What Do Architects Do Anyway?

1. What Do Architects Do Anyway? Ron Jacobs Architect Evangelist - Microsoft

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

3. 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 ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell

4. The role of the architect Advocate Explorer Designer

5. The role of the architect Advocate Explorer Designer

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. Architect as Explorer Architects must be able to help business find technology solutions to pressing business problems. Vasco da Gama As an explorer your role is to help the business consider how to apply new and innovative technology solutions for competitive advantage

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Architect as ExplorerTopanga Canyon, Malibu

17. The role of the architect Advocate Explorer Designer

18. Advocate • ad·vo·cate [ ádvə kàyt ] • somebody giving support: somebody who supports or speaks in favor of something • helper: somebody who acts or intercedes on behalf of another • 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. Claus von Bulow Sunny von Auersberg

21. Advocate “Believing in the innocence of my client is not a relevant factor in deciding which cases to take” Claus von Bulow “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

22. Advocate Scotland Yard found that washings containing a combination of Amobarbital and Valium but no insulin can result in false positive results for insulin tests. Claus von Bulow • Blind Experiment Test Results • 4 Samples • 2 false positives for Insulin • 1 Accurate positive for Valium Sunny von Auersberg 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. George FogelmanAttorney At Law

25. Architect as Advocate • Advocates must listen • Advocates must observe • Advocates must think strategically

26. 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.” • Listen to: • Customers • Partners • Users • Managers • Developers • Understand: • Resources • Needs • Unique Challenges • Preferences • Business Climate The Software Architect’s ProfessionMarc & Laura Sewell

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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?

32. August 10, 1628 Swedish Warship Vasa Sinks killing 55 people Architect Henrik Hybertsson Designed the ship but died in The spring of 1627

33. The role of the architect Advocate Explorer Designer

34. 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.”

35. 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.”

36. 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

37. ArchitectureThe product of design

38. Architecture ar·chi·tec·ture [áarki tèkchər] noun building design: the art and science of designing and constructing buildings building style: a style or fashion of building, especially one that is typical of a period of history or of a particular place 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

39. Architecture is an idea, a plan about what the solution that will be built. Your job is to create an architecture that will meet the need To collaborate effectively you will need to communicate the architecture to different audiences using a variety of tools, media and means.

40. 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?

41. Solve the right problem Requirements are the way we define the problem we are trying to solve. 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 “Houston, we’ve got a problem” The Apollo 13 Service Module after it was released from the Command Module and set adrift in space

42. 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

43. 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

44. 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

45. “Find purpose, the means will follow. “ - Mahatma Gandhi Becoming an architect is a journey toward becoming one who dreams of the solution rather than the one who builds it

46. Thank You! Questions?