Book Image

Becoming an Agile Software Architect

By : Rajesh R V
Book Image

Becoming an Agile Software Architect

By: Rajesh R V

Overview of this book

Many organizations have embraced Agile methodologies to transform their ability to rapidly respond to constantly changing customer demands. However, in this melee, many enterprises often neglect to invest in architects by presuming architecture is not an intrinsic element of Agile software development. Since the role of an architect is not pre-defined in Agile, many organizations struggle to position architects, often resulting in friction with other roles or a failure to provide a clear learning path for architects to be productive. This book guides architects and organizations through new Agile ways of incrementally developing the architecture for delivering an uninterrupted, continuous flow of values that meets customer needs. You'll explore various aspects of Agile architecture and how it differs from traditional architecture. The book later covers Agile architects' responsibilities and how architects can add significant value by positioning themselves appropriately in the Agile flow of work. Through examples, you'll also learn concepts such as architectural decision backlog,the last responsible moment, value delivery, architecting for change, DevOps, and evolutionary collaboration. By the end of this Agile book, you'll be able to operate as an architect in Agile development initiatives and successfully architect reliable software systems.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
1
Section 1: Understanding Architecture in the Agile World
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: Looking through the Agile Architect's Lens
4
Section 2: Transformation of Architect Roles in Agile
8
Section 3: Essential Knowledge to Become a Successful Agile Architect
15
Section 4: Personality Traits and Organizational Influence

The enterprise architect role in Agile frameworks

The enterprise architect role is inevitable when Agile software delivery methods are used at scale in large organizations. The challenges faced without an enterprise architect are perplexed when the system landscape is complex, business departments are distributed, strategic funding is funneled top-down, and investment decisions are taken collectively by IT and business leadership.

Both Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Disciplined Agile (DA) emphasize enterprise architect roles, whereas Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) has little mention of enterprise architects.

The enterprise architect role in Scaled Agile Framework

SAFe defines the enterprise architect role at the portfolio level of SAFe, closely aligned with Business, Epic Owners, Agile PMO, and Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) competencies in addition to their close relationship with ART.

Enterprise architects align and balance the architecture vision at the portfolio level...