Heavy Networking 640: Architecture Vs. Engineering Roles

What’s been your experience with architecture vs. engineering roles? Are those distinct functions in your organization, or combined? How do the roles interact? Does the architecture team hand down holy designs from their ivory tower, with the expectation that the engineering team will implement them? Is the architecture and engineering function more combined, where experienced engineers are expected to create an architecture and help put it in place? There can be a tension here, where architects too far removed from the hands-on insist on impractical designs. On the other hand, engineers can push back against solid designs because they are difficult to implement due to security complications or unfamiliar protocols. Pat Allen joins Heavy Networking to chat with me about our experiences with architecture and engineering roles. We’re going to discuss how we’ve seen the two roles laid out in different orgs we’ve worked for, and what we think has worked well and not so well. Sponsor: InterOptic Fortune 500 companies choose InterOptic optical transceivers to minimize the risk of network failures and maximize IT savings. InterOptic’s transceivers are 100% guaranteed compatible with Cisco, Juniper, Extreme, Arista and others, and available at a fraction of the cost. Work with the optics experts at InterOptic! Go to interoptic.com/packet-pushers/ to find out more. Show Links: So You Wanna Be In IT Podcast @layer8packet – Pat Allen on Twitter