TECH BLOG

Keeping up-to-date with software development is essential for every architect. Every year more new platforms, languages, frameworks, tools, and techniques emerge. It can be overwhelming to keep track and evaluate all dimensions of these technologies. Ignoring them altogether is not an option because you have to prioritize technology investments and leverage them to improve development processes and even cut operational costs. In this article, I will describe a tool that you can use to keep up with these technology trends and show how you could build one for your company using the Communities of Practice (CoP) approach.

Architects can sometimes feel lost in their career — not knowing what to do next, frustrated and unable to make progress. They start seeking better opportunities elsewhere, hoping that someone could offer them a level of development within their work environment. They want to grow professionally, and they also want to know their career paths. In this article, I will describe a toolkit that you can use for developing your career path as an architect and then discuss it with your manager, a mentor, or your trusted peer.

Some of the buy-versus-build discussions can be difficult because making the wrong choice will cost more than expected. People in the debate either make an emotional decision based on what "feels the best" or make a rational decision but then it takes a significant amount of time to collect data. This type of discussion is intimidating to most people, and we prefer not to talk about it. In this article, I will describe a lightweight architecture valuation framework that you can use to have a productive conversation with others.

I recently attended the Application Strategies and Solutions Summit by Gartner, a leading information technology research and advisory company. One of the analysts shared with us that more than 50% of the organizations face application scalability, agility, resilience and other performance issues due to poor application architecture competency. Some of these organizations describe their architecture — a mess.

My employer was recently named one of the 2019 Best Workplaces in Technology by Great Place To Work United States and Fortune Magazine. Some people wonder if we offer excellent benefits and perks such as health insurance, time off, and professional development opportunities, which they think are essential to reach the top of the list. Although these things are all good to have, and I am happy to take them, I always bring the dialogue back to the learning culture that I could not find anywhere in my past experiences.