For solution architects to be effective and to succeed there are specific competencies that are crucial. These competencies become even more crucial as architects evolve from technical roles to solution architect, senior solution architect, and principal architect. Perhaps you are […]
Bad Security Practices Pushing the Citizenry into the Arms of Bad Actors (GC)
Over the last few weeks, my wife and I have been helping complete a Canadian tourist visa application for a family member. It’s long and it’s tedious but we expected that. We get to a point in the application process […]
The Project Manager and Solution Architect Relationship
Solution Architects and Project Managers work together and require good dynamics in order to be effective. There is no subordination in this relationship and the roles are complementary to each other. I’ve seen good dynamics, but I’ve also seen toxic […]
CQRS Performance Design Pattern Demystified
The command and query responsibility segregation (CQRS) pattern is a pattern that can be deployed as part of microservices and other architectures. This pattern is often overlooked by architects and development teams even though it is a well documented pattern. Even […]
Only Attend Meetings That Count
Are your team members attending every meeting they are invited to? Should they be? I’d argue that most people should be actively declining a large swath of the meetings they are invited to. In fact, if your team members aren’t declining meetings, I’d […]
Challenging previously held beliefs and moving forward with architectural “anti-patterns” in the enterprise
Nobody claims to like anti-patterns, and I certainly don’t like them. In fact, when it comes to architecture and solutioning, we identify them, make sure we understand why they are bad, and then we avoid them. We help others to […]
The Journey. A Story About Turning Business Requirements Into Solution Architecture.
In a previous article titled A Methodology for a Transparent and Traceable Solution Architecture, I outlined a methodology an architect can use to create a transparent and traceable solution architecture. This article will expand on that and will use a […]
A Methodology for a Transparent and Traceable Solution Architecture
As a Solution Architect, you intersect with all entities that have a vested interest in the solution, including, business sponsors and associated business team, business managers, and business analysts to different degrees. As being responsible and accountable to get the […]
From Assumptions to Hypothesis to Decision. Better Decisions Through Methodology.
The decisions made by Solution Architects have significant impacts and consequences for the organization and their people. They can have broad impacts on their customers, suppliers, and partners. Significant decisions are not to be taken lightly, so architects need to […]
Consensus and the Danger it Poses to Strategic Decision Making
This morning I was thinking about ‘group think’, ‘decision making’, ‘tribalism’ and the various outcomes that can occur depending on the methodology and how much weight is given to consensus especially when we use consensus to reduce accountability or delegate […]