Email the Author
You can use this page to email Gregor Hohpe about 37 Things One Architect Knows About IT Transformation.
About the Book
Note: This book has evolved into The Software Architect Elevator, which contains 5 new chapters and many edits. It's available from Amazon and the O'Reilly Learning Platform.
The Changing Role of IT
Many large enterprises are feeling pressure from the rapid digitalization of the world: 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.
The Changing Role of Architects
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, though: 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.
What You Will Learn
This book supports 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 and organizational transformation have become inseparable. Organized into 37 episodes, this book explains:
- The role and qualities of an architect in a large enterprise
- Architecture at enterprise scale
- Communicating to a variety of stakeholders
- Understanding organizational structures and systems
- Transforming traditional organizations
About the Author
In his role as Chief Architect of a major insurance corporation, Gregor is drawing on 15 years’ experience in Silicon Valley to drive the digital convergence of insurance. Prior to joining Allianz, he spent 5 years in Tokyo optimizing mobile advertising and merging online and physical worlds into a seamless user experience for Google.
He is widely known as co-author of the seminal book “Enterprise Integration Patterns” and as frequent speaker at conferences around the world. His accessible, but technically accurate essays were republished in “97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know” and “Best Software Writing”. He is an active member of the IEEE Software editorial advisory board.