IASA Architect Skills Library

I was reminded today of the usefulness of the IT Architect Skills Library published by the International Association of Software Architecture (IASA). The Skills Library is an exhaustive, community-controlled collection of articles illuminating each primary skill of the Architect. From the IASA site:

"The current skills library consists of 633 pages of valuable information written by practicing architects from around the world. The skills project was commissioned by Microsoft and designed and executed by IASA for the professional community. This library will remain free to architects and it provides the first ever practical description of what IT architects do and how they do it."

The Skills Library is organized around the IASA's skills model. As illustrated below, this model consists of five "Foundation Skills" that make up the foundational body of knowledge. Built upon that foundation are specializations such as Software Architecture and Infrastructure Architecture.



Given the skills model framework, the library is organized into the following categories:

• The IT Environment
• Business Technology Strategy
• Design
• Human Dynamics
• Quality Attributes
• Software Architecture
• Infrastructure

Be sure to check out this valuable resource - one more great way to learn from the experience of others.