Information technology architects: can we improve their capabilities?

ABSTRACT

IT systems have an underlying architecture that is usually developed by IT architects. The capabilities of IT architects affects the systems they construct. This research aims to increase our understanding of the capabilities of IT architects, investigate what distinguishes highly skilled IT architects from less skilled ones, and determine if some of these capabilities can be improved within an educational environment. These results are important for the education of aspiring IT architects and also the selection and development of existing ones. Keith Frampton is a third year, part-time, PhD student in the School of CS & IT at RMIT University; he expects to complete by 2010. His advisors are Dr Jennie Carroll and Dr James Thom.

REFERENCES

• 1: ANSI/IEEE Std 1471-2000 Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems. IEEE, 2000.
• 2: S. Jeromy Carrière , Steven Woods , Rick Kazman, Software Architectural Transformation, Proceedings of the Sixth Working Conference on Reverse Engineering, p.13, October 06-08, 1999
• 3: Gough, H.G. and Heilbrun, A.B. The Adjective Check List Manual. Consulting Psychologists Press., Palo Alto, California, USA, 1983.
• 4: Myers, I.B., McCaulley, M.H., Quenk, N.L. and Hammer, A.L. MBTI Manual: A guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Consulting Psychologists Press Inc., 1998.
• 5: Open Group. IT Architect Certification Program, 2005.
• 6: Scott, G. Change matters: making a difference in education and training. Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, Australia, 1999.
• 7: Sylvia, M., IBM's IT Architecture Profession. in Open Group Conference, (Dublin, 2005), The Open Group.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION
      K.7.1 Occupations

General Terms:
Management

Keywords:
IT architects, capabilities, personnel development