manage well

What: A “Software Architecture Club” (or SAC, for want of a better name for now) is envisioned as a community of practitioners with the aim to bring like-minded professionals together to further the cause of software architecture for the eventual benefit of IT industry.

Why: Indian IT industry is a key enabler of globalization in the knowledge industry. As we continue to march ahead, we see ubiquitous signs of fairytale success: several Indian IT industries are now in the (multi-) billion-dollar league, there are products coming out of India, several young professionals embracing the mine-filled path of entrepreuership with nothing but a dream in their sleep-deprivated eyes, and so on. However, there are also danger signs and tough challenges ahead: leadership crisis, quality of talent, product development mindset, entrepreunership, and innovation to name a few. While a lot of laudable efforts by trade bodies and motivated individuals are underway to address several of these key challenges, one key area that is not getting proportionate attention is Software Architecture. In the last 15+ years, we have seen hectic activity in the industry to address the then need of the day: process quality (late nineties), internet (during dotcom boom) and now entrepreunership and innovation. However, our collective ability to increase the size of this industry and do core product development in the coming years will directly depend on our ability to nurture top-quality talent in software architecture, among other things.

How: SAC proposes to create an eco-system for Software Architecture where
- new talent could be nurtured, existing talent could be mentored to acquire new and hone existing skills
- practitioners come together, both online and offline
- create awareness about what is software architecture (and also importantly, what is NOT software architecture)
- arrange periodic (weekly / fortnight / monthly - depending on the community’s preference) face to face sessions to share learning, speaker sessions, etc.
- create a body of work on software architecture at least within context of Indian IT industry
- bring academia and industry closer to share best practices on software architecture in graduate / post graduate courses with the aim to improve quality of talent
- promote software architecture as a career
- engage Senior Management to have a better appreciation of software architecture as a field
- share best practices to attract, retain and engage software architects
- bring experts from Carnegie-Mellon University and other leading universities in this field (I am in touch with a company that specialises in this area, and they have evinced strong interest in getting involved in this community development initiative)

A one-year goal is to have first Software Architecture conference in Bangalore one year from now.