Design Thinking & Architecting Enterprises with Darryl Carr - Episode 57

On this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony talk to Darryl Carr, enterprise architect and professional community builder. During their conversation, Darryl talks about enterprise architecture and how business can architect solutions that deliver results and scale to profit. Darryl describes how he understands systems and community architecture. He talks about how businesses should work with architects early on in the development process to have them inform all stages. Architects can help businesses plan a software solution that will actually deliver value, empower investors, and scale. Among his most poignant pieces of advice is that understanding architecture is ultimately about scale. A key takeaway from this episode is that businesses primarily need to concern themselves with creating solutions for real problems. A common problem with tech startups is that they try to create solutions for problems that don’t really exist. Avoid this trap by listening to your clients. Give them your honest ear that will allow you to hear their problems for what they are, empowering your team to develop solutions that affect meaningful change. And that’s the bottom line. Deliver value at the end of the day. Topics Covered: ● How architecture fits into the agile movement. ● Don’t launch straight into the technology. ● Non-functional requirements. ● How to architect to scale your solutions. ● Advice for building a tight tech team. ● Your main goal should be to create value. ● We need to find problems that actually need solving. ● Why communicating drive and passion matters. Key Quotes: ❏ “Architects help you make sure, when you’re building something, that it’s built well, that it will run well and that it will scale well.” (4:20) ❏ “Involve your architects as early as possible.” (6:15) ❏ “Architecting a platform, really, is understanding the scale.” (9:30) ❏ “Pivot toward something you can validate in the real world.” (19:45) ❏ “You can impact and create more value by listening.” (22:10) ❏ “What you really want to convey is how passionate you are about the problem you’re solving.” (27:50)