Traditionally, companies live and die by a fixed hierarchical approach where power and influence are garnered by climbing to the top of the ladder. However, recent decades have witnessed the rise of digital companies promising an economic disruption. Stereotypically, a smart young kid writes some code to change the way business is done and become rich in the process. We, in the public, then use their software for decades to come. Many companies still have not adapted to the new dynamic, so in this book, Gregor Hohpe tries to shine a path for software architects in these companies to take responsibility for adapting their businesses to digital realities.
This book’s central thesis tries to redefine the software architect’s role. Traditionally, their prestigious position was to define how software is designed for the entire company or division. Instead, Hohpe proposes that they need to be more agile and focus on integrating new digital products into a company’s culture. With prior work experience at Google, his vision corresponds to that of so-called Big Tech.
Personally, I work in software efforts at a major academic medical center that has sought to be at the forefront of the digital transformation. Seeking to be the disrupters, we are well-acquainted with the newer digital culture. Further, our non-profit organization is not driven solely by the bottom line and shareholders. Since my organizational culture has already progressed significantly towards an agile digital approach, I don’t reside in this book’s target audience. Hohpe’s work after Google seems to have focused on transforming organizations to be more like Google. My organization already looks a lot like Google in its approach to research.
Reading this book certainly conveyed peaks of deep insight to me. For instance, the section on organizations helped me think through ways to implement my software’s disruptive change. The rest of its contents are solid and reliable. Most of this book, however, contains insights already shared in existing literature with little new content to provoke pondering thoughts. That shortcoming prevents it from going from good to great. Its title addresses ambitious developers looking to advance their career, but is a lot more about the digital enterprise as a whole. Perhaps taking responsibility for that organization is the step more developers need to take.
The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect’s Role in the Digital Enterprise
By Gregor Hohpe
Copyright (c) 2020
O’Reilly Media
ISBN13 9781492077541
Page Count: 346
Genre: Business, Software
www.amazon.com