Are your team members attending every meeting they are invited to? Should they be? I’d argue that most people should be actively declining a large swath of the meetings they are invited to. In fact, if your team members aren’t declining meetings, I’d […]
Leadership
Challenging previously held beliefs and moving forward with architectural “anti-patterns” in the enterprise
Nobody claims to like anti-patterns, and I certainly don’t like them. In fact, when it comes to architecture and solutioning, we identify them, make sure we understand why they are bad, and then we avoid them. We help others to […]
The Journey. A Story About Turning Business Requirements Into Solution Architecture.
In a previous article titled A Methodology for a Transparent and Traceable Solution Architecture, I outlined a methodology an architect can use to create a transparent and traceable solution architecture. This article will expand on that and will use a […]
A Methodology for a Transparent and Traceable Solution Architecture
As a Solution Architect, you intersect with all entities that have a vested interest in the solution, including, business sponsors and associated business team, business managers, and business analysts to different degrees. As being responsible and accountable to get the […]
From Assumptions to Hypothesis to Decision. Better Decisions Through Methodology.
The decisions made by Solution Architects have significant impacts and consequences for the organization and their people. They can have broad impacts on their customers, suppliers, and partners. Significant decisions are not to be taken lightly, so architects need to […]
Consensus and the Danger it Poses to Strategic Decision Making
This morning I was thinking about ‘group think’, ‘decision making’, ‘tribalism’ and the various outcomes that can occur depending on the methodology and how much weight is given to consensus especially when we use consensus to reduce accountability or delegate […]
Six Key Traits of Successful Solution Architect Consultants
I have been thinking about some of the qualities that make up good solution architects. I believe I’ve come up with a short list of the best qualities to expect from a solution architect. This list is not exhaustive, but […]
Refining and Applying Methodology and Rules of Engagement at the Onset of New IT Consulting (B2B) Projects
As a consultant and the director and controller of a software consulting company, I’m often regularly engaged as a consultant on new projects with new clients as part of a contract for services business relationship. As a consultant it’s important […]
How to Constructively Disagree (as a Solutions Architect)…
I’m experimenting with a more informal style post today, and I am writing about something that is on my mind – disagreement in the realm of solution architecture. Today, my wife and I had breakfast at 8:30 followed by 30km […]
Why an Architect Needs to be Steps Ahead of the Pack
Your role as a solution architect (or software/technical architect) is to own the solution the project is implementing. Ultimately, the architect is responsible for ensuring the solution is going to work optimally within the required constraints, budget, governance, and technical capabilities. The […]