Architect Tomorrow 2020 round up

Original titled "#ArchitectAdvent 2020 Calendar" rounding off 2020 with some of the great #ArchitectTomorrow content we recorded in 2020.

As per my post on Dec 1st - #ArchitectAdvent is a playlist from the Architect Tomorrow community (sponsored by Tanium) throughout most of December using the #ArchitectAdvent hashtag!

If you want to get the inside track on Architect Tomorrow feel free to join the LinkedIn group here.

1st December: UN SDGs for Architects

We kick things off with the recording of the panel on Conscious Architectural Choices as part of the Iasa Global Architecture for Global Good #BILT series which was sponsored by Tanium

As a reminder the panel consisted of Mina FROST, Bianca Garcez, Gunnar Menzel, Chris Lockhart & Nathan Allchin - a great range of opinions on the topic of how Architects should be thinking about the UN sustainable development goals.

Here is the original post if you want to share this with friends and colleagues:

2nd December: Smart Cities Panel

The panel on Smart Cities, IoT and 5G from earlier in the year - one of our best panel discussions with Leo de Sousa, Chris Hallenbeck, Ana Fernandes and Ryan Nappi

Of course the irony of talking about 5G meant that of course we had connectivity gremlins! So we did a follow up with Ana on 5G which is available here.

3rd December: Grey Swan Architecture Roadmaps

One of the most popular #ArchitectTomorrow videos is todays #ArchitectAdvent post. The initial pioneers of the virtual community (thank you btw!) discussed what needs to be in the "emergency roadmap" or initiatives that organisations now need to focus on in order to pivot or continue to operate.

Of course in many cases this wasn't even written down - IT teams and Architects got on and helped their businesses do what was really needed right then (in some cases that meant going and working in logistics). And at Tanium we helped (and continue to help) organisations overcome challenges such as VPN and remote endpoint security and patching.

We talked about the economic models that the consultancies and analysts put forward - the V, U and L models. One of the things we got right was that the model would look different depending on the industry. But I would say overall things are looking somewhat U shaped right now? But of course still rather uncertain until we see impact of the vaccines that have recently been announced.

Around this time we changed the name of the roadmap from #BlackSwan (something no one could have predicted) to #GreySwan (as many had predicted a pandemic but no one was ready or realized how it would unfold).

I've jumped the video straight into the discussion here - rewind a bit if you want to hear the introductions and background from last time.

Thanks Petra in 't Veld-Brown, A. Gaye Soyk?k, Lukasz Panusz, Karsten Hill, Andy Dalby for being the pioneers! And of course to Ryan Nappi for managing the series and moderating this one.

4th December: A gift idea for architects?!

Struggling for a Christmas gift for an Architect?!

Looking for a way to be more effective remotely?

Check this out - a graphics tablet - typically used by graphic designers but I've found it works pretty well for remote whiteboarding.

Note that this was recorded earlier in the year (I almost forgot about this video actually!) and therefore is pre-beard!

Note that I have no connection with this brand what so ever - I just did a bit of research earlier in the year and this is what I thought looked good!

5th and 6th: Unbox a techy boxset?!

I don't plan to post anything over the weekend but if you've not already watched it check out one of my favourite series - Black Mirror. Its a really thought provoking series that makes you think about the future direction of technology and its impact on society. So very much on topic with the Architecture for Global Good theme covered on the Dec 1st post. Enjoy! Oh but don't watch it with the kids - several episodes are definitely NSFW so you've been warned!

Turns out that there may be a 2020 special episode in the works?! Exciting.

7th: Sustainable IT and other conversations with Gunnar Menzel

5 billion views on YouTube equates to 40,000 US households electricity usage!

Thankfully Google has a pretty good track record on clean energy but it made me think about the impact of the cloud.

This and other insight from my conversation with Gunnar Menzel (CTIO EMEA at Capgemini) when we talked about Sustainability in IT earlier in the year.

And check more of Gunnar and the wider community on the Architect Tomorrow channel here: https://youtube.com/c/ArchitectTomorrow/

8th: The future of Integration Architecture & introducing Tom Fairbairn

Tom Fairbairn and I had a fantastic conversation about his journey from working in microchip design through to his role as a distinguished engineer at Solace. We also talk about pre-sales and architect roles and the future of Integration Architecture.

There is more to come from Tom – not just from this interview but he was also on the panel we recorded this week called “Predicting the unpredictable – what will 2021 bring?” alongside Sally V Pritchard, Chris Lockhart and myself. This might just be behind one of the doors of #ArchitectAdvent in a few days…!

9th: Bike ride and "field side" chat with Nathan Allchin

Sadly the weather is now a bit chilly for outdoor interviews and bike rides! In fact this "fireside chat" could have used a fire to keep us warm even a couple of months ago!

So the #ArchitectTomorrow #ArchitectAdvent for Dec 9th is when Nathan Allchin and I went for a ride and spoke about Enterprise and Business Architecture. Including a load of insights from Nathan's career including decision making vs advising decision makers.

Enjoy (and try not to get too distracted by the passing trains and wildlife in the background - this was my first outdoor recording - lots of lessons learned)!

10th: It is important to keep Architecture simple.

More brilliant insight from the master architect and CTIO Gunnar Menzel today. I particularly liked the comparison to a carpenter talking about his tools rather than the piece of furniture (from 1:10 to 3:30) - Architects we can sometimes get excited about the inner workings of the EA repository or the tech rather than the end business value...

I like the phrase "You don't truly understand something if you can't explain it simply"!

11th: The importance of asking why and understanding why.

Ana Fernandes interview for #ArchitectTomorrow is #ArchitectAdvent for Friday the 11th.

Ana offers a different perspective on the role working in Telecoms network architecture.

Weekend of 12th & 13th: Most searched in 2020

Staying on the topic of Why - it turns out "Why" is the most searched for term (at least in the UK). Also this video pivots nicely into 2 videos we plan to share next week - one jointly recorded with Google and another on 2020 reflections and 2021 predictions. Keep a look out for those!

14th: Future of Architecture Leadership with Steve Alvey:

Moving forwards will Ecosystem Architecture > Enterprise Architecture?

Steve Alvey and I had a conversation last week about the future of strategy, architecture and architecture leadership. In a time when the "castle walls" have come down its interesting to reflect on this.

The above clip is a short snippet from the full interview below:

15th: #TaniumEMEA takeover

The most important topic on my feed today is the Tanium recruitment drive - so this is the #ArchitectAdvent #ArchitectTomorrow post for today (the exciting video I had planned to share will have to wait until tomorrow!)

16th: Unboxing Google Cloud Chronicle and Tanium

Unboxing Google Cloud Chronicle and Tanium with Patrice Puichaud

What is the future of the Security Operations Centre?

What is Chronicle and how is the addition of Tanium data so game changing?

And how the heck do you unbox a cloud product for YouTube?!!

17th: How to do Christmas over Zoom

Staying on the unboxing theme: "I guess this is what Christmas will be like this year - over Zoom?!"

For those of you not sure how to behave on zoom calls unboxing your presents this one is for you! We recorded this earlier in the year but the clip feels very relevant for #ArchitectAdvent :-)

This clip comes from when we unboxed Iasa Global with Paul Preiss - check out the full video here:

18th - 20th: Another Christmas gift option from Chris Lockhart!

Chris Lockhart interview is today's #ArchitectAdvent post. Chris also has a great deal on his book over the holiday period. Chris has been a great member of the community this year so do check out his book offer below.

Get 50% on the HARDCOVER edition of his book the People Problem - go to https://bit.ly/3r7EomX and enter the code XMASMIRACLE in the checkout.

21st: Predicting the Unpredictable part 1 - 2020 learnings

Whilst 2020 hasn't been the finest vintage - Sally V Pritchard, Tom Fairbairn, Chris Lockhart and myself sat down to take stock of what we have learned through the year and what is likely to continue into 2021.

This 10 minute video is part 1 of "Predicting the Unpredictable" and part 2 will focus more on future predictions for the new year.

We cover a broad range of topics including mental health, technology adoption & business transformation, distributed working and consumer behaviour.

#ArchitectAdvent #ArchitectTomorrow #predictions #predictingtheunpredictable #2021predictions #firesidechat #communitytalk #reflections #2020andbeyond #2020trends

22nd: Predicting the Unpredictable part 2 - 2021 predictions

So here it is - predicting the unpredictable part 2!

Featuring Chris Lockhart, Tom Fairbairn, Sally V Pritchard and I discussing what 2021 will likely have in store for organisations and the architects tasked with guiding them through another unpredictable year.

We cover a lot of ground in 35 minutes:

- Innovation in remote work & video conferencing

- Citrix is dead!?!

- The hybrid workforce and the challenges that may bring

- Acceleration of digital transformation & cloud adoption

- Future of retail (including why Lego is doing better than Victoria's Secret?!)

- Getting regulation right

- Mental health and behavioural design

- Environmental / Sustainability and building back better

And much more!

So what are your predictions for 2021? Do you agree or disagree with ours?

#architecttomorrow #architectadvent

THANK YOU & Happy Christmas!

Seasons Greetings and a massive THANK YOU to my network and the Architect Tomorrow community. Your support has been fantastic this year - without you this wouldn't have been possible.

So this is the last post for the #ArchitectTomorrow #ArchitectAdvent series. Do reach out to me if you'd like to get involved in 2021!