37 Things One Architect Knows About IT Transformation: A Chief Architect’s Journey

This book will be retired soon. Please consider the updated and expanded version: The Software Architect Elevator

Many large enterprises are feeling pressure from the rapid digitalization of the world: digital disruptors attack unexpectedly with brand-new business models; the “FaceBook generation” has dramatically different user expectations; and a whole slew of new technologies has become available to everyone with a credit card. This is tough stuff for enterprises that have been, and still are, very successful, but are built around traditional technology and organizational structures. “Turning the tanker”, as the need to transform is often described, has become a board room-level topic in many traditional enterprises. Not as easily done as said.

Chief IT Architects and CTOs play a key role in such a digital transformation endeavor. They combine the technical, communication, and organizational skill to understand how a tech stack refresh can actually benefit the business, what “being agile” and “DevOps” really mean, and what technology infrastructure is needed to assure quality while moving faster. Their job is not an easy one, though: they must maneuver in an organization where IT is often still seen as a cost center, where operations means “run” as opposed to “change”, and where middle-aged middle-management has become cozy neither understanding the business strategy nor the underlying technology. It’s no surprise then that IT architects have become some of the most sought-after IT professionals around the globe.

This book aims to equip IT architects with the skills necessary to become effective not just in systems architecture, but also in shaping and driving the necessary transformation of large-scale IT departments. In today’s world, technical transformation and organizational transformation have become inseparable.

Organized into 37 episodes, this book explains:

• The role and qualities of an architect in a large enterprise
• How to think about architecture at enterprise scale
• How to communicate to a variety of stakeholders
• Organizational structures and systems
• How to transform traditional organizations

Armed with these insights, architects and CTOs will be able to ride the Architect Elevator up and down the organization to instill lasting change.