At a glance
Software Architecture for Business Analysts
What would a business analyst need to know about software architecture? In this workshop we will present the key concepts behind software architecture: the motivations, the practices, the tools, etc. and we will explore how architecture both enables and constrains the work of the business analyst.
For non-trivial, large-scale, long-lived software-intensive products, requirement management and architectural design evolve in parallel and support each other. Traditionally handled by different individuals and teams, they use language and concepts that seem totally foreign to each other, though we’ve come to realise now that they share a lot of traits. Both deal with making delicate choices in a risky and uncertain environment. Both exploit tacit knowledge of the organisation, and rely on experience more than on precise recipes. Both drive the planning and implementation of the system. Like two different cultures, they are based on slightly different values, beliefs and mental models.
This 1-day workshop forms part of the SDC Conference, and can be booked either as a stand-alone workshop, or as part of a conference package.
Philippe Kruchten
Professor of Software Engineering, University of British Columbia and Founder, Kruchten Engineering Services (Canada)
http://www.kruchten.com
Philippe is a Professor of Software Engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and Founder of Kruchten Engineering Services. Clients include: Microsoft, Rally, Alcatel, Hughes Aerospace and MDA Robotics.
Prior to his recent endeavours, he spent 16 years at Rational Software (now IBM). There he lead the development of the software engineering process: Rational Unified Process ® (RUP) with a group of 15 process engineers located in Vancouver, Boston, and Boulder.
His books on RUP ("An Introduction" and "A Practitioner's Guide") have sold over 200,000 copies and been translated into nine languages. Philippe was the editor-in-chief of Rational's internal technical newsletter, The Rattle, and supervised the publishing of books by Rational authors (Editorial board) together with Grady Booch.
Philippe represented Rational Software on the Industry Advisory Board of the SWEBOK (Software Engineering Body of Knowledge) and is co-author of the OMG’s SPEM (Software Process Engineering Metamodel), an industry standard for process modelling.
First and foremost an engineer, with over 30 years of industrial experience developing large-scale software-intensive systems in the domains of telecommunications, aerospace, defense and transportation, Philippe is also co-author of "Software Engineering Processes: With the UPEDU".
His current key interests are software process, process modelling and software architecture.
Intended For
Business analysts, product managers, product owners, business or enterprise architects, UX designers, Information architects, IT managers, procurement officers.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this workshop.
Learning outcomes
Understanding the role of software architecture in the software development process; understand the difference between the various type of architectural activities; understand what input software or solution architects need to perform their work; understand the architectural decision process, the difference between value and cost, and how this affect planning; get a better sense of technical debt and its root causes.
Content
1. Context & motivation
Software architecture... and all the other architectures:
(enterprise, business, information, system, solution, or service-oriented)
BABOK, RUP and 42010 definitions of architecture
Business Analysis
2. Software architecture: a guided tour
2.1 More definitions, and brief history;
2.2 Architecture as design decisions;
2.3 Architecture representations, “boxology 101”, views and viewpoints,
architecture description languages, UML 2
2.4 The architectural process;
2.5 The role of software architect;
2.6 Architecture evolving over time; lifecycle issues.
3. The continuum: needs, requirements and decisions
Architecturally significant requirements;
Quality attributes that matter most of the software architect;
quantifying quality attributes; ranges
Anticipation: between the immediate, the probable and the ultimate
4. Group activity: Hares, Tortoises and Kangaroos
Race to finish, or sustainable course?
5. Tension between value and cost
Value to the business: prioritization practices, depreciation, minimal marketable feature;
Cost to develop, invisibility of architecture, value of architecture;
Dollars, or point and utils?
Compromising between value and cost, in the face of uncertainly
Technical debt, its root causes, and how to avoid or at least repay it.
6. Architectural knowledge management
Software architecture as a corporate asset;
Generic/specific, tacit/explicit knowledge;
Creating, sharing, reusing architectural assets;
Patterns, frameworks, metaphors;
Codification vs. personalization strategies.
7. Activity: and what should architects know about business analysis?
8. Conclusion
Practices that work;
Roles overlap: BA, PM and architect;
Reconciling the various cultures;
Additional resources.
Method Used
Classroom with exercises.
