Does a software architect have a role in agile, esp. Scrum?

architecture agile scrum
Rob Wells picture Rob Wells · Oct 7, 2008 · Viewed 13k times · Source

I'm reading the book "The Software Architect's Profession" by Marc and Laura Sewell (Amazon link) and it got me wondering whether a software architect is a part of the old non-agile BDUF approach.

Is there a place for software architects in an agile approach? I'm especially interested in Scrum.

BTW I currently am the Unix Application Architect for a major company.

cheers,

Rob

Answer

S.Lott picture S.Lott · Oct 7, 2008

My role as architect in Scrum includes the following.

  1. Technical spikes -- proofs of concept -- how will we do that. ("It would be simpler if you'd simply using the SMTP library directly, it already wraps the existing SMTP libraries; writing your own wrapper around our wrapper doesn't help much. We can add the method you want.")

  2. Coordination among the developers to fit the intended architecture. ("Ummm... why are you using your own properties file?"

  3. Working with users to prioritize the backlog appropriately. ("These three are related, if we do one, we get the other two at almost zero extra cost.")

  4. Working with managers to cost the backlog. (No, a project manager can't do this; they don't have the technical depth. No, the programmers can't do this, they don't have the overview.)

  5. Articulating why the package names are that way, and why the data model has those features.

  6. Finding the things we're missing and reprioritizing the backlog on technical grounds ("We're going to need this additional sprint to integrate [X], upgrade [Y] and replace [Z] or we'll never get those sprints done.")

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