My Shoes

I like to understand the why of things. Since I aspire to be an IT architect, in this blog entry I'm going to have a look at why "architect"?

Master Builder

Why not "engineer" or "planner" or "builder"? The term has been around long enough in the IT world for many of us not bother thinking about this too much. I (kind of), know what a traditional architect does - designs buildings, works with plans and drawings, cost loads of money, has a tendency when trying to be cool to put form in front of function. But what do we really know about architecture as a formal discipline? Are there deeper lessons and parallels that we might benefit from understanding to help us to become better "IT Architects".

The modern fount of all truth and wisdom, Wikipedia, tells us that the term architect is derived is derived from the Greek word arkhitekton which (roughly translated of course), means chief or master (arkhi) builder (tekton). Architecture, as a discipline or skill has been around for a long time - someone had to design the Pyramids or the Parthenon, but its formalisation as a true profession did not take place until the end of the nineteenth century. That's quite a long time really. With modern technology and communications I have a feeling it won't take quite so long for IT architecture to adopt equivalent levels of formal standards.

Form Follows Function

Following this thread of thought I went looking for the principles of modern architecture to see if there might be anything useful from the IT perspective and came across the concept of "form follows function". From what I can tell, while not universally accepted as the one and only architectural principle, it seems you won't go too wrong if you stay true to this principle if you are designing a building. Does this apply to an IT Service I wonder? Have we ever seen a software application that looks great but does not work? Maybe too much focus on the UI and not enough on what it was supposed to do ...?

An "Interdisciplinary Field"

Another key aspect of architecture is its characterisation as an interdisciplinary field, combining mathematics, science, art, technology, social sciences, politics and history. Vitruvius, the earliest known architectural theorist, states: "Architecture is a science, arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning: by the help of which a judgement is formed of those works which are the result of other arts". Sounds like fun - maybe I'm in the wrong job ... or maybe not?

The IT Architect

Whatever about form following function today's IT architect definitely needs to embrace Vitruvius' interdisciplinary model. Based on a deep knowledge of a number of core areas, whether that be C++ programming, enterprise Active Directory implementations or whatever, the modern IT architect requires competence in a wide range of other related areas - hardware directories, storage, security, networking etc. I would also argue that IT architects require in-depth knowledge of a solution development framework, for example Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) and in-depth knowledge of a service delivery framework such as Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). These frameworks encapsulate and fomalise best practices for the creation, implementation and operation of complex IT services which deliver the required functionality (in the perfect "form"?). And what about social sciences, politics and history? While not on any list of requirements for current day IT architect certifications I believe such skills do have their place. That's a topic for another days blog entry I think though.

The Future

I'm not sure if I can really trust Wikipedia of course, but based on what I've read there about the evolution of classic architecture it looks like we are still some way off from achieving the same degree of formalisation in the IT space. However, we are moving in the right direction. In this sense, The Open Group in particular, seems to be heading in the right direction by driving open standards for the profession of IT architecture.

One thing is for sure. For those interested in pursuing this discipline I think there are interesting times ahead ...