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Software architects have to take
responsibility for their decisions as they have much more influential
power in software projects than most people in organizations. Studies
of software projects show over two-thirds of them either are outright
failures or deliver unsuccessfully (deadline slip, budget overruns, or
low customer satisfaction). Many of the root causes point to improper
decisions software architects made, or failures of follow-through on
the right architectural decisions.
How can you become a responsible software architect who makes effective architectural decisions?
First,
you have to be fully cognizant of your decision process, whether it is
agile or ceremonial. You should NOT claim that an architectural
decision has been made until the following two conditions are met:
* A decision has been put in writing because architectural decisions
are rarely trivial. They must be substantiated and traceable.
* A
decision has been communicated to the people who execute it, and the
people who will be affected directly or indirectly. Communication is
all about creating shared understanding.
Second, review your
architectural decisions periodically. Examining the results of your
decisions against expectations. Identify architectural decisions that
remain valid and those that do not.
Third, enforce your
architectural decisions. Many software projects get software architects
involved only in the design phase, then they move to other projects or
the consultation contract ends. How can they ensure that their
deliberate architectural decisions have been implemented correctly?
Their decisions will be at best good intentions unless they
follow-through with them.
Finally, delegate some decision
making to others who are experts in a problem domain. Many architects
wrongly assume they have to make every architectural decision.
Therefore, they position themselves as a know-it-all expert. In
reality, there’s no such thing as a universal technical genius.
Architects have areas in which they are quite proficient, areas in
which they are knowledgeable, and areas in which they are simply
incompetent. Adept architects delegate decisions about domain problems
in which they are not proficient.
by Yi Zhou
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3
