What I Don't Want to Hear Anymore as an IT Architect

The architect's work is regularly misunderstood, as very often the architecture role is poorly understood. Perhaps from my experience of making projects without an IT architect, I have therefore taken the liberty of this mood post to help you to understand the role of an architect.

Architects Are Anti-Agile

It's even better than that, we're absolute evil! Jokin aside, the architect's role is to ensure that a project is completed on time, with good quality, and that future developments can be carried out quickly. So basically we share the same goals as agility. It is therefore not in our interest to be anti-agile — quite the contrary. The IT architect has become agile, taking into account the fact that architectures also emerge from development teams, taking into account technical debt management, and sharing insights not on beautiful architecture schemes, but first on informal schemes that will be formalized later.

Togaf Is Anti-Agile

Togaf includes feedback loops. So are you sure of yourself?

Togaf Is Your Bible, and We Have Better Things to Do Than Follow All of Togaf.

No, it's not our bible. It is a framework. And to set up everything in Togaf does not necessarily make sense in a company. It is always necessary to adapt the framework to do what brings real value to the company.

Yes, Yes, We Will Do That, Mr. Architect!

No, no, no, I don't believe you! You don't choose the most naive architects. It's not a quality in our position. We are always open to discussion and negotiation, but our primary goal is for the project to land well. Just like you. We are always there to help you, not to bother you!

Yes, Yes, We Will Put it in the Technical Debt!

No, no, no, I still don't believe you! How will you manage your technical debt? What management? What governance? You're going to put that in a backlog? When are you going to manage this? If you don't know, my default answer will be to indicate this technical debt in a backlog and take advantage of holiday periods to manage the technical debt.

We're in Agile Mode, We Don't Need an Architect!

See you at the end of the project, I guess? When are you going to encounter problems with port opening? When will you realize that your project is doing some of the same work as another project? Loop us in at the beginning. It will save you some nonsense!

Architects Have No Place in Business Workshops

So there! Our job is to translate business needs into IT projects. We do not replace the project manager, but we are their support. Moreover, we see some architecture managers having their say in Comex meetings. So yes, we have our place in the business workshops.

Architects Don't Have to Meet Everyone

Incorrect! An architect's place can even be next to the coffee machine, working on their computer in order to meet everyone and fully understand the company. Because knowing the company's bread and potential earnings is necessary to properly frame projects. In addition, IT architects are seeing their role evolve to more of a coaching posture — connecting with people, using new meeting facilitation techniques. So no, the architect is not the anti-social person you might imagine!

So those are my sentences I can't stand to hear. What are yours?