Thoughts on what an IT architect does

When I took my Bachelor in computer science back in the day, there was no good course on the subject “IT architect”. So when I started my career there took 1 - 2 years before I heard the word IT architect. When I first meet one it was more like, aha so you take care of the overall structure of the IT systems. Sound pretty cool.

IT took a few more years and then I become one myself. So what can I say? The term IT architect seems to be a little mysterious for some people and totally misunderstood by others. So what have I learned?

The three most important characteristics of an IT architect?

• Experience / holistic view

  - Has own experience that helps to form a holistic view of the solution/problems. These characteristics also help to be able to describe the conclusions, disadvantages, or benefits of IT architecture.

• Be able to translate requirements into solutions

  - Be able to understand which requirements/property requirements are important and be able to adapt these to IT the solution and hook these into existing architecture. It is also important to be able to evaluate different requirements (eg performance against cost) against each other to get a good solution.

• Present to the business and stakeholders

  - Be able to communicate the solution to the business and different target groups with completely different areas of competence understandably and gain acceptance.

The IT architect's most important tasks during the various stages of a system's life cycle (eg creation/development, administration / further development, liquidation)?

• Origin/development: Capture requirements from stakeholders and develop these into a functional architectural solution that describes different components in the solution/system.

  Have a holistic view and examine the target image and be able to see if it is realistic. Make Proof of Concept to provide proof that the architecture/solution holds. Be able to divide the different components in the solution to different groups within the project or assignment.

• Management / further development: To communicate new functions or solutions with the respective stakeholders so that they are accepted and approved. Update and follow specific architecture, documents. Continue to develop the existing system/solution according to new conditions and push the IT architecture towards the target image that exists for the business. It may also be the case that you replace certain parts or systems with new solutions.

• Settlement: Follow up the life cycle for a solution and communicate when and how the settlement will take place. Secure resources so that this can happen without interruption. Make sure that existing systems do not stop working and document the decommissioning of the old system.

What conditions need to exist for an architectural job to be successful?

• That clear target images/business strategies are described. These requirements are captured by different stakeholders and evaluated. To communicate solutions and gain acceptance for the IT architecture from the various target groups. That there is interest from the business to adopt the IT architecture as support and that the IT architect succeeds in anchoring his proposals to the architecture.

How do I interpret the concept of IT architecture?

• Structured solution for a need/problem that the IT architecture must solve or stop so that they correspond to the requirements for which the solution is intended. That the IT architecture should be useful for the business. Decisions and strategies are made through IT architecture to optimize the usefulness of the business's IT system. To also create a common approach to how the IT environment, structures, and strategies are connected with the help of the IT architecture.

I will stop for now and let you think for yourself, what should an IT architect do…