CNN/Money Says Software Architect Now Top Job in U.S.

So says CNN/Money magazine. Last October, we reported here on the SATURN blog that CNN/Money had identified software architect as #8 on its lists of both top-paying and least-stressful jobs.

This year, software architect holds the top position.

SATURN 2011 Theme: Architecture Is Not Just for Architects (Paul Clements)

To me, “architecture is not just for architects” sums up the reason that architecture is worth studying. I have long been interested in how architecture reaches out to other phases of software and system development life cycles, and into organizational structures and business communities as well. The “architecture business cycle” that Len Bass, Rick Kazman, and I write about in our book Software Architecture in Practice exemplifies this. It shows how architectures influence, and in turn are influenced by, business forces, technical and technological forces, and environmental forces. Our work in describing the relationship between architecture and business led to the PALM method for eliciting business goals and tying them to architectural forces.

Earlier work on architecture and organization led to the SEI’s Architecture Competence Assessment for organizations. This year, I’m leading an effort to study and enrich the relationship between architecture and testing. All of these connections highlight the role and power and reach of architecture far beyond the architect’s office.

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to examine this topic further at SATURN 2011.

- Paul Clements, SEI

SATURN 2011: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Next 7 Years in Architecture

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the SATURN 2011 Conference theme of Architecting the Future and its focus on “7 Things You Need to Know About the Next 7 Years in Architecture.” To hone our focus on these seven topics and to ensure a rich and high-quality program, we have enlisted thought leaders from industry and from the SEI. Each thought leaders will serve as shepherd and champion for his or her respective topic, reviewing submissions and building an integrated program that may include speakers, tutorials, panel discussions, birds-of-a-feather sessions, etc.

The leaders for our 7 topics are

Paul Clements on certified software architects

In the November/December issue of IEEE Software, Paul Clements of the SEI writes in the Career Development column about certified software architects. Here is the abstract:

Are software architecture certifications worthwhile? At a recent Software Engineering Institute architecture conference, certification programs from Boeing, Raytheon, Siemens, the International Association of Software Architects, and the SEI were presented and compared. This article captures the comparison, and offers some advice about engaging in certification activities and (if you’re an organizational manager) setting up your own program.

Five Reasons Developers Don’t Use UML and Six Reasons to Use It

In many professions, people use graphical models to represent what they are creating or studying. For example, chemists have 2D and 3D diagrams to model molecules; cartographers use various kinds of maps to represent different geographical aspects of a region. If you’re a software developer, you’ve seen diagrams that represent some facts about the software design. UML is a visual language commonly used to create such diagrams.

Submitting a SATURN Abstract

By now I hope you have read about the 2011 SATURN Conference and its focus on “7 things you need to know.” Maybe you’re considering submitting an abstract for the conference. Whether you’re an old hand at presenting or a first-timer looking to get started, creating an abstract for submission can seem like a daunting prospect.

Here are a few tips I hope will help:

1. Begin with the end in mind – This quotation from Stephen Covey is applicable to many things in life, including writing a conference abstract. Have a clear idea of the learning objectives you want attendees to achieve and work backwards from there.
2. Know your audience – SATURN, for example, is a practitioner’s conference so applicability to real-world technologies and architectural challenges is key.
3. Keep it simple – It can be tempting to condense your entire presentation into the submission but remember that it is an abstract. It’s worth the effort to distill the key concepts and solutions that you’re trying to convey. It will help you clarify your own thoughts as well as indicate to the selection committee your ability to deliver a crisp and cogent presentation.
4. Communicate your unique perspective and knowledge base – Whether you’re submitting an experience report or a more conceptual discussion of methods and practices, make sure to communicate what makes your perspective particularly compelling and noteworthy.

It does take effort to create a high-quality abstract but the opportunity to share your ideas and get feedback from members of the architectural community will definitely make it all worthwhile. I look forward to reading your proposals.

- Nanette Brown, SEI

SATURN 2011 – Architecting the Future

It seems like only yesterday that we were in Minneapolis for the SATURN 2010 Conference, and now it’s time to start planning for SATURN 2011. This will mark my first year as conference chair, taking the reins from the very capable hands of Ipek Ozkaya who has chaired the conference since its inception.

In 2011, the conference will be held from May 16^th through May 20^th in beautiful San Mateo County, California.

The theme for SATURN 2011 is Architecting the Future. In celebration of SATURN’s 7^th anniversary, the conference will explore “7 things you need to know about the next 7 years in architecture.”

The 7 things that we have chosen are

• Architecture is Not Just for Architects (the role of developers, business analysts, project managers, testers, financial analysts, executives)
• Architecture, Agile Development, and Business Agility
• Soft Skills for Architects
• Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Cloud Computing
• Architectural Knowledge Management
• Architecting to Meet Tomorrow’s Global Challenges–Health Care, the Smart Grid, the Environment …
• Model-Driven Architecting

The call for submissions is now open. We will be accepting abstracts for presentations (1/2 hour, 45 minutes, or 1 hour) and tutorials (4 hours) through November 30^th.

To learn more about the conference and the submission process, visit the SATURN 2011 website.

SATURN is a practitioner’s conference. We know you’re doing great things. This is your chance to share your experience and practices with the rest of the SATURN community.

Nanette Brown – SEI

Basics of Cloud Computing and SOA Explained

Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute researcher Grace Lewis offers two new white papers that discuss the essentials of two popular approaches for software system implementation, cloud computing and service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Basics About Cloud Computing identifies core concepts and explains

• types of providers
• ways to access cloud computing services
• drivers for adoption and barriers to adoption
• the approach’s relationship to service-oriented architecture and grid computing

Getting Started with Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Terminology defines SOA and describes

• essential SOA terms
• basic operations that support service-oriented systems
• common implementation technology patterns

Grace Lewis focuses SEI research into cloud computing and SOA on separating reality from hype about these promising approaches. Lewis also led SEI development of an SOA research agenda, as well as SOA technologies and SOA training courses.