The Architect Elevator: Visiting the Upper Floors
IT architecture isn’t just about software and design patterns. If the greatest technology isn't aligned with the business strategy or not appreciated by senior executives, it won't have much impact.
This highly interactive workshop upgrades IT architects and senior developers to play a more impactful role across their organization. They will learn how to forge a crucial connection between the IT engine room and the organization’s leadership by tackling complexity, more effectively communicating with senior management, and influencing the organization's operating model.
Topics
- Rethinking the role of architects
- Rethinking the role of IT
- Learning about disruption from Silicon Valley
- From the engine room to the penthouse
- Understanding strategy
- Influencing the organization
- Organizational systems
- Establishing architecture as a practice
- Thinking like an architect
- Architecture is selling options
- Better decisions with models
- Thinking in systems
- Articulating architecture
Participants will vote, discuss, debate, draw, and present in small groups. No preparation is required except for an open mind and interest in group work.
Who is this workshop for
This workshop targets senior developers, architects, technical product managers, or tech leads who are looking to build a tighter linkage between their technical work and the organization's strategy. We assume participants already have a solid technical foundation, and now it's time to help them reach the "upper floors".
Gregor helps technology leaders transform both their organization and their technology platform. You’ll find him riding the Architect Elevator from the engine room to the penthouse, perhaps automating serverless solutions in the morning and preparing board presentations in the afternoon. His favorite pastime is dissecting buzzwords and replacing them with meaningful decisions and architectural trade-offs.
Gregor is known as co-author of the seminal book Enterprise Integration Patterns, which provided the reference vocabulary for all modern ESBs. His book The Software Architect Elevator tells stories from the trenches of IT transformation while his articles have been featured in Best Software Writing by Joel Spolsky and 97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know. He is an active member of the IEEE Software advisory board.