There are lots of really bad architects.

A good architect is part guardian, part ninja, part wizard, part consigliere and usually very very charming (okay maybe only in my case). They act on behalf of IT and the company to keep costs low but capability high. They are the strategy arm of IT and as such, they make recommendations that steer the company’s technical capabilities for the future and beyond.

I work in a fairly evolved IT organization. Part of being enlightened is knowing that you aren’t and, as an organization, we know enough to know our strengths and weaknesses. I recently visited with another IT organization that is a bit farther down the pyramid of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. They aren’t sure what their architects do. They invite the architects to meetings but they never show up. They visit the architects, ask them to make recommendations on moving forward and never hear back from them. As such, software gets built and there is no governance available to ensure code is re-used, or can be re-used in the future. And there is NO process for the architects to act as a checkpoint as software moves throughout its lifecycle.

So the architects sit around and wonder why won’t anyone listen to them. . .

The best architects don’t sit around and wait for people to come to them. They insert themselves into the process. They are in people’s faces wondering why they coded something one way when they were EXPLICITLY told to code it another. They remind the business to go focus on functionality and to let the architect worry about solutions. They act as counsel to the Account Managers of IT to educate them on what the horizontal solutions for the company are so that they can explain them to the business. The architects also recommend to the CIO where money can be saved and create plans for how that savings can occur for the next 2-5 years.

Remember, respect isn’t given, it’s earned. Just because you have the cool title, doesn’t mean people are going to fall down at your feet and ask for your opinion. If you want someone to hear your opinion, you might try giving it.

In short, Architects need to be the smartest people in the room. And good architects know they are.