Essential architectural work - Interview with iSAQB member Uwe Friedrichsen at the TAG 2019

Uwe Friedrichsen has been working in the field of software architecture for over 25 years, and has been an iSAQB member for more than 8 years now. Mirko Hillert, Managing Director of the iSAQB GmbH, interviewed him about his Keynote at the TAG 2019 on essential architectural work. Basically, three questions need to be addressed when it comes to essential architectural work: Why, what and how much? Why is architectural work actually being done in the first place? What exactly needs to be done on the way to potential solutions, and how much of that is necessary? Uwe Friedrichsen represents a fairly holistic point of view regarding the whole process of an architect`s work, which includes understanding the problem, identifying and communicating respective solutions and also cooperating with all other parties involved, e.g. stakeholders and the development team. Depending on the context, there might be several degrees of uncertainty in terms of what to do, so the architectural work needs to be aligned accordingly along the way. So, in order to deliver high-quality architectural work, how can software architects develop and maintain a flexible mindset? Which strategies are recommendable, and how can the iSAQB training help participants to become what Uwe Friedrichsen calls "real software architects"?