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IMPORTANT
TLDR
- Blend technical judgment with business insight and people skills
- Drive and enforce architecture decisions, ensuring designs align with goals
- Continuously validate and adapt the architecture as requirements evolve
- Stay up-to-date on industry trends, tools, and best practices
- Leverage diverse experiences and deep domain knowledge to inform solutions
- Communicate clearly—lead, negotiate, and influence stakeholders
- Navigate organizational politics to secure buy-in and remove roadblocks
- Balance strategic vision for scalable systems with hands-on proficiency in DevOps and modeling
- Maintain a relentless learning mindset to master emerging technologies
Fundamentals of Software Architecture by Mark Richards & Neal Ford:
(https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/fundamentals-of-software/9781492043447/)
They propose 8 expectations from an architect:
- Make Architecture Decisions
- Continually Analyze the Architecture
- Keep Current with Latest Trends
- Ensure Compliance with Decisions
- Diverse Exposure and Experience
- Have Business Domain Knowledge
- Possess Interpersonal Skills
- Understand and Navigate Politics
Who Needs an Architect? by Martin Fowler
(https://martinfowler.com/ieeeSoftware/whoNeedsArchitect.pdf)
Martin Fowler proposes 2 archetypes:
- “Architectus Reloadus is the person who makes all the important decisions. The architect does this because a single mind is needed to ensure a system’s conceptual integrity, and perhaps because the architect doesn’t think that the team members are sufficiently skilled to make those decisions. Often, such decisions must be made early on so that everyone else has a plan to follow.
- Architectus Oryzus this kind of architect must be very aware of what’s going on in the project, looking out for important issues and tackling them before they become a serious problem. When I see an architect like this, the most noticeable part of the work is the intense collaboration.”
The Carnegie Mellon® Software Engineering Institute (SEI) - Models for Evaluating and Improving Architecture Competence
(http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/08.reports/08tr006.html) (https://www.infoq.com/news/2008/05/architecturecompetence/) This is a distillation of sources from 2007:
Duties:
| General Duty Area | Specific Duty Area |
|---|---|
| Architecting | Creating an architecture Architecture evaluation and analysis Documentation Existing system and transformation Other architecting duties not specific to the above categories |
| Life-cycle phases other than architecture | Requirements Coding Testing Future technologies Tools and technology selection |
| Interacting with stakeholders | Interacting with stakeholders in general, or stakeholders other than clients or developers Clients Developers |
| Management | Project management People management Support for management |
| Organization and business related | Organization Business |
| Leadership and team building | Technical leadership Team building |
Skills:
| General Skill Area | Specific Skill Area |
|---|---|
| Communication skills | External communication skills Communication skills in general Internal communication skills |
| Interpersonal skills | Within team Outside of team |
| Work skills | Leadership For effectively managing workload For excelling in corporate environment For handling information |
| Personal skills | Personal qualities For handling unknown factors For handling unexpected developments |
| Learning skills | Learning skills |
Knowledge Areas:
| General Knowledge Area | Specific Knowledge Area |
|---|---|
| Computer science knowledge | Knowledge of architecture concepts Knowledge of software engineering Design knowledge Programming knowledge |
| Knowledge of technologies and platforms | Specific technologies and platforms General knowledge of technologies and platforms |
| Knowledge about the organization’s context and management | Domain knowledge Industry knowledge Enterprise knowledge Leadership and management techniques and experience |
Red Hat - “12 Hard and Soft Skills for Software Architects”
(https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/what-is-software-architect)
Hard Skills:
- Unified Modeling Language (UML) and architectural diagramming
- Deep knowledge of relevant programming languages
- DevOps practices and collaborative development methodologies
- Cloud technologies and infrastructure design
Soft Skills:
- Leadership - Coordinating teams and juggling project demands
- Problem-solving and conflict resolution - Managing technical and human challenges
- Communication - Clearly explaining mission, deadlines, and expectations
- Coaching and inspiration - Motivating teams to achieve objectives
- Organization - Creating structured roadmaps and systematic approaches
- Prioritization - Balancing competing demands throughout development
- Detailed thinking - Managing countless implementation details
- Creative thinking - Finding alternative solutions within constraints
- Negotiation - Balancing stakeholder expectations, timelines, and technical trade-offs
GeeksforGeeks - “10 Essential Skills for Software Architects in 2025”
(https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/blogs/software-architects-skills/) Skills for software architects:
- Systems Design and Architecture - Creating scalable, resilient designs that balance technical and business concerns. Advantages include scalability, maintenance efficiency, resource optimization, and future-proofing.
- Technical Proficiency and Innovation - Extensive knowledge across programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure. Staying updated with emerging technologies provides competitive edge, faster development, quality assurance, and enhanced user satisfaction.
- Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills - Evaluating trade-offs and making informed decisions. Techniques include root cause analysis, pattern recognition, and systematic evaluation frameworks.
- Adaptability and Continuous Learning - Responding to changing requirements, evolving technologies, and shifting business needs. Critical for navigating framework migrations, cloud adoption, and architectural paradigm shifts.
- Vision and Foresight - Designing systems for future needs, anticipating challenges, and creating sustainable solutions. Involves scalability planning, technology lifecycle management, and modularity design.
Coursera - “What Is a Software Architect?”
(https://www.coursera.org/articles/software-architect)
Key Responsibilities:
- Developing architecture for computer software
- Overseeing the software development lifecycle by managing developer teams
- Collaborating with customers to identify software needs
- Identifying technical standards (tools, platforms, coding standards)
- Developing Unified Modeling Language (UML) for project structure
- Testing code to identify bugs and resolve them
- Ensuring software meets quality standards
- Researching and integrating new technologies
Critical Skills Highlighted:
- Problem-solving - Identifying client needs and implementing solutions for existing and potential challenges
- Organization - Creating and updating intricate UML diagrams throughout the development cycle
- Attention to detail - Ensuring functionality and conducting quality assurance across thousands of lines of code
- Leadership - Overseeing project development and managing team responsibilities
- Communication - Creating healthy compromises and developing reasonable timelines based on team input
- Creativity - Processing situations uniquely to find alternative solutions