IT architects are the master builders of digital transformation, laying the blueprints for innovative solutions that drive business success. On this episode of Catalyst, Clinton is joined by Jason Aitchison, Senior Director and Transformational Architecture Practice Lead at Launch, to discuss what traits and capabilities contribute to success in these roles.
Come down from your ivory tower
IT architecture is an enabler for delivering business value to organizations and a crucial piece of the IT development life cycle. All architects under the IT umbrella – regardless of whether they’re platform, solution, application, technical, network, or enterprise focused – strive to create this value and approach their work from a place of enablement. But at times, an ‘ivory tower’ architect causes friction and restricts developers’ creativity. The last thing any solutions architect should be is a blockade in the way of agility.
The best way to avoid this is to come down from the ivory tower and into the trenches, where you can listen to the necessary groups, capture what's happening, and weigh in on decisions before they need to be escalated to advisory boards. It goes back to agile principles: individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
The makings of a good architect
The best architects are those who learn from those experiences – both good and bad – and allow these experiences to shape how they build and approach solutions. They’re creative and don’t operate in a silo; they actively contribute to their own projects, curiosity, and development. In IT solutions, there are many ways of solving a business or technical problem. The most successful architects understand that they won't always have all the pieces, or they may have different visions of it than their peers. It's not just one architect building that structure. It's a team effort. Architects need to be able to listen to everyone's opinions and capture, guide, mentor and articulate a vision clearly and concisely.
All together, all from the start
Bringing that vision to life in a way that delivers real business impact, however, is a bigger challenge. As exciting as it can be to bring in change and innovative solutions, you have to balance that excitement with expectations and remain rooted in value. But value does not equal diagrams and line charts. You need a delivery team capable of bringing an architect’s vision and roadmap to life, and you need the right people involved in the project from the very beginning through to the end. You may find that habit gets in the way of progress, and there are some who may protest against the solutions you suggest. The best course of action is to make your objectors active participants in the change you’re implementing, as new initiatives are always stronger when the whole team works together.
GenAI and the future of IT architecture
Moving forward, GenAI will become a major component of IT architecture. It’s likely that in the future every product will have some element of GenAI, and we’re already heading in that direction. Not only will IT architects see this technology impact their own workflows – they’ll also play a major role in integrating GenAI into future products, solutions, and workflows. It’s a great time to be an IT architect, with even more exciting prospects ahead.
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