The Practical Solutions Architect
A course on doing the job. What the role is, where you start on day one, how you work with stakeholders, how you make decisions that last, and what you deliver along the way.
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Why I am making this
I grew from lead software developer into solutions architect. Since then, many people in my organization have asked me how that move works: what changes, what you do all day, and where you start.
Those questions are why I started the Architect Cafe. Today I guide people into the role, in my own organization and at our clients. This course puts that guidance in one place, in the order you need it.
Who it is for
- Developers and lead developers who want to move into architecture.
- Solutions architects in their first years in the role.
- People in a role next to it, such as service designers, who are asked to work as an architect.
Who it is not for
- People who want to pass a cloud certification exam.
- People who want a coding course. The code stays light.
- Architects with many years in the role, who will know most of this.
What you will be able to do
Explain what a solutions architect does, and what the role leaves to others
Know where to start in the first weeks of a new assignment
Map your stakeholders and turn their wishes into requirements a team can build from
Go from a business goal to solution options, and choose between them with clear trade-offs
Record decisions so they still make sense a year later
Draw the view each stakeholder needs, and tell the story behind it
Stay involved with the development team without slowing it down
Course outline
Eight modules. One business case runs through all of them, and each module ends with something you make for that case. The outline can still change while I build the course.
- 1
The role
What a solutions architect does all day, the nine responsibilities, and how the role differs from software architect, enterprise architect and service designer.
- 2
From developer to architect
The change in thinking. Reuse before buy before build, and the right option for the business over the one that is most fun to make.
- 3
Your first weeks
Where to start on a new assignment, the process from first talk to delivery, and which deliverable belongs at which stage.
- 4
Stakeholders and requirements
Who has power and who has interest, requirements that state one testable need each, and the quality requirements nobody remembers until it is too late.
- 5
From business goal to solution
Where the organization is today, where it wants to be, and the gap between them. Writing principles that guide real choices.
- 6
Decisions and trade-offs
Comparing options in the open, recording the decision, and checking that it stays true as the system changes.
- 7
Showing and telling
One view per stakeholder, context, container and deployment diagrams, and telling the same story to executives and to developers.
- 8
Staying involved
How close to stay to the development team, governance without paperwork, and working through real architecture dilemmas.
How it will work
The plan is to run the course first with a small group, live and online, and to record it after that. The questions from that first group will shape the recorded version. People on the waitlist are asked first for both.
Who teaches it
I am Oscar van der Leij, a solutions architect. I have worked across telcos, banks and consumer goods companies, and I run the Architect Cafe, a series of sessions for architects and developers that has reached its 17th edition. Several of those sessions were about exactly this subject: the solutions architect role and how to do it in practice. You can see them on the events page.
What it deliberately avoids
No exam preparation. This is about doing the job. It does not prepare you for a cloud or framework certificate.
No silver bullets. Every choice is shown together with the price you pay for it.
No theory without practice. Each module ends with something you make for the business case. The case is made up, and I say so. Where an example comes from a real project, it is marked as real.
Questions
When does the course start?
There is no date yet. I am still making the course. People on the waitlist get the email before I share it anywhere else.
What will it cost?
The price is not set yet. You will see it in the same email, and joining the waitlist does not commit you to anything.
What do I need to know before I start?
A few years of work in or next to software teams, as a developer, a lead developer or in a similar role. You do not need architecture experience.
How is this different from the free guide?
The guide is a reference for design principles and patterns. The course is about doing the job: the role, the process, the people and the deliverables. The course points to the guide where a pattern matters.
What do I get when I join the waitlist?
An email when the course opens, before anyone else. You also get my monthly newsletter with new articles on solution and software architecture. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and one click is enough.
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