Architecture

iPaaS and the return of the Enterprise Service Bus

3 October 2024

There’s nothing new about trying to contain the complexity of enterprise integration in a centralised solution. It’s an idea that’s been failing for years.

Enterprise architecture anti-patterns

14 April 2024

Every organisation tends to organise technology decision making differently, but some of the problems associated with architecture can be remarkably consistent…

How to make architecture decisions

28 March 2024

Knowing what decisions to make and when to make them can be something of a fine art

Why building AI-powered agents is so challenging. For now.

3 February 2024

Despite growing excitement about the potential for AI-driven agents, there are a lot of problems to solve before we can build agent-based architectures on any scale…

Architecture governance is a spectrum: exploring styles of enterprise architecture

8 January 2024

There is a spectrum of different styles of architecture governance, from the tightly structured and framework-driven, through to the deliberate absence of formal architecture.

Generative AI does not mean the “end of programming”

12 December 2023

The demise of software engineers is one of those tired old tropes that refuses to die. Perhaps the programming revolution has already happened…?

Minimal Viable Architecture and the case for up-front design

13 November 2023

Evolutionary design and iterative development only get you so far - you still need some level of up-front thinking and forward planning.

Monoliths and the microservices backlash

22 May 2023

We need a more nuanced understanding of how to get the best out of monoliths, microservices, and serverless architectures.

When to use serverless architecture... and when not to

9 February 2023

The potential benefits of an architecture based on serverless functions are nuanced, making it a good fit only for some very specific use cases.

AI and the hype cycle: oversold, overlooked, then... eventually indispensable?

10 December 2022

When any technology emerges, it can be challenging to chart a course between the unhelpful hype and the disappointment that is bound to follow…

How should architects collaborate with development teams?

6 February 2022

If we’re serious about empowering engineering teams to make decisions, then we should be embedding architectural skills rather than architects themselves.

Data meshes and microservices - the similarities are uncanny

10 January 2022

The data mesh is doing for data warehousing what microservices did for solution architecture…

Orchestration vs choreography for microservice workflows

5 December 2021

Orchestration and choreography can complement each other. There doesn’t have to be an exclusive choice between two opposing styles.

How not to run a technology selection process

28 October 2021

Having experienced technology selections as vendor, consultant, and customer, I have seen how some common mistakes can undermine clear decision making.

Writing architectural design principles that scale decision making

13 June 2021

A good set of architectural principles can help to scale development by laying down some basic guidelines for decision making.