37 Things One Architect Knows

by Gregor Hohpe

This book will be retired soon. Please consider the updated and expanded The Software Architect Elevator Many large enterprises are feeling pressure from the rapid digitalization of the digital disruptors attack unexpectedly with brand-new business models; the "FaceBook generation" has dramatically different user expectations; and a whole slew of new technologies has become available to everyone with a credit card. This is tough stuff for enterprises that have been, and still are, very successful, but are built around traditional technology and organizational structures. "Turning the tanker", as the need to transform is often described, has become a board room-level topic in many traditional enterprises. Not as easily done as said. Chief IT Architects and CTOs play a key role in such a digital transformation endeavor. They combine the technical, communication, and organizational skill to understand how a tech stack refresh can actually benefit the business, what "being agile" and "DevOps" really mean, and what technology infrastructure is needed to assure quality while moving faster. Their job is not an easy one, they must maneuver in an organization where IT is often still seen as a cost center, where operations means "run" as opposed to "change", and where middle-aged middle-management has become cozy neither understanding the business strategy nor the underlying technology. It's no surprise then that IT architects have become some of the most sought-after IT professionals around the globe. This book aims to equip IT architects with the skills necessary to become effective not just in systems architecture, but also in shaping and driving the necessary transformation of large-scale IT departments. In today’s world, technical transformation and organizational transformation have become inseparable. Organized into 37 episodes, this book Armed with these insights, architects and CTOs will be able to ride the Architect Elevator up and down the organization to instill lasting change.

Genres: Architecture, Technology, Nonfiction, Programming, Software, Computer Science, Business

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Szymon Kulec · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it mean to be an architect? Drawing boring diagrams? Sending messages from the ivory tower? Or maybe flooding people with lengthy presentations containing 20 bullet points per slide?
In his book Gregor Hohpe shows a totally different point of view showing 37 things from different areas of an architect's work like Architecture or Organization.

The author uses a pattern-like approach. The book is filled with self-references and using chapter names as patterns. Although one could argue that these things are not truly patterns, for sure it helps to remember much more and to create a map for navigating across these ideas. To tell the truth, if you ever worked in an enterprise IT department, you probably saw majority of the problems described by the author. Still, noticing and giving it a thought are two different things, so if you had these kind of experiences, the book will be even more valuable.

The best parts were Black Markets Are Not Efficient , describing how "fast paths" for privileged groups of people are rotting organizations and Economies of Speed showing again that to be a good player nowadays, an IT-based company must deliver its products fast, in a stable pace.

[Wojtek Gawroński · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed that book!

The form of essays collected under the common theme makes a lot of sense - and it's enjoyable. Plus, some of those essays were a breakthrough for me (e.g. Black Market or about Control and Illusion).

I strongly recommend that for anyone aspiring and wanting to learn more about the architect or consulting roles.

[Tomáš · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the whole book I can only recommend it to every software developer. Architect gurus will probably write their own book ;) but this one contains a lot of wisdom and experience, so I'll have to give it at least one more chance! I've followed the continuous release of this book through the Leanpub program, so I've already read some chapters at least twice and it was worth it every time.

[Giovani Facchini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brings, as the title says, 37 things about IT transformation. There are many interesting tips and discussion inside this book as "Software should eat the world", "don't send a human to do a machine's job" (repeatable tasks that should be automated) and the inefficiencies of black markets (created by process that hampers people's performance).

I had mixed feelings about the writing as the author did not focus on giving the details or specifics of some arguments and stories. For many of them, the argument focused on non-IT related topics where I would expect to read an argument about a project, solution or interaction. In some other parts, I have not liked the excessive itemization/numeration of arguments without bringing them to life.

Although I think reading it was boring, the topics are worthy around how organizations build systems and try to change them later. Furthermore, we should expect system inside an organization to become complex with time and that many decisions will be made having considerable cost in the future. We should understand the situation and try to provide helpful feedback on how to improve and change. And if you are willing to gain the trust of a development team, we cannot be afraid of coding.

[Sergey Machulskis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how senior IT architects and CTOs understand change. To me, it's a pretty unusual point of view. It explains the roles and qualities of an architect in a large enterprise, and how to train yourself to achieve those qualities. It includes expert advice on how to explain stuff, draw diagrams, examine architecture, communicate with stakeholders, to name a few.

The book is not about systems architecture.

The writing is superb, it's super easy to read and profound at the same time.

Go and read it if you:

* Think that "Move fast and break things" is not a good idea most of the time. The book explained why and when economies of speed are better than economies of scale.
* Fear code and prefer configuration
* Don't know what to do with black markets inside of your organization
* Don't know how to achieve better software quality by increasing speed

[Silvio]

Re reading again. I'm a technical sales by profession and of course I had to take the role of the accidental "architect" like presales defining what's an IT architect is tough: what skills do you need to have? How do you prove is valuable for your company? Do I need to look at the high level rarified top floors of the sky crapper or go down to the basement and fix the pumps? In a fun and very clear way Gregor navigates this elevator architect across an enterprise and why you need them. As a presales I found it useful and fun and related to my experience: an architect has to be able to understand how systems work (including researching their history), understand the culture of the company and explaining with story telling to C-Level people why they need to change. A must read book and a lot of fun.

[Sergiusz Golec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable! With many 'Ha!', 'Ah-ha' and 'Ha-Ha' moments.

That book could be good to read by anyone interested in large organizations. ...where IT specialists can benefit the most.
Inside that wisdom jar, there are a bunch of lessons learned. My favorites:
* Why pyramids and reverse pyramids are terrible
* Why Black Markets are not efficient
* Why configuration could be better than coding

* speed vs scale
* social aspects of the job & presentations
* Illusion of Ctrl

P.S. As I'm into the automation, I love the quote: "don't send a human to do a machine's job" (repeatable tasks that should be automated). And I liked a bunch of remarks related to the automation subject.
All in all - I already plan to re-read that book.

[Francois D’Agostini · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are engaged with digital transformations on large groups, this book is a great source for nice insights.
Most of the tips resonate with me and while these concepts are not new, they are all laid out with the "large corporation" angle.
I found the book really easy to read and even fun sometimes, when analogies with movies like Matrix or starbuck queuing system are described.
In overall, I recommend its reading to anyone trying to change a large organization. Not sure it will motivate people, but at least it will let you know where you are stepping.

[Tomy Jaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a wealth of valuable lessons in a crisp delivery. I highly recommend this to senior developers and architects alike. The reason I didn’t give a 5-star rating is because I believe the book could have been presented better and more cohesively, rather than just a laundry list of what the author knows.

[Sergey Shishkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've found this book really useful. Gregor shares a lot of his wisdom in a form of 37 chapters, covering technology, leadership, communication and change management.

I liked the chapters in transformations the most. As well as the models of layered/pyramid architectures and organizations, black markets in enterprises and economies of speed.

[Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit to being a little unsure when I first started reading as to whether I should have gone with this book or one of the other choices, but damn, I'm glad I went with this. It's gold. Very distilled, covers so many areas, all relevant. Lucid and very readable, this is probably the best book I've read in the IT space.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains good and useful information. But sometimes, it's a bit messy. I had a hard time understanding the flow and the logic between chapters. Maybe it's not meant to be read from start to end.

[Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent advice in bite size chunks with CONSIDERABLE OVERLAP to the book by the same author titled The Software Architect Elevator. As great as this book is, get thr Elevator book instead, more chapters.

[Jan Kanajlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

[Ahmed Taha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on digital transformation!
It has a wealth of knowledge and experience shared by Gregor Hohpe in his journey.
Enjoyed reading it very much

[Adrian Hesketh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this up-to-date thinking on architecture.

[Anton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but has a lot of intersections with architect elevator and cloud strategy

[John Evdemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, well worth a read.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually rate a (technical) book with 5 stars when I have a strong feeling that I've learned stuff that has a potential to change something in my life, when I've learned something that has totally changed my perspective, made me feel stupid or just helped cross some border to achieve the next level (in skill, ability, etc.).

I don't think it's the case for this book, but still - 5 stars, here they come.
Not just because it's Greg Hohpe's book (you should remember him as a co-author of famous EIP book).

First things first though - the most important remark: this ain't really a guide for architects, guidebook for architects or even a handbook companion for architects. It feels more like a collection of essays that present various context of architects' work (in a technology-agnostic way). These essays may not really be very revealing, but they are damn good written & (at least in my case) truly help with validating one's alignment, regarding being an architect & what does it really mean.

What I loved most about this book? I find GH's style extremely clear & understandable - there were some statements I didn't agree in 100%, but when I did I had this feeling that author has put the exact words I'd like to phrase myself, but my writing is just too lacking for that ;)

My favourite sections / chapters / excerpts:
* about organizations
* about "black markets"
* about "letting them die"

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the distillation about the impact an architect can have across an organization.

It talks about all of the things outside of hands on architecture that one can do to provide value. It was great and helped remind me of focusing on the right things and ignoring the others.

A must read for anyone in the architecture or solving business problems.

Very well done!

[WJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very good insights, even though some of the topics are not explored in a lot of depth.