An opinion by Benjamin Woenig – founder and CEO of Visione Group.
The discipline of technology architecture, be it enterprise, business, data, systems, infrastructure, solution architecture – or any number of X architecture labels presented for roles these days, requires far more than just writing architecture definition documents.
Business intent, ambitions, and goals are increasing in complexity within ever changing market conditions that must consider global, national, and local variables and context. Technology capabilities are also compounding in complexity with a plethora of options, components, and interoperability demands across enterprise application services, operational technologies, foundational services, and cybersecurity controls. A technology architect can now specialise in just one cloud service offering, identity management for example, and devote an entire career to providing clients with this important skillset for managing user identity. In other words, no single architect can know and be an expert in everything.
The role of a technology architect is now considerably varied. An architect is now required to engage across an entire business from board-level executives to departmental managers and operational personnel, through to end users that on the coal face are the ultimate consumers of solutions delivered through project realisation, that often take years, sometimes even decades. A technology architect is also required to communicate and interact with both business and technology personnel with compassion, empathy, and understanding. Otherwise, the road of change is a difficult one.
It is an architect’s job to understand the problem(s) at hand, working with subject matter experts to articulate the necessary transformation through the application of appropriate technologies. This requires an ability to drive positive change, provide motivation, and lead the supporting delivery team to realise the solution capabilities that consider user experience and the data that they are responsible for working with.
It has been traditionally viewed that a project’s project manager is responsible for this leadership. However, I now have the view that an architect must lead a project in parallel, and with full collaboration, with the project manager in order to effectively transition a new solution, via an orchestrated journey of change that considers not just the technology, but the solution operationalisation and the user-technology interaction.
In the context of asset-based organisations, the cultural and technological divide between enterprise information technology, engineering, operations, and assets teams is often significant. The role of a technology architect with respect to leadership skills is even more relevant in this context. It is paramount for the architect to provide understanding, rationale, and the appropriate communication in a language relevant to the audience (perhaps even translation between business and technology terminology) with stakeholders to instantiate appropriate change and transformation. Some may say that this is the responsibility of a change manager, but it is the architect that must provide the wider context of the technological direction with the buy in of all parties.
To summarise, I believe that for a technology architect to be relevant and transformative, they must embrace the challenge of leadership responsibilities. It is about providing direction above, below, and across the dimensions of an organisation with respect to how people work with each other and the organisation’s data to make effective strategic, operational, and valid decisions. The solutions delivered by an architect, are therefore the conduit for the new technological capability with the relevant business context and justification.
About Benjamin Woenig
Benjamin is the founder and CEO of South Australia based technology consultancy and systems integration firm, Visione Group, with a primary focus on providing IT/OT Convergence through strategy and appropriate architecture. A seasoned enterprise, business, data and technology solution architect, Benjamin has more than 15 years’ experience across healthcare, utilities, mining, energy and manufacturing industry verticals for enterprise and operational technology applications and services.
Benjamin has worked with numerous clients including SA Water, BHP, SA Health for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, Epic Energy, APA Group, SA Power Networks, and provided supporting technology architecture services for multiple South Australian based engineering firms to assist their clients.
An advocate for applying technology architecture where it is most relevant, Benjamin is passionate about complex problem solving and delivering quality outcomes that acknowledge the needs of people, and the processes and data that they work with and are responsible for.
Benjamin has worked with numerous clients including SA Water, BHP, SA Health for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, Epic Energy, APA Group, SA Power Networks, and provided supporting technology architecture services for multiple South Australian based engineering firms to assist their clients.
An advocate for applying technology architecture where it is most relevant, Benjamin is passionate about complex problem solving and delivering quality outcomes that acknowledge the needs of people, and the processes and data that they work with and are responsible for.