Book Review: Beyond Software Architecture by Luke Hohmann

Beyond Software Architecture is a book about some of the business issues that need to be considered when developing a software system. It provides practical advice and insight into how software needs to be considered part of an overall business solution if it is to be successful. The emphasis of the book is on software products (mainly enterprise level) but there are many useful lessons to be learnt for project-based systems.

One of the key concepts introduced at an early stage in the book is the distinction between "marketecture" (marketing architecture) and "tarchitecture" (technical architecture). Under this categorization the traditional software architect (aka tarchitect) is responsible for tarchitecture and the business manager or program manager (aka marketect) is responsible for marketecture. This isn't a dry academic exercise in defining terminology: these two roles pervade the book. The underlying message is that the marketect and tarchitect need to be acutely aware of their own and each other's roles; the tarchitect needs to understand the business forces driving the product, and the marketect needs to appreciate the technical basis for the solution. Having the marketect and tarchitect roles defined is a necessary but not sufficient condition for creating winning solutions.

The book goes on to consider various issues which have implications for both marketecture and tarchitecture. For instance, which kind or product licensing model is suitable for the intended business model; what are the implications of using in-licensed technology in the solution; how should the product be branded; and so on. The point is that these are issues that the tarchitect needs to understand, be aware of and in some cases be involved in decision making for. However these aren't the kind of thing one normally reads about in books on software architecture.

For software architects working with software products, this book is essential reading; certainly in my own case, when I previously worked as architect on a product I would have found a lot of the information in the book directly relevant to my daily work. For those working on software projects, there are still some interesting practical issues such as installation, configuration and release management. However some of the other areas covered are purely related to products, so these can be skipped.

My only minor criticism of the book is that I would have enjoyed more real-world anecdotes; there are a number of sidebars in the book presenting the author's experience of a specific case supporting the more general message in the text. These were very interesting and I would have liked to see more of these.