Book Review: The Software Architect Elevator

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, every company, regardless of industry, from manufacturing to agriculture, is now a technology organization. Modern businesses cannot succeed without closely integrating technology into their strategy. Close collaboration between business leaders and technologists is essential to remain competitive and respond to digital disruptions. The need for this close integration between IT and business strategy creates an opportunity for enterprise architects to play a pivotal role in facilitating this connection and guiding organizations through the ongoing transformation needed to stay competitive.

Gregor Hohpe’s The Software Architect Elevator, published in 2020 as a precursor to Platform Strategy, explores the critical role that enterprise architects play in modern enterprises. After recently reading this book, I gained a deeper appreciation and respect for the roles, responsibilities, and qualities associated with successful architects. While this book has been available for a few years, its content remains relevant. It is an insightful read for current enterprise architects and those considering a career path in technical leadership.

The Software Architect Elevator explains the modern software architect's role using the metaphor of an elevator that moves between the 'penthouse,' where business leaders run the business, and the 'engine room,' where technical implementation occurs. The book begins by defining the enterprise software architect’s role, offering archetypes as examples. Successful architects must frequently 'ride the elevator' to bridge and align the organization. The book then delves into essential skills for success, such as effective communication, understanding organizational dynamics, driving transformation, and balancing governance with autonomy.

... enterprise architecture (EA) isn't a pure IT function but also considers business processes, which are part of a company's operating model.^[1]

Reading this book gave me a deeper appreciation of the challenges faced by enterprise architects. Good architects are doers and do more than merely draw architecture diagrams, attend steering meetings, and propose standards. Enterprise architects frequently interact with multiple levels of the organization to get a pulse of the business challenges at each level. Successful architects continue to ride the elevator even after establishing a prestigious and occasionally coveted presence in the 'penthouse.' They remember the organizational members in the 'engine room' who keep the business running.

While the EA position may sometimes appear glamorous, architects face challenges. Disagreements between the 'penthouse' and the 'engine room' are inevitable. Architects may need to find a position of compromise that will only partially satisfy parts of the business. Occasionally, architects need to deliver unwanted news to different floors. Transforming organizations that are resistant to change can be draining. Lastly, it is challenging for architects to show their immediate impact. It can take years to evaluate the effectiveness of an architectural strategy entirely, and enterprise architects must aim to show the incremental value of the delivery in the meantime.

One role of enterprise architects is to ensure organizational alignment and governance. Paradoxically, Gregor argues that giving teams autonomy and freedom within a set of standards is a more effective means of aligning organizations than strictly enforcing rules or policies. Flexible and pragmatic standards communicate an organization's architectural direction while allowing teams to experiment and innovate. Striking the right balance between standards and innovation is a challenge good enterprise architects face.

In addition to deepening my understanding and appreciation of enterprise architects' roles, The Software Architect Elevator offers practical advice on improving communication of technical and architectural concepts within organizations. Architects must be effective communicators and leaders to be effective in their role. Hohpe shares tips on improving communication, which he developed after spending years in this role. I particularly enjoyed the chapters with recommendations on effectively communicating with leaders in the 'penthouse.' Business leaders are intelligent and busy, and being able to inform them and receive buy-in on strategic technical decisions is a skill that requires practice.

An actionable communication technique I learned from this book was that it can be effective to show the desired end state of a technical decision before delving into details, an approach Hohpe refers to as "showing the kids the pirate ship." This approach is much more likely to get your audience engaged. Hohpe provides an example of how much more exciting it is to see an image of a completed set on a Lego box than seeing its components. Showing business leaders the big picture and then diving into deals is an effective technique to keep the audience engaged. This technique is one example of many communication suggestions mentioned in the book.

If you are interested in technical leadership or learning more about the role enterprise architects play, this book will give you a much better understanding. Individuals already operating as architects may benefit from Hohpe's recommendations and wisdom gained from years of serving in architectural roles. You can buy The Software Architect Elevator on Amazon on Kindle or paperback (this is not a referral link and provided for concinenence).