Technical architecture is one of several
architecture domains that form the pillars of an
enterprise architecture or
solution architecture. It describes the structure and behaviour of
the technology infrastructure of an enterprise, solution or system. It
covers the client and server nodes of the hardware configuration, the
infrastructure applications that run on them, the infrastructure
services they offer to applications, the protocols and networks that
connect applications and nodes. It addresses issues such as performance
and resilience, storage and backup.
We follow these steps in the discipline of technical
architecture:
- Forming a team structure
- Create a skeletal system
- Exploit patterns in an architecture
- Ensure conformance to an architecture
- Building domain-specific languages
Ecrux defines two important processes in terms of
technical architecture; technical process and organization process:
The Technical Process
Technical Process is to be defined unambiguously. The
main deliverable for a software architect is the architecture
documentation, motivating and describing the structure of the system
through various views. However, though system structuring forms a basis
for the architectural design process, it is just one of several
activities critical to the creation of a good architecture. In order to
make such a deliverable to be able to instruct software developers, the
following model can be used.
First architectural requirements are needed to focus
the structuring activities. These requirements are then input to produce
Architecture specifications. At the end, a validation phase provides
early indicators and opportunities to resolve problems with the
architecture. The model contains an iterative part, indicating that the
Architecture validation can be input for new requirements.
The Organization Process
Architecture projects are susceptible to three major
organizational sources of failure:
- The project is under-resourced or cancelled by an
uncommitted management
- The project is stalled with infighting or a lack
of leadership
- The architecture is ignored or resisted by
project managers.
The organizational process helps address these
pitfalls. Two phases—namely Init/Commit and Deployment—bookend the
technical process. However, the principal activities in these phases,
namely championing the architecture and leading/teaming in Init/Commit,
and consulting in Deployment, also overlap with the technical process
activities.
By getting involved in the technical architecture of
a system, we are able to identify flaws in the system early and
counteract them as well as provide a study for our clients so they
understand what we are trying to achieve and our approach to the end
goal.
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