Technical
Dependencies
Application
Services
• Application
Portfolio Mgmt
• Standards
& Ref Arch
• Application
Roadmaps
Current State •
Landscape
Operational •
Issues
Architecture
Standards •
& Ref Arch
Current State Landscape •
Business
Segment
Business
Segment
• Capability
Modeling
To be able to coordinate all the activities from original idea to resulting solutions,
Architects interact with people across the entire company: the Architecture team is
virtually the only group that works horizontally across the organizational silos.
10

Architecture is key to achieve transformative capabilities in
Planning and Delivery (not so much for daily Operations):
11
At a high level:

Operations is ITIL’s strength
Planning
Horizon
Tactical
PM
By applying both Architecture and ITIL best practices with
Project Management for projects, the full conceptual life-cycle,
from idea to solution to working system, is covered.
12
Maturity
Strategic
ITSM
Operational
Architecture
Med High

Let’s take a closer look at
how Architecture is
structured and delivered...
13

Architecture Overview – Architecture Domains
• The scope of concerns that Architecture deals with is so broad that we divide it into different
categories, typically called domains. A very common definition of architectural domains is:
• Business Architecture:
Vision, Strategy, Objectives,
Processes, Principles, Capabilities,
Actors, Use Cases, Organization,
etc.
• Application Architecture:
Systems, Applications, Services,
Protocols, Messages, Interfaces,
Transactions, etc.
• Information Architecture:
Information Entities, Ontologies,
Taxonomies, Data Relationships,
Schemas, etc.
• Technical Architecture:
Network, Servers, Storage,
Communications, Platforms,
etc.
14
Note: this visualization was adapted from the Software
AG/IDS Scheer ARIS manual…so… thanks, ARIS!

Architecture Overview – Architecture Tiers
Enterprise Architecture
Organizational
Scope
Scope of Problem Domain
Technology Horizon
• The industry recognizes 3
general tiers, or levels, of
architecture. These can be
visualized using a grid of
Problem Domain scope,
Technology Horizon (depth of
technology, and Organizational
scope)
• Enterprise Architecture (EA)
looks at the goals,
opportunities and challenges
facing the company, and seeks
to propose solutions that can
holistically improve the
enterprise.
• EA takes a strategic, inclusive
and long-term view, thinking in
terms of the enterprise
Capabilities, Business Processes
and Services rather than
focusing on technological
15 details.

Segment
Architecture
Organizational
Scope
• Segment Architecture is much like
EA but is applied to a specific sub-section
(segment) of the
enterprise.
• A segment can be a Portfolio, a
Line-of-Business, a Capability, a
technology or any other division
that makes sense to the company.
• Segment Architecture, because
the scope is more focused, takes
a closer look at the technology
and information landscape than at
the enterprise level.
Technology Horizon
16

Portfolio
Architecture
Organizational
Scope
• Some companies choose the term
Portfolio Architecture instead
of Segment Architecture.
• Portfolio Architecture can address
technological details to a greater
degree than EA, but does not
have the visibility across the
enterprise that EA does.
• In some companies, Portfolio
Architecture is just folded into EA,
so each enterprise architect is
assigned a portfolio to manage.
Technology Horizon
Portfolio Architecture = Segment Architecture
17

Portfolio
Architecture
Solution
Architecture
Organizational
Scope
• Solution Architecture is focused
on a specific solution and is
concerned with compliance to
standards, roadmaps and greater
strategic objectives, in addition to
finding a solid solution.
• Solution Architecture addresses
technological details to the level
required to ensure the resulting
solution is compliant in all
relevant ways (the rest are part of
Detailed Design).
• Unlike EA and Portfolio
Architecture, which are
continuous activities, the activity
of Solution Architecture is
typically tied to a project lifecycle
or delivery of some similar work
product.
Technology Horizon
18

Enterprise, Portfolio & Solution Architects
Portfolio
Architecture
Solution
Architecture
Organizational
Scope
• Architects at each of these
three tiers (i.e., Enterprise,
Portfolio, and Solution)
address all four architectural
domains (i.e., Business,
Application, Information, and
Technical) – but they do so
based on their different
scopes of mandate.
Project
Business
Architect
Project
Information
Architect
Project
Application
Architect
Project
Technical
Architect
• Project Architects operate in a niche
and can be brought into a project
under the oversight of the Solution
Architect in order to provide
specialist expertise or to lighten the
workload of the SA.
• Often, a lead programmer or
technical specialist is actually what’s
required, not a specialist architect.
Technology Horizon
Project
Integration
Architect
Project
Database
Architect
Etc.
19

Tiers and Domains does NOT mean Silos!
Portfolio
Architecture
Solution
Architecture
Organizational
Scope
Technology Horizon
20
• These divisions are simply
tools to understand where
and how to apply
architectural discipline, and
to break down the challenge
into parts that are easier to
grasp.
• The actual process of
Architecture is continuous
and holistic – it is a complete
continuous-improvement
lifecycle.

Architecture Overview – Architecture Lifecycle
Plan
Act
Check Do
21
Deming
Cycle
• The grand-father of the
continuous-improvement
concept is the Deming Cycle.
• The Deming Cycle is an
iterative process (originating in
the manufacturing sector) for
quality management and
continuous improvement.
• It consists of 4 steps:
• Plan: Establish objectives
• Do: Implement the plan
• Check: Study the results
• Act: Adjust to bring results in
line with objectives

22
• Many companies base their
Architecture approach on
TOGAF, which applies a
type of Deming Cycle where
all 3 tiers of architecture are
blended into a continuous
cycle:
• The TOGAF lifecycle (ADM)
is intended for Enterprise
Architecture but can serve
equally well as a lifecycle
model for the Portfolio and
Solution tiers (levels) of
Architecture (though the
Solution tier is likely to be a
single iteration of the cycle).
• Activities in a higher level of
Architecture may spawn
individual threads of
lifecycle at the lower level of
Architecture.

23
• Note that ITIL also
consists of a type of
Deming Cycle.
• This diagram highlights
how well-integrated ITIL
and Architecture practices
should be.

Architect Roles &
Responsibilities
24

Architecture Overview – Roles & Responsibilities Summary
Enterprise Architect
• Facilitate Management to elaborate enterprise strategic goals and produce roadmaps to execute on them
• Assist Management to understand the risks/impacts of business and technical choices on IT and the enterprise
• Establish Architecture principles, standards and best-practices
• Assist IT Management to prioritize project demand in the context of enterprise priorities
• Provide leadership and vision to the rest of the Architecture team; act as a catalyst for team identity
• Identify cross-Portfolio interdependencies and risks and ensure inter-Portfolio coordination
Portfolio Architect
• Facilitate the creation of Portfolio strategy and roadmaps, as well as any Program roadmaps, in alignment with
enterprise, IT, and Architecture strategic roadmaps
• Formalize the intellectual capital of the enterprise through Business and Technical Models that describe what the
Business does, and how the technology supports that
• Identify interdependencies and risks associated with items on the Portfolio roadmap
• Assess strategic alignment and value of projects and solutions in the context of the Portfolio
• Alert EA of capability gaps in relation to identified project and operational needs as well as interdependencies.
• Apply capacity planning to advise of potential future resource shortages or conflicts in order to avoid them.
• Approve solution architectures for portfolio projects and identify potential new standards
Solution Architect
• Create solution architectures (conceptual, logical and physical), in alignment with enterprise and portfolio
standards and goals.
• Provide guidance and governance to the project for the disciplined identification and delivery of solutions
25

The Enterprise Architect:
 Provides the engagement of Architecture with the rest of IT and the Business
 Provides the expertise to align Business strategy and current issues with IT strategy and current
issues and come up with a strategy to deliver solutions based on industry trends, technology trends and
current best practices
 Is a source of advice on methodologies and best practices in areas relevant to strategy, goal-setting,
strategic planning, governance and the application of frameworks and structured methodologies
 Works inclusively to bring affected/relevant stakeholders together
 Provides risk/impact/predictive analytics
 Has the seniority and maturity to advise executives and senior management
 Provides leadership and mentoring to the rest of the architecture team
 Is involved in the initial activities of the Architecture Lifecycle that generate the ideas and strategies
which are ultimately deployed as solutions later on in the Architecture Lifecycle
 Provide a wide and long-term perspective to problems, opportunities and solutions that enables a
more mature context for understanding what is best for the enterprise
 Understands intimately the role of Architecture within a modern organization
 Exposes Portfolio Architects to influences/dependencies/issues/opportunities beyond their portfolio and
ensures information and coordination between portfolios is maintained
 Leads or participates in initiatives that are inherently enterprise-wide, such as Information
Management, Business Process Improvement, SOA, etc.
26

The Portfolio Architect:
Strategic Roadmap
• A Portfolio coves the entire IT scope of activities of Planning, Developing and Operating:
• OPERATIONS: the managed current-state landscape: the solutions (set of
technology, applications, information and processes) to support a business area.
• PLANNING: the roadmaps for the strategically-aligned evolution of the portfolio as
well as the tactical lifecycle/enhancement planning of the solutions in the portfolio.
• Development: in-flight projects to deliver new or improved solutions into the
managed current-state landscape.
Managed Landscape
Managed
Lifecycle
Strategy Map Service Catalog IT Portfolio Tactical Roadmap
Project Delivery
New
Solutions
Strategic
Alignment
ITPM
Program
Ranked Proposals Management

The Portfolio Architect in Portfolio Operations
• Operations addresses the performance of the
managed landscape.
• The Portfolio Architect:
• Ensures that processes are in place so that the
application inventory is maintained and accurate.
• Constructs metrics to assess the performance (fit-for-purpose,
age, supportability, etc.) and value (business
fit, technical fit) of applications and technology in the
managed landscape, and reviews the performance
results to help with strategic and investment planning.
• Identifies the application-to-Service mapping of
applications in the managed landscape.
• Identifies areas of potential under-investment and
over-investment, based on their strategic value.
• Is accountable to ensure that the Business
Architecture, the Application Architecture, the
Information architecture and the Technical architecture
for the portfolio are captured in the architecture
repository.
• Ensures that the strength provided by Architecture
methods in Planning is smoothly integrated with the
strength provided by ITIL methods in Operations.
IT Portfolio
Service
Catalog
Managed Landscape
Capability
Model
Service
Mapping
Service to
Capability
Mapping
28

The Portfolio Architect in Portfolio Planning
• Planning happens on at least 2 levels: a strategic,
Service-based level and on a tactical,
application/technology-based level.
• Large Services may be divided into smaller
Services, so there may be multiple strategic levels
of planning
• Facilitates the Portfolio Manager to define the
portfolio strategic objectives, and ensures they
are in alignment with enterprise and Architecture
strategic plans; creates the strategic alignment
deliverables (Vision-Goals-Principles, Strategy
Map).
• Facilitates the Portfolio Manager to construct
strategic, Service-oriented roadmaps.
• Facilitates the Portfolio Manager to construct
tactical, application-oriented roadmaps that have
touch-points into the Service-oriented roadmaps.
• Identifies dependencies and synergies between
roadmaps and mitigates or exploits these to
optimize delivery effectiveness.
• Maps Services to “heat-mapped” Capabilities to
assist enterprise-level value assessment
IT Portfolio
Strategic Roadmap
Strategic
Alignment
Managed Landscape
Service Catalog
Capability Model
Managed
Lifecycle
Strategy Map
Tactical Roadmap
29

The Portfolio Architect in Development Projects
Strategic Roadmap
• Facilitates the Portfolio Manager to identify potential projects from the portfolio roadmaps.
• Assists the Portfolio Manager to assess the value and strategic alignment of projects.
• Provides any required architectural oversight for one or more Programs (typically, around
roadmapping and dependency identification).
• Provides architect FTE estimates to assist the PM with resourcing requirements.
• Provides oversight and mentoring for solution architects working on projects within the portfolio.
• Reviews and approves/denies solutions proposed by the solution architects working on projects
within the portfolio.
Managed Landscape
IT Portfolio
Project Delivery
New
Solutions
ITPM
Program
Management Ranked Proposals
• Development originates as
Demand from the Portfolio.
• Development is managed
from within the Portfolio.
30

The Solution Architect:
 Provides an assessment of solution alternatives.
 Provides analysis and specification of the target solution.
 Provides identification, documentation and mitigation of architecturally significant
risk.
 Provides technical content for RFP/RFI documents.
 Creates all required architectural deliverables.
 Ensures the timely provisioning of the technical environment.
 Manages interaction with external technical representatives.
 Assists with engagement with other IT Governance bodies (eg, ensure any
required Security assessments happen).
 Assists with Test Planning, Detail Design (if needed, where appropriate), QA,
Transition to Operations.
 Stewards the technical aspects of the solution delivery through to “go live” and
the warranty period.
 Is responsible for the quality of the solution, the compatibility of the solution to
the organizational and technical environments, and for the alignment of the
solution to IT roadmaps and standards.
31

Architect Working Relationship: Enterprise-Portfolio
• Enterprise Architects are responsible for establishing
the enterprise architectural vision and strategy, in
alignment with the corporate business vision and
strategy, and must ensure that Portfolio Architects
share that vision and support the strategy.
• Portfolio Architects are responsible for establishing
the portfolio architectural vision and strategy, in
alignment with the enterprise vision. Portfolio
Architects maintain a dialogue with Enterprise
Architects to help ensure the enterprise vision and
strategy is pragmatic and effective.
• Enterprise Architects specify the enterprise standards
and best practices.
• Portfolio Architects enforce the enterprise standards
and best practices. Additionally, Portfolio Architects
may propose solutions from their portfolio as
candidates for new enterprise standards to promote
continual improvements in standards and practices.
• Enterprise Architects provide information about the
larger context to the Portfolio Architects, as well as
general oversight and support, while the Portfolio
Architects provide visibility into the specific context of
their portfolios to the Enterprise Architects.
Enterprise architects
standards
Shared vision
& strategy
big picture
visibility
oversight
& support
potential new standards
& reference architectures
delivery visibility
Portfolio architects
32

Architect Working Relationship: Portfolio-Solution
• Portfolio Architects are responsible for
establishing the portfolio architectural vision
and strategy (high-level, long-term roadmaps),
and must ensure that Solution Architects share
that vision.
• Portfolio Architects enforce the enterprise
standards and best practices, which the
Solution Architects leverage to deliver solutions.
Conversely, Solution Architects may contribute
architectural solutions that may be proposed by
the Portfolio Architects as enterprise standards.
• Portfolio Architects oversee the work quality
and compliance of Solution Architects, as well
as provide mentoring and support where
needed.
• Portfolio Architects provide information about
the larger context to the Solution Architects,
while the Solution Architects provide visibility
into the specific context of their projects to the
Portfolio architects
standards
Shared vision
& strategy
oversight
& support
potential new standards
& reference architectures
delivery visibility
Solution architects Portfolio Architects.
big picture
visibility
33

Architecture Engagement Over a Typical Project SDLC
Inception Elaboration Construction Transition
Design
& Build
Analyze Test Chg
Mgmt
Deploy Support &
Warranty
Business
Case
Project
Charter
Portfolio
Architect
Solution
Architect
Non-funct
Requirmts
RFx
System
Selectn
Detailed
Non-funct
Requirmts
Detailed
Soln Arch
Test
Plan
Iterations
or Sprints
Deploymt
Plan
Operational
Support
Model
(Pre-
Project)
Legend
Architectural inputs
Architectural deliverable
Conceptual
& Logical
Soln Arch
Strategic
Roadmap
Tactical
Roadmap
Transition
Plan
Implementation
Plan
Retirement
Plan
Black indicates the
Architect should either
author at least or be
Accountable for the
deliverable
Blue indicates the
Architect contributes
content to the
deliverable
34
Project
Phase

Note that Architecture is involved through the entire course of the project
and beyond: Architects do not just pop out a solution design and then
leave.
The Portfolio Architect (PA) is involved before a Project is even approved
(while it is still just an “opportunity”, and often handles the initial stages
of the Project, until funds are provided to obtain a Solution Architect (SA).
After that, the PA will continue to monitor the progress of the project
through regular dialogue with the SA.
The PA will take over again from the SA when the solution is delivered into
their operational portfolio.
Inception Elaboration Construction Transition
Design
& Build
Analyze Test Chg
Mgmt
Deploy Support &
Warranty
Business
Case
Project
Charter
Portfolio
Architect
Solution
Architect
Non-funct
Requirmts
RFx
System
Selectn
Detailed
Non-funct
Requirmts
Detailed
Soln Arch
Test
Plan
Iterations
or Sprints
Deploymt
Plan
Operational
Support
Model
(Pre-
Project)
Legend
Conceptual
& Logical
Soln Arch
Strategic
Roadmap
Tactical
Roadmap
Transition
Plan
Implementation
Plan
Retirement
Plan
35

Elaboration Construction Transition
Design
& Build
Analyze Test
Chg
Mgmt
Deploy Support &
Warranty
Project
Charter
Portfolio
Architect
Solution
Architect
Non-funct
Requirmts
RFx
Detailed
Non-funct
Requirmts
System
Selectn
Detailed
Logical
architecture
and physical
architecture;
may be done
in iterations
for agile
projects
Detailed
Soln Arch
SA reviews
development
team test plans,
contributes
non-functional
Test
Plan
Iterations
or Sprints
Deploymt
Plan
Operational
Support
Model
(Demand
Planning)
Legend
Strategic
Roadmap
Transition
Plan
SA provides technology
retirement, resource
reclamation and
information disposition
plans
Retirement
Plan
Conceptual & high-level Logical
solution architecture is required
before starting an RFx, performing
System Selection, or beginning
detailed architecture and design
Requires non-functional
requirements,
Conceptual and high-level
Logical architecture
to be completed
Requires non-functional
requirements,
Conceptual and high-level
Logical
architecture to be
completed
This is the
Support
Sustainment
“bible”
Depending on SDLC, may
iterate as far as
development milestones or
all the way to incremental
deploytments
deployments
test plans
SA provides
backup,
technical
deployment
and rollback
plans
SA provides
cut-over plan,
including data
migration
Project
Phase Inception
PA provides Architect FTE estimate
for budgeting, and provides tasks
& work estimates for scheduling
Portfolio, Investment
Theme and Program
strategic roadmaps
Portfolio application
roadmap(s) PA provides complexity
& tech assessment
content, reads final
doc: this ensures early
visibility into the
approved project
36
Conceptual
& Logical
Soln Arch
Business
Case
Tactical
Roadmap

What to look for in a resume
(you will likely not find it all)
37

Enterprise Architect Resumes
 Lots of seniority and supervisory experience
 Evidence of mature best practices-based experience and structured methodologies; not
just Architecture frameworks, also others like ITIL, BPM, Six-Sigma, etc.
 Deep experience in at least one of Business, Applications, Information/Data or
Technology, combined with wide experience in as many of these as possible
 Experience working with management and executives
 Knowledge of organizational governance structures and approaches
 Evidence of tying disparate things together holistically, for example solving many
problems or a many-faceted problem in an elegant, integrated manner
 Leadership and vision, big-picture thinking
 Lots of experience from various large and complex development projects
 Evidence of working well with multiple stake-holders, acting as the glue bringing people
together, facilitating meetings and working groups
38
 Strong strategic planning experience
 Experience with models, meta-models, taxonomies, ontologies, grammars and EA tools
like ARIS, MEGA, or TROUX
Working as an architect at more than 3 corporations

Portfolio Architect Resumes
 Think of a Portfolio Architect as an Enterprise Architect that works
within a defined segment of the enterprise: the EA resume hints apply,
but you have room to relax a bit on the seniority/maturity aspect
 Experience creating application landscape, integration, system and
data-flow models
 Experience in the subject domain of the Portfolio in question – doesn’t
always have to be an expert on the domain (depending on the situation)
but definitely has to be a good architect.
39
 Experience constructing roadmaps
 Experience with Application Portfolio Management, Infrastructure
Portfolio Management and other portfolio-oriented approaches

Solution Architect Resumes
 Strong project experience, evidence of leadership on projects
 UML diagrams/models: Activity, Collaboration, Sequence, Interaction, Communication,
Deployment, Package
 Solution architecture formalisms, eg: View model, Viewpoint model, 4+1 (Kruchten
view model)
 Deep experience in at least one of Business, Applications, Information/Data or
Technology, combined with wide experience in as many of these as possible
 Development methodologies: Rational, Agile, SCRUM
 Clear indications that the candidate no longer programs, configures servers or deploys
hardware (or at least that this is only a small portion of their job)
 Has clear experience in network design, application integration, SOA, database design,
coding, high availability, scalability
 Strong analytic and requirements-gathering capabilities
40
 Strong document-writing capabilities
 Background in the area relevant to the solution domain (where the area is inherently
complex or specialized, such as ERP, ECM, integration platforms, GIS, etc.)
 Evidence of big-picture thinking and the ability to identify
interactions/dependencies/repercussions

Project Architect Resumes
 Think of a Project Architect as an Solution Architect that
works within a defined specialty on the project: the SA
resume hints apply, but you have room to relax a bit on
the overall seniority/maturity aspect
 However, you have to be more demanding
regarding expertise in the specialty area being hired
for than you would be for the SA
 Keep in mind this is still Architecture, not
implementation: we want a specialist Architect NOT a
lead programmer, network technician or DBA
 It is worth questioning the requisition for a Project
Architect to confirm that they actually are clear that
they need an Architect – often what they will really
need is in fact a lead developer, technician, DBA, etc.
41

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An introduction to architecture and architects