Engineering the Future of Software
Feb 3–4, 2019: Training
Feb 4–6, 2019: Tutorials & Conference
New York, NY

The architect elevator (Day 2)

Gregor Hohpe (ArchitectElevator.com)
Location: Concourse B
Average rating: *****
(5.00, 2 ratings)

As large enterprises are facing competition from digital disruptors, they must change their IT from a low-cost service provider to an innovative business partner and opportunity driver. Such a transformation requires fundamental changes in technology, processes, and organizational setup. Architects play a critical role in this transformation because they can “ride the architect elevator” between the penthouse and the engine room to connect company strategy with concrete technology implementation.

This highly interactive workshop prepares IT architects and IT managers to take an active role in driving IT transformation at all levels of the organization. It also broadens the horizon of senior developers and aspiring architects towards a chief architect career path. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and exercises, participants are able to see their role in the broader context of a large organization, including understanding corporate strategy, organizational structures and dynamics, senior management communication, and vendor management.

The workshop draws on the instructor’s diverse background from start-ups, strategic consulting, internet software engineering, and corporate IT, to recognize and overcome the challenges digital disruption places on traditional enterprises. The workshop discusses cultural, organizational and communication aspects rather than specific technologies

Day One:

  • Introduction
  • The Digital Revolution Dissected
  • Digital Giants’ “secret sauce”
  • Architects and architecture
  • The value of architecture
  • The Architect Elevator: from the penthouse to the engine room
  • The Penthouse: Understanding and translating corporate strategy
  • The penthouse: Reverse engineering organizations

Day Two:

  • Recap
  • The penthouse: Engaging management
  • Mid-levels: Thinking in Systems
  • Mid-levels: Better decisions with models and patterns
  • Mid-levels: Articulating architecture (diagramming, notations)
  • Engine room: Internet-scale architectures
  • Engine room: Accelerating software delivery
  • Establishing architecture as discipline in the enterprise
  • Conclusion
Photo of Gregor Hohpe

Gregor Hohpe

ArchitectElevator.com

Gregor Hohpe is an advisor at ArchitectElevator.com, where he advises CTOs and technology leaders in the transformation of their organization and IT infrastructure. Riding the architect elevator from the engine room to the penthouse, he connects corporate strategy with technical implementation by making complex topics engaging and approachable without compromising technical accuracy. Previously, Gregor was a technical director at Google Cloud’s Office of the CTO and a chief architect at Allianz, one of world’s largest insurance companies. Having established accelerated innovation and complexity and cost reduction as architecture goals, he oversaw a global data center consolidation and deployed the first on-premises cloud and software delivery platform. He’s a coauthor of the seminal book Enterprise Integration Patterns, which is widely cited as the reference vocabulary for asynchronous messaging solutions. His book 37 Things One Architect Knows about IT Transformation 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’s an active member of the IEEE Software advisory board.