future role of architect · 2018-05-02 · Future Role of the Architect Reports of our extinction...

Future Role of the ArchitectReports of our extinction have been greatly exaggerated

Riccardo M Bennett-Lovsey

ITARC London, November 2016

A little about me

Senior Architect at “The App Business”

Began my career as a doctor of bioinformatics

Enterprise Fellow with the RSE

Student of the IDesign school of architecture

Co-organiser of the “Software Architect & Mentorship” Meetup

Contact via www.theappbusiness.com

Overview

The Role of the Architect

The Past

The Present

The Future

But first…

Warning:

Completely subjective

5© The App Business

How we like to see ourselves How everyone else sees us

A software architect is a software expert who makes high-level

design choices and dictates technical standards, including

software coding standards, tools, and platforms.

Solution Architect

Infrastructure Architect

Data Architect

Application Architect

Technical Architect

Domain Architect

Cloud Architect

SOA Architect

Web Architect

Services Architect

Platform Architect

Digital Architect

System Architect

Software Architect

“… can be summarised by any one of a collection of

aphorisms, which (while equally nebulous) are still long

enough to use in a job specification”

- Human Resources

The problem is…

We love to ruminate over what we are

Rarely think about what it is we actually do?

Compare with other Architects

Building Architect

Landscape Architect

Aeronautical Architect

Energy Architect

Product Architect

Industrial Architect

Aerospace Architect

Nuclear Architect

Naval Architect

Urban Architect

Unifying facets of an Architect

Identifying practical solutions to high-value problems

Integrating any number of parts* to build those solutions

Often the design, fabrication, configuration and validation of those parts

*define as necessary

(my thoughts)

Architectural Overheads

Constraints

Regulations

Governance

Stakeholders

Compliance

Dependencies

Politics

Quality Control

Legacy Systems

Process

Planning

Budget

Communication

Diplomacy

Requirements

Schedule

Technology

The Past

A quick history of software

First digital computer

First software held in electronic

memory

“Decomposing Systems into Modules”

published by Parnas

Software Engineering

Institute established

First mainframe

systems

First NATO Software

Engineering Conference

World Wide Web invented

1940 1950 20201960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Amazon EC2

released

Java released

.NET released

Microsoft Azure

released

Docker released

Azure Service Fabric

released

Where were the Architects?

For as long people have built software

there have been Architects

(whether they were called that or not)

Who were the Architects?

Chief Technician

System Engineer

Technical Lead

Lead Developer

Architect (occasionally)

Technical Manager

Development Lead

Core challenges have changed over time

Stopping valves burning out

Stopping the punchcards disintegrating

Access to the mainframe

Having enough processing power

Having enough memory

Having enough storage

Having enough bandwidth

Having the best platform

Having the best developers

Having the best testers

Having the best security

Service scalability

24/7 availability

Geo-redundancy

Software Crisis

Crisis? What Crisis?

Projects over-budget

Projects running over-time

Inefficient software

Low quality deliverables

Unmet requirements

Unmaintainable products

Projects just not delivered

(half a century of mediocrity)

Unmet requirements

(half a century of mediocrity)

Why is there no “Electronics Crisis”?

… “Aeronautical Crisis”?

… “Construction Crisis”?

… “Manufacturing Crisis”?

… “Mining Crisis”?

… “Transport Crisis”?

… “Agricultural Crisis”?

So, it’s just us and…

Merchant Bankers

What went wrong?

Did technology change too quickly?

Was software too unconstrained?

Did enough people know what they were doing?

Did enough people care?

Were enough people held accountable?

What went wrong?

Disciplines that do not hold their practitioners

to account are destined to stagnate or worse

The Present

Are we still in Crisis?

Unmet requirements

Why are we still in Crisis?

Software is still in adolescence

Is it art, science or engineering?*

No regulated licensing or industry standards

No formal qualification or apprenticeship required

*answer: engineering!

EULA: “Use at your own risk”

Would you accept the same warning on a bridge?

… or a plane?

… a car?

… a pace-maker?

… a toaster?

… a light switch?

… a doorbell?

Software has never had a “Revolution”

1500 1600 20001700 1800 1900

Scientific Revolution

First Agricultural Revolution

First Industrial Revolution

(Machines & Manufacturing)

Second Industrial Revolution

(Technology & Transport)

Medical Revolution

Second Agricultural Revolution

(Green Revolution)

Digital Revolution

Yet, we are all software companies now

Who should hold themselves accountable?

Answer: we should

(because no one else will)

We must drive the change

Set an example to the newbies

Become the standard-bearers

Take responsibility for our industry

… otherwise, why else are we here?

The Future

Remaining relevant

“Revolution” begets industrialisation

Industrialisation begets automation

Automation begets redundancy

What else must we do?

What we always do:

Adapt or perish

Recall how challenges have changed over time

Stopping valves burning out

Stopping the punchcards disintegrating

Access to the mainframe

Having enough processing power

Having enough memory

Having enough storage

Having enough bandwidth

Having the best platform

Having the best developers

Having the best testers

Having the best security

Service scalability

24/7 availability

Geo-redundancy

Recall how challenges have changed over time

Eventually technology ceases to be the limitation

Wardley Value Maps

Genesis

Product (+ rental)

Custom Built

Commodity (+ utility)

Evolution

Compute

Production System

CRMProduction Talent

Web Server

Website

Branded

Content

Customer

Recommendation Enginein-house/agile

off-the-shelf

outsourced

Wardley Value Maps

Genesis

Product (+ rental)

Custom Built

Commodity (+ utility)

Compute

Production System

CRMProduction

Talent

Web Server

Website

Branded

Content

Customer

Evolution

Recommendation Engine

in-house/agile

off-the-shelf

outsourced

Already commoditised

Communication

Storage

Compute

Search

Availability

Support

Logging

Analytics

Office

Payment

Vending

Resilience

Security

Business Intelligence

Already commoditised

Even coding is becoming commoditised

Exhibit A: Azure Logic Apps

Exhibit B: Azure Service Fabric

What does all this mean for us?

Recall the unifying facets of an Architect

Identifying practical solutions to high-value problems

Integrating any number of parts* to build those solutions

Often the design, fabrication, configuration and validation of those parts

*define as necessary

We must redefine the “parts” that we integrate

Scripts

Functions

Libraries

Frameworks

Servers

Systems

Products

Services

Utilities

Capabilities

We must redefine the “parts” that we integrate

Things will always need integrating

Look ahead and drive innovation

Move beyond just technology

To realms of business and enterprise

Thinking in terms of “capabilities”

Opportunities are coming faster than ever

Never been a better time

The world needs Architects more than ever

Thank You

future role of architect · 2018-05-02 · Future Role of the Architect Reports of our extinction...

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