Make a Key Person the Sponsor of Your Re-architecture Initiative

When undertaking a technical re-architecture, it may pay off to actively look for a sponsor.

1. As the conventional wisdom goes, stakeholder buy-in is critical when undertaking a re-architecture.
2. Another equally familiar point is that attempts to persuade stakeholders sometimes fail.
3. However, failure to persuade the current stakeholders does not necessarily mean the re-architecture itself is unnecessary.
4. It is worth reconsidering the existing framework of stakeholder management. Suppose you are rebuilding a data platform. The engineer says, “The current system is hard to maintain, so we should rebuild it.” The business team says, “We do not want that if it breaks the historical numbers.” The business leader says, “If it shortens our analysis time from three weeks to three days, I want it.” If the discussion happens only between the engineer and the business team, the two sides may never converge. In other words, the people you are dealing with now may simply not care much about the re-architecture. It may not be that they are wrong, nor that your persuasion is weak; your goals and theirs may just not be aligned.
5. The people who truly care about the re-architecture may not be those you are currently working with. A plan can get stuck simply because you have not yet approached the people who have the strongest reason to want it.
6. Look for a key person whose interests, influence, and commitment align with the initiative. Such a person has a clear objective of their own, strong motivation to achieve it, and influence across the organization. Question the existing structure, and look for important people outside the immediate stakeholder framework.
7. Ask the key person to become the sponsor of the initiative. Understand what they are after, show how the current state blocks that objective, be explicit about the support you need, and ask them to sponsor the plan.
8. Finally, ask for concrete support: help with cross-department coordination, or with securing the organizational resources needed to move the initiative forward.