Inspired by my interest in (building) architecture, the role it may play in society and the intersection with my career as a systems architect in industry (ABB-Sweden/Germany and ASML-NL), I have entertained various thoughts on architecture and even at some point in time (around 2017) started to write a plan to establish an architecting enterprise. Although this never took off seriously and my career has evolved somewhat differently onwards, I consider the thoughts and challenges that I wrote down at that time still relevant. I hope they bear some relevance for the systems architecting domain as well and are therefore published in this Blog. Enjoy!
Civil architecture is often considered by architects a force for the good, and appears to a country's ruling elite as a source of inspiration for building a nation. I was struck by a NYT obituary for the Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann, which revealed how this idea got started, its results then got swallowed and (mostly) crushed by geopolitical and economical developments later on, but then a new generation seems to pick up some of the pieces to take pride in. The documentary "The Man Who Made Cambodia" depicts this very nicely:
- Trailer
- The documentary itself (suggest to disable Cambodian language subtitling)
In the documentary, Vann Molyvann refers to the Sangkum period as the cultural highpoint of Cambodia. Looking back, a more mixed view is emerging: Sangkum Reastr Niyum.
Mr. Molyvann's architecture later became known as an importart part of New Khmer Architecture, of which some of its buildings are classified under the - currently becoming increasingly popular - Brutalist nomer.
In the course of my industrial career I have gradually become interested in the role that Systems Architecture may play in defining new or improving existing systems (products & services).
During most of my working life, my daily activities have somehow dealt with the domain of transport physics (fluids, mass, heat), in which I started as a specialist in industrial R&D environments after finishing my Ph.D. In industrial applications this often means the understanding and optimization of the thermal behavior of complex devices.
During 2001-2005, my work at Philips Research (NatLab) at the Software Architecture Group. was a first, different experience, in which I became introduced to concepts and methods used in architecting systems and software. I also met and got inspired by Gerrit Muller (the CAFCR approach) there for the first time.
Subsequently my family and I moved to Sweden for a ten year's stay and work at ABB (topped up with two years of Germany), returning to the familiar domain of heat and mass transfer. At ABB I got involved with the cooling design of large power transformers. These complex devices are an important part of a power transmission network.
Read more: My introduction to System Architecting / Engineering
This section provides the foreword to the publication that I started to write around 2017 to structure my thoughts regarding systems architecting. The book never materialized, but the motivation still stands.
Resilient Architectures
Innovative systems architecting for small enterprises and startups in a fluid world
This publication addresses you as a present or future owner or employee of a small enterprise, a start-up or similar, who wants to make a difference by contributing to society in new innovative ways that are adapted to emergent societal needs. Or you may be involved in the education and training of the future workforce for those enterprises and want to receive guidance on principles that will shape the student’s role in innovation.
Small and medium sized businesses are generally considered to be the innovation motors of the economy. They are often pitted against the large decades-old enterprises as being more flexible and outward-looking. Therefore they can be more perceptive to finding customer needs and translating them into products that add real value. The lack of many levels of decision-making management structures potentially gives them a head start in carrying an idea to a tested product, going through a rapid cycle of innovation steps in order to have a first-to-market product. Even discovering new markets is a challenge likely most suitable for a small fresh start-up enterprise.
Yet, only very few small enterprises manage to expand to a next level where they affect the economy on a national or even international level, let alone survive for more than a few years. After all, there are many advantages to being big. First of all it’s a matter of resources: large companies have the cash to explore new areas and the facilities to produce and deliver. It’s about experience: they have an established organization with defined processes and roles that structure their behavior. They are part of established networks which can be used to tap any information deemed relevant for innovation-oriented strategy decision-making. They can split up parts of their organization in order to form teams that can act swiftly as well. So, at first sight it seems like it’s really the big ones that are at a winner’s position regarding innovation, contrary to our earlier statement.
Read more: System Architecting for small enterprises: Book Foreword
For a while I have been considering a start-up on system architecting services for small businesses ("MKB"). Although this currently has been limited to an exploration only (due to several reasons, therefore I call it a "proto-startup") the activity has been rewarding in giving focus on my thoughts on system architecting in practice. Below is the advertising text on what kind of service this enterprise would deliver.
RESILIENT ARCHITECTURES
Why are we here, and who do we focus on?
We love innovative systems- and machine design, and we think that small enterprises truly can take the innovation lead here for reaching a competitive advantage!
We believe that we always should design a system/machine that we like and appreciate because it has qualities we appreciate in ourselves and we can discuss about in those familiar human terms. As a result, your customer will intuitively recognize its promise and value as well, giving you exactly the competitive advantage from the first point of contact as well as a sound base for future business. We believe that the right direction for innovation always embodies a significant human aspect.
How do we make innovation for you happen?
By taking these desired qualities as the basis of the system design from the start! The basis for this is our Resilient Architecture approach, which allows you and us to systematically reason about these systems in intuitively meaningful ways. The approach relates the desirable qualities and behavior that we want the system to have to useful design concepts and a choice of technology options for implementing them, always in a clear, positive and meaningful way. The approach deals systematically with balancing desires, requirements and boundary conditions in such a way that your system becomes both desirable and truly resilient in operation. Emerging or even future technologies can be directly discussed, evaluated and rated in the Resilient Architecture approach.
For small businesses there is a specific advantage, since the Resilient Architecture approach specifically addresses the human role in the design process. Many small enterprises are in practice hampered in monetizing on their innovation potential by the fact that their organization does not have the right organizational structure. In practice this often boils down to the fact that the many necessary roles of people in the process are not made explicit (does your organization have a formal architect role, for example?). Our approach addresses the roles that all stakeholders can optimally take in this creative process right from the start.