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The Architect’s Tasks

Even though every organization is unique, and every architect is unique, there are many common tasks to be recognized by the architect. It is the task policy of the architect to draw up programs of requirements together with the client and stakeholders. A schedule of requirements explores what different problems need to be solved in conjunction and what requirements are placed on the complex solution.

Common tasks for the architect are:

  • Making proposals for an architecture design assignment to the client.
  • Draw up a schedule of requirements.
  • Conversations and interviews with the client and stakeholders to create support for ideas, visions and designs.
  • Making architectures (bringing together proven concepts and principles).
  • Making an architecture design for a system. The architecture designs consist of different stages and levels of abstraction.
  • Making visualizations as part of the architecture designs to be able to explain to clients and stakeholders how a certain architecture, architecture design or system is a solution or answers to set requirements.
  • Drafting viewpoints
  • Drafting views
  • Thinking in terms of scenarios and modeling and visualizing different scenarios with different architectures and designs.
  • Planning the development of architectures and the realization of systems.
  • Making a cost estimate for the realization of a system.
  • Setting up and managing a central EA repository.
  • Keeping up to date with literature, trends and developments in the various types of major issues that play a role in and around an organization.
  • Managing the issues, trends and developments in a repository.
  • Discovering concepts and principles in the literature.
  • Learning from and experimenting with concepts and principles.
  • Giving inspiring presentations and demos about new concepts, technologies, standards to clients and stakeholders.
  • Managing the implemented concepts in a repository.
  • Managing the organization's approved architecture principles in a repository.
  • Visualizing and managing the architecture choices and architecture agreements.
  • Managing the architectures, architecture designs, visualizations, viewpoints and views in a repository.
  • Including architecture (concepts, principles, rules, guidelines and standards) in the policies.
  • Monitoring and reporting how well policies, processes and procedures are aligned and that no important processes stay at maturity level 1 (CMM Level 1 = initial / ad hoc / undocumented / chaotic).
  • Proactively produce relevant and understandable (visual) reports for clients and stakeholders on a weekly and monthly basis.
  • Reviewing/auditing functions, systems, capabilities, processes, data objects, applications, services, IT components on maturity and compliance with reference models, concepts, principles, rules, guidelines and standards.
  • Managing architecture reports in the central EA repository.
  • Realizing and managing your own and personal architecture portfolio.