Gordo Lowrey - Architect
September 2024
This document attempts to establish an Architect Engagement Process. The goal is to ensure structured, efficient, and scalable communication between the architect and various teams (product, engineering, data science, etc). This process outlines the primary architecture concerns, and defines how and when teams should engage for architectural consultation.
- Provide guidance for structured interaction.
- Define roles and responsibilities for decision-making.
- Align architectural decisions and ensure cost optimization, best practices, and process improvements across all teams.
- Consistency: Ensure architecture standards are applied consistently across all projects.
- Timely Engagement: Engage the architect at critical project phases to ensure decisions are made with foresight.
- Structured Interactions: A clear, formal process for consulting the architect that optimizes time while providing meaningful input.
- Collaboration: Promote collaboration between technical and non-technical teams.
- Focus on selecting and managing technology stacks.
- Ensure systems are scalable, performant, and cost-effective.
- Drive decision-making on core technical architecture patterns (microservices, event-driven architecture, etc).
- Define structure and behavior of applications (monolithic, service-based, EDA, etc).
- Ensure maintainability, testability, and performance of the application layers.
- Guide teams in adopting best practices for design patterns and coding standards.
- Manage data flows, integration patterns, storage solutions, and data governance.
- Ensure that all systems adhere to data privacy, security, and compliance requirements.
- Drive decisions on database technologies, caching strategies, and data scaling.
- Define security standards and frameworks (encryption, authentication, etc).
- Ensure applications are secure by design and comply with company policies.
- Consult on infrastructure security, data protection, and vulnerability assessments.
- Project Initiation
- Engage the architect at the start of a new project to review requirements, select technologies, and ensure system-wide alignment.
- Major Changes
- Any time there is a shift in architectural design, such as: moving from one architecture to another, changing database technologies, shifting data models, utilizing new frameworks, introduction of cross-system breaking changes, etc...
- Cross-Team Dependencies
- When projects involve multiple teams, or have dependencies across services, it is essential to ensure that architectural alignment is maintained.
- If a change affects multiple teams (shared services, APIs, or cross-team data dependencies), the architect must be consulted to align on integration and dependency management.
- Security and Compliance
- Any changes that involve system security or handling sensitive data should consult with the architect to ensure adherence to company data policies, best practices, and industry norms.
- Cost Optimization or Performance Scaling
- Decisions involving cloud infrastructure, deployment strategies, and cost optimization, all benefit from strategic oversight, ensuring that solutions are efficient and cost-effective.
- When systems need to scale, or when performance bottlenecks arise, architects can provide strategic and tactical advice.
- Identify Trigger for Engagement
- Teams identify if their work aligns with one of the engagement triggers outlined above. If the trigger condition is met, the team must consult with the architect.
- Initial Request
- The team submits a brief summary of the request to the architect (via Slack or Jira ticket).
- Architect Review and Prioritization
- The architect reviews the request and prioritizes it based on the following criteria:
- Priority: How critical is the request in terms of timelines or business impact?
- Scope: How much architectural involvement is needed (major system changes vs minor consultation)?
- The architect will schedule a meeting, or respond asynchronously if the request is straightforward.
- The architect reviews the request and prioritizes it based on the following criteria:
- Architecture Consultation
- The architect will profile feedback through a meeting or written response.
- For more significant changes, an Architecture Review Board (ARB) collaboration may be scheduled with all stakeholders.
- Documentation and Decisions
- All significant architectural decisions must be documented in an Architecture Decision Record (ADR).
- The architect ensures that all stakeholders are informed of the decision.
- Periodic Review (if required)
- For ongoing projects or complex systems, the architect may schedule follow-up reviews to ensure adherence to the documented decisions.
To ensure efficient engagement, the following practices will be observed:
- Dedicated Office Hours: The architect will maintain weekly office hours for informal consultations and minor guidance. Teams should leverage these time slots for quick questions or minor requests.
- Pre-Scheduled Reviews: For large or complex projects, formal architecture reviews should be scheduled in advance at key project milestones (design, pre-implementation, post-deployment, etc).
- Asynchronous Consultation: For smaller requests, the architect will provide written guidance via Jira, Slack, or email, reducing the need for meetings.
- Clear Documentation: Teams are responsible for providing clear, concise documentation to ensure the architect can review efficiently without back-and-forth clarifications.
- All architecture decisions and engagements will be tracked in a version-controlled system (git and/or Confluence).
- Each major architecture decision will be documented using an Architectural Decision Record (ADR) template to ensure consistency and traceability.
This matrix focuses solely on the Software Architect's role in various tasks across the product development lifecycle.
- R: Responsible – The architect performs this task, or ensures it is done.
- A: Accountable – The architect is ultimately accountable for this task or decision.
- C: Consulted – The architect provides input or advice.
- I: Informed – The architect is kept informed of the outcomes or decisions.
| Task/Responsibility | Architect |
|---|---|
| Define overall system architecture | A |
| Development of architectural standards | A |
| Ensure alignment with business goals | C |
| Security design and compliance | A |
| Review and approve high-level design | A |
| Cross-team integration management | R |
| Evaluate and mitigate technical risks | R |
| System performance optimization | R |
| Ensure scalability and maintainability | R |
| Product roadmap alignment | C |
| Code reviews (architecture focus) | C |
| Release planning | I |