My wife asked me last night what my title meant, software architect, in terms of job function. Since explaining all of the roles a software architect plays during a normal project, I have started using a phrase which I heard from Paul Preiss, president of the IASA:
The synergy between business and technology
Using this as a platform, I went on to explain some of the topics I attempt to address using business and technology such as communication techniques, unified modelling, product design, and coding. After this explanation my wife put what I said in her own chemistry-based terminology:
Oh, so a software architect is a catalyst for business using technology
I thought “Wow, what a great term to use for software architects and their role in an organization”, at least as I understand it. So, I decided to figure out if anybody else had made such an association. Come to find out someone else has made this analogy. The book is by Marc Sewell and Laura Sewell titled “The Software Architect's Profession: An Introduction” written in 2002. The excerpt which I originally found from the book which contained the word “catalyst” is located at http://www.maxwideman.com/musings/architect.htm. I can not reproduce the content here, but please take a look and let me know what you think of the excerpt.
