Help Me Decide

Did others find this class worth their time? Our audience is made up of high-caliber architects from companies around the world. Architects come with very high expectations for the content and experience of the workshop, and with a sense of urgency around other uses of their time, so a weak course simply would not survive! Our class is very highly rated on the student evaluations. Our public workshops average around 4.5 out of 5 on all measures (course excellence, instructor credibility, knowledge transfer), and in-house workshops generally average even higher. Our instructors are quite often paid the ultimate compliment: "I've taken 30-40 classes in my career, and this was the best one I've ever taken." We have been teaching the class (or earlier versions of it, at any rate) for many years, to many hundreds of architects, and this experience is revealed in the workshops. The majority of our work is follow-on work for clients we have worked with in the past. This speaks to the value that our clients perceive.

Can anyone enroll? Yes, the class is an open enrollment workshop, but we limit the class size to 16 participants.  The Software Architecture class is targeted at practicing software architects and technical leads, and managers of software architecture teams.

What does the Software Architecture Workshop cover? The Architecture class covers our Model of Software Architecture (see ArchitectureDefinition.PDF), our Visual Architecting Process (see VisualArchitectingProcess.PDF), including architecture modeling, and the Role of the Architect (see ArchitectRole.PDF).

Does the class apply to other architecture disciplines? The Software Architecture Workshop, as the name implies, focuses on software architecture, and uses UML as the visual modeling language, where it applies. Many of the techniques and concepts apply to other architecture disciplines, and we have had people from the other related architecture disciplines take the class and find it valuable.

Is the class full? No, there is still 1 place open. If you are interested in taking the class, enroll now. It would be most helpful if you could let other architects know about the class.

Help My Manager Decide

What is the value of this class?  Hundreds of very talented and experienced architects have taken our classes. At the end, the vast majority strongly claim that their business will get value from their having taken the class. Even the most experienced architects consistently identify key steps that they have not been undertaking on their architecting projects. They also identify much that they have been doing right, and value this confirmation of their use of best practice. Doing the right steps, in the right order, to the right extent, with good techniques and sound principles, saves architects time and makes them more effective. Yes, there is some strength to the argument that architecting skills are learned from experience--but the lesson is always much less costly when it is from someone else's experience! We have focused exclusively on software architectures, effective architectural practice, and architecture teaching since 1995, and arguably lead the industry in synthesizing architecture experience into our approach to architecture and our training classes.  

Who else should take this class? We firmly believe that individuals can bring about significant organizational change, but it takes effort and attention. It would behoove your team to focus this leadership and effort on making the architecture successful, rather than on figuring out a common team approach to creating the architecture! Having the entire team take the class is obviously the most effective way to establish a solid foundation of architecture concepts and practice.  

Please let others know about this workshop--you can email this page using the "File/Send/Page by Email" option on Internet Explorer!

Workshop Logistics

What is the location for the workshop? The workshop will be held at MIT Endicott House in Dedham, MA. This location is very convenient to Boston, without being in the hubbub of downtown.

When does the class start and end? We begin at 8:30am and generally end at 5pm. We serve lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks.

How do I enroll? Please fill out our online enrollment form to register for the class. We will contact you for payment information, and your registration will be complete once payment is made. 

Where should I stay? 

MIT Endicott House has plenty of sleeping rooms available May 5, 6 and 7, but has no rooms available on May 8 (the last day of our workshop). They also only have a few rooms available on May 4. The alternative is the Hilton in Dedham, and that is not very far away. Please note that accommodation is not included in the workshop price, and you need to make your own reservations.

Area Information

What is there to do in the area? TBD.