Architect as a Technical Leader

As per InfoQ info graphic above we can see that, "Architect as a technical leader" is one of the trends in Software Development in 2019. You may be thinking that this is not new, and Architects have always been technical leaders! Well you are correct with your assumption as they have always been leaders in the areas of Technical Excellence and Innovation. however, in today's fast past agile environments there is more expected of them in the area of Team Support.

If you are an Architect working on agile projects you would have experienced this first hand, whereby very few projects focus on the quality of the product, instead the focus is on the path of least resistance, which leads to a bias towards time to market and cost efficiency. unfortunately, the development team often are forced into this mind set by the business with added pressure from stakeholders, because after all they are the ones controlling the purse strings.

It is for this reason that the Architect now needs to take on this additional mantle of a leader in Team Support, to step in between the business and the team as the mediator for quality. They need to lead the business and their stakeholders to an understanding and acceptance of the necessity for the focus on quality and the resulting risk if ignored. On the other hand, they also need to lead the team in understanding and implementing software engineering practices and controls that will ensure quality. (Read my previous few articles if you want some insight into these engineering practices)

The Architect can no longer operate at a distance from the team but needs to be part of the team and part of all the team’s daily ceremonies. Their leadership in every area of the projects governance and control is now more than ever critical to the team and project success. It is in the daily team activities where the good the bad and the ugly are shared and experienced and present an opportunity for the Architect to lead the team in technical excellence.

In my current position as a Solution Architect on a project to re-invent the employee digital experience for Prudential, I have had many opportunities to lead the team in areas of efficiency, technical excellence and always with a mindset towards quality. I have seen the positive impact it has had on not only the performance and the technical excellence of the team, but also the relationship of the business with the development team around technical work items that the team put forward and the response of the business to its priority.

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.” – John Ruskin

For some of us this is a no-brainer as we are living this daily, but for others it may be a call to action.