Practical IT Architecture: A Survival Guide For Architects In The Modern IT Landscape
Architecture and Governance, Tuesday, March 10th, 2026
Over the years I have bought many books on architecture and, as you invariably find, they tend to fall into one of two camps. Either they are heavy on technology, or they are weighted towards frameworks.
Titles that promise practical guidance often deliver dense theoretical models, lengthy methodology descriptions, and abstract principles that feel far removed from the reality of a working architect's week.
What they rarely address is the human side of the role: how to navigate a difficult stakeholder conversation, how to influence a decision you have no formal authority over, or how to explain a complex technical risk to a board that simply wants to know whether the project will deliver on time and on budget.
There was nothing that spoke to the practical, day-to-day work that architects have to learn the hard way, through experience, through mistakes, and through the gradual realisation that technical excellence alone will only take you so far.