As a consulting solution and enterprise architect, I frequently need to explain what I do – and don’t do. Too often recruiters and agencies ask for an architect without understanding the role.
Documenting architecture
Need a practical template for your architecture document? Feel free to use mine! If you are a stakeholder in a development project, demand that the project delivers architecture documentation that meets this standard.
A simple development process
Follow this simple process to plan and manage software development efforts.
Business continuity and continuous improvement
Learn how discover that it’s time to start a development project – and what should be its objective. And realize that this is rarely what happens, and how that puts the projects on the wrong course right from the start.
Understanding the universal business model
The universal business model applies to all businesses regardless of size and is fundamental to establishing enterprise and solution architecture.
The enterprise architecture canvas
When advising clients on enterprise architecture, helping them implement and integrate ERP and CRM systems, or developing new software for them, I’m often asked to review their enterprise architecture, and sometimes help them document it.
Designing for observability
Observability is an alarmingly underestimated quality of solution architecture, because it’s never the ‘business’ who asks for it. But it’s absolutely essential for achieving good auditability and operability, and it helps you monitor your capacity, performance and availability.
Books that shaped my approach to architecture
A handful of publications, some initially published in my early career, have significantly shaped my approach to solution and enterprise architecture.
User stories are NOT requirements
It’s a common misconception that user stories replace use cases or traditional requirements specifications in agile development.