I only recently noticed a four-part series of MSFT webcasts focused on aspiring architects, hosted by Mohammad Akif and Dave Remmer. I found these links after visiting the blog of Hanu Kommalapati, an MSFT architect evangelist. He links to the aspiring architects webcasts himself, as well as Mohammad’s blog.
Here are links to the webcasts, as well as some high-level notes on the various topics discussed.
Note: you may think that these webcasts would focus on architecture from the MSFT perspective, but really the presenters do a great job of staying mostly agnostic to technology and platform.
Part 1 - Aspiring Architects - Architecture 101
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What is architecture?
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Why worry about architecture?
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Types of architecture?
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Types of architects?
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What does an architect do?
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Experience level for an architect?
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Key characteristics?
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What are architects expected to know?
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Governance challenges and solutions strategies
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How to be an effective architect
Part 2 - Aspiring Architects - Software development lifecycle and methodologies
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SDLC approaches
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Waterfall
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Rational Unified Process (RUP)
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Agile Methodologies
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SDLC Tools
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Methodology context
Part 3 - Aspiring Architects - Services orientation and other architectural paradigms
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Solution types (e.g. rich clients, n-tiered, web-based, SOA)
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Solution construction models
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Object-oriented
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Component-based
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Service-oriented
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Service oriented architecture (SOA)
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SOA maturity models
Part 4 - Aspiring Architects - Transitioning from a developer to an architect
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Skills of an architect
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Things to develop
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Leadership
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Organizational dynamics
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Technology depth
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Technology breadth
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Strategy for infrastructure architects
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Strategy for solution architects
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Process and tactics
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How to be effective
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Activities and experiences
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Next steps
Will you feel empowered to confidently act as an architect after watching these webcasts? Maybe not. Will you get a good, high-level overview of what it means to be an architect, along with tips on making the transition from a developer/IT professional to an architect role? You bet!
I hope this helps!