The latest issue of The Architecture Journal from Microsoft has been published and my latest article, "We Don't Need No Architects!" has been included in this issue.  My article examines the profession of architecture in the field of information technology by looking at the perception of architects within the industry as well as the skills possessed by effective architects. 

The title of the article stems from the perception of some in the industry, that the profession of IT architecture is without merit - a perception that I once held some time ago.  The article examines why these perceptions exist, giving examples of bad practices among those of us in the profession (including some gaffes of my own).  Ultimately, as stated in the second paragraph of the summary, the article presents a defense of the profession.

Another article that is in this months Architecture Journal is by a colleague of mine, Joe Shirey.  His article "The Softer Side of an Architect" is an excellent article that focuses on the interpersonal skills possessed by successful architects.  Our articles are very complimentary, one focusing on the hard skills and one on the soft skills of successful architects.  A couple of interesting coincidences are that Joe and I both work from the same Microsoft location in Denver, neither of us knew that the other was working on an article for this journal, and our articles cover the two sides of the same topic.

Happy reading.  Feel free to send feedback.