This book shares my approach to running an IT architecture practice in larger organizations based on my experience as Chief Architect at AVIV Group, eBay Classifieds, and Adevinta.
I call my approach “Grounded Architecture” to highlight the need for any IT architecture function to stay well-connected to all levels of an organization and led by data.
Grounded Architecture has two main parts:
- Structure, elements you need to create in an organization to run Grounded Architecture practice and “ride” an architecture elevator, and
- Reflections, a set of my considerations and guiding principles that can help put the ideas of Grounded Architecture into practice.
The Grounded Architecture structure consists of three elements:
The Data Pillar ensures that architects’ decisions are data-informed, based on an up-to-date and complete overview of the organization’s technology landscape.
The People Pillar represents a strong network of people doing architecture across the organization that is crucial to ensure that architecture function has any tangible impact.
Lastly, the Architecture Activities Platform defines a set of processes and agreements enabling architects to do everything architecture typically does, leveraging data and people pillars to create a data-informed, organization-wide impact.
As reflections, I provide key lessons I learned while developing ideas of Grounded Architecture in practice:
