A Commune in the Ivory Tower? A New Approach to Architecture

SPEAKER

Andrew Harmel-Law

AGENDA

* 6:00pm - networking in BCS London over refreshments

* 6:30pm - presentation begins, questions and answers either ad hoc or at the end

* 8:00pm - networking in BCS London (pizza & refreshments)

* 8:45pm at the latest: everyone off the premises - adjourn to The Old Doctor Butler's Head to continue discussion if desired

SYNOPSIS

I'm an architect, and I think a lot about architecture. Mostly I think about how irrelevant architecture is if it doesn't get shipped to production.

I worry a lot too. I worry about how to help all the teams I'm supposed to be helping, without slowing them down, getting in their way, or making their lives harder rather than easier.

Traditional (i.e. hands-off, blessed-few) approaches to architecture rarely (if ever) work. But in the world of microservices, autonomous teams, and continuous delivery, architecture is more important than ever.

Is there an alternative?

This session will introduce you to a mindset and an associated set of practices which do away with the traditional idea of "Architects" while bringing the practice of "Architecture" to the fore.

I’ll explain how everyone can become an architect - without reducing everything to chaos (though there might well be a healthy dose of anarchy).

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

A Tech Principal at Thoughtworks, Andrew specializes in domain-driven design, org design, software and systems architecture, agile delivery, build tools and automation.

Andrew is also an author and trainer for O'Reilly. They've written one book about facilitating software architecture and one chapter about implementing the Accelerate/DORA four key metrics.

They also run regular online training sessions in Domain-Driven Design (First Steps) and Architecture Decision Making by Example. Experienced across the software development lifecycle and in many sectors, what motivates them is the humane delivery and sustainable evolution of large-scale software solutions that fulfil complex user needs.

They understand that people, architecture, process and tooling all have key roles to play in achieving this. Andrew has been involved with OSS to a greater or lesser extent since their career began; as a user, contributor, expert group member, or paid advocate - most notably as one of the Jenkins JobDSL originators.

Andrew enjoys sharing their experience as much as possible. This sharing is not only seen in their formal consulting engagements and writing, but also informally through mentoring, blog posts, conferences (keynoting, speaking and organising), and open-sourcing their code.

Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.

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https://www.bcs.org/membership/events

If you are attending in person, please familiarise yourself with the Visitor Instructions for the BCS London Office.

Please note, if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.

For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters. Image by Julien Moreau

THIS EVENT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Software Practice Advancement (SPA)

Visit http://www.bcs-spa.org/