In my discussion on certifying IT Architects, I came across this quote, But much of the work that architects do today is really an art form, not a certifiable set of practices, said James Barry, vice president of development for payroll and human resources applications at Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) in Roseland, N.J. "The written communication and how they present their architecture would be mainly what we would look for in an architectural certification -- not the methodology that determines what to build," he said. "That would come from experience, not certification."

 

I am really beginning to wonder if we will ever get out of the dark ages in the software development world.  With all due respect to Mr. Barry, I must admit I am dumbfounded by his comments.  Art form?  How they present their architecture?  Lets look up the definition of Architect, One who designs and supervises the construction of buildings or other large structures I would say that definition applies to an IT architect as well except that our buildings are software structures.  The art in architecture is around the look and feel of the structure, much like that of the user interface in a software structure.

 

However, in my experience, the look and feel represents less than 10% or even 5% of what an IT Architect does.  We spend most of our time designing software structures so that they do not fall down!  We design software blueprints much like a building architect would design building blueprints for any size structure.   We design and construct software architectures indeed on a best set of practices, like Grady Boochs executable architecture which is an industry best practice and has been for over 10 years.  A comment from a reader of my previous post (thanks Brian Di Croce!) mentioned that there is a Software Engineering Body of Knowledge available, called SWEBOK.  Perfect!

 

In fact, it is indeed the methodology (I prefer practice or body of knowledge) that makes an IT Architect successful in the way that s/he can predict and repeat successes in an industry that isnt too successful.  Thats the premise behind the Software Engineering Institutes Capability Maturity Model.  You follow a prescriptive approach for increasing the maturity of your software development process by using sound engineering principles for developing software.  The mantra is, the quality of a software system is highly influenced by the quality of the processes used to develop and maintain it.

 

This is much in the same way a building architect follows, well known, defined processes for designing and constructing buildings.  Patrick MacLachlan, one of my co-workers at Burntsand is a real Architect.  I asked him what it took to get his Architects degree.  Patrick said it takes 8 years minimum and on average, 10 to 12 years!

 

Look at what Patrick had to do to obtain his Architects degree.  How can we take certifying our IT Architects seriously when there is no prescribed body of knowledge, no exams and takes 3 to 6 months to certify?  What a sorry state our software industry is in.  This sorry state will be the topic of my next post.