Technology Strategy Patterns: Architecture as Strategy

by Eben Hewitt

Here’s my definition of an architect’s work: it comprises the set of strategic and technical models that create a context for position (capabilities), velocity (directedness, ability to adjust), and potential (relations) to harmonize strategic business and technology goals.

Over my 20 years in this field, I’ve come to conclude that there are three primary concerns of the architect: Contain entropy. Specify the nonfunctional requirements. Determine trade-offs.

the architecture definition, serves as the technologist’s answer to the blueprint. It should be structured in four broad categories to include business, application, data, and infrastructure perspectives, and expressed with clarity and decisiveness,

The role of the architect is to see where those challenges may lurk, seek to make them explicit, and make value judgments about how to balance the solutions and the new problems they occasion, under the guidance of the broader business strategy.

Any trade-off eventually reduces to a trade-off of time and money.

Jomini’s definition of strategy helpfully divides the word. He writes, “Strategy decides where to act; logistics brings the troops to this point; tactics decides the manner of execution.”

“Strategy is the art of making use of time and space.”

For our purposes, strategy is about determining the problems and opportunities in front of you, defining them properly, and shaping a course of action that will give your business the greatest advantage. Balancing problem solving with creating and exploiting new opportunities through imagination and analysis is the cornerstone of a great strategy.

To be a good strategist, you need to be ready to deal with ambiguity. You need to be ready to pivot. You must form a hypothesis quickly about what must be done, then synthesize lots of data. You must then see options and possibilities available, determine a goal, and present your findings clearly with a recommendation on how to allocate resources to achieve that goal.