Ce que n'est pas un architecte

Un architecte n’est pas un :

• Senior developer Developers often feel they need to become an architect as the next step in their career (and their pay grade). However, becoming an architect and a superstar engineer are two different career paths, with neither being supe- rior to the other. Architects tend to have a broader scope, including organi- zational and strategic aspects, whereas engineers tend to specialize and PART | I deliver running software. Mature IT organizations understand this and offer parallel career paths.
• Firefighter Many managers expect architects to be able to troubleshoot and solve any crisis based on their broad understanding of the current system landscape. Architects shouldn’t ignore production issues, because they provide valua- ble feedback into possible architectural weaknesses. But an architect that runs from one fire drill to the next won’t have time to think about architec- ture. Architecture isn’t operations.
• Project manager Architects must be able to juggle many distinct, but interrelated topics. Their decisions also take into account—and affect—project time lines, staffing, and required skill sets. As a result, upper management often comes to rely on architects for project information, especially if the project manager is busy filling out status report templates (Chapter 30). This is a slip- pery slope for an architect because it’s valuable work, but it distracts from the architect’s main responsibility.
• Scientist Architects need to sport a sharp intellect and must be able to think in mod- els and systems (Chapter 10), but the decisions they make impact real busi- ness projects. Hence, many organizations separate the role of the chief architect from that of a chief scientist. Personally, I prefer the title chief engi- neer to highlight that architects produce more than paper. Lastly, although scientists may get their papers published by making things sound complex and difficult to understand, an architect’s job is the inverse: making complex topics easy to digest

Great architects are like great chefs : it’s not just about selecting ingredients; it’s how you put them together