Just got back from a grueling week at IDesign’s Architecture Clinic. ...read more Much like the Master Class, I feel this one propelled me ahead years (which explains why I’m so exhausted). I’ve struggled with what functional decomposition is, why it’s bad, and what’s the right way to decompose based on volatility. A couple days into the Clinic, I was still stuck and thinking that maybe my brain was just not wired right. However, after working with my team to decompose our third system, things finally clicked, lights flicked on, rubber met road, and I got it! I can just about guarantee if you’re struggling like I was, the Clinic is the solution to your problem. The two things the Clinic gave me that are tough to get in the real world were four opportunities to practice architecting a system – non-trivial, real systems BTW – and get my designs reviewed by master software architects. Those two things in conjunction made it worth every penny, and everything else – hearing eight other designs and reviews, the IDesign Method training, the process lecture, the bonus classes, lunches and dinners with the IDesign architects – made it that much better.

I’ve been practicing the IDesign Method for a while now, and over the years my solutions keep getting better. ...read more They are consistent, they meet the requirements, they are extensible, easy to maintain, scalable, robust, secure, and delivered on time. I will admit I still make mistakes, both technical and soft-skills, and I wish I had a world-class architect looking over my shoulder telling me what I was doing wrong, how to recognize functional design, how to spot process mistakes and how to resolve the issues. That is what the Architecture Clinic addressed for me. A week of having IDesign architects guiding and teaching me what I needed to do, techniques for how to do it correctly, how to spot mistakes early on and fix them, and how to present my ideas with confidence. The speed at which everyone attending the clinic learnt was phenomenal. There were people that weren’t full time architects and had no industry knowledge, designing the architecture for financial trading software on day three of the clinic!! The solutions presented by the groups on day 4 were what I would expect a top software architect with years of training and experience to produce. The transformation from day 1 to day 4 was truly amazing. In summary, I will never have to ask myself what I need to do again. I simply follow the mechanical process of the IDesign Method and apply the techniques of the Architecture Clinic, following its steps and at the end I will have captured the correct requirements, a beautiful architecture, an impressive presentation technique, and a software delivery process ready for success.

There are moments in life that stake claims to permanent spaces in our minds. ...read more Some are universally relatable; marriage, graduation, the birth of a child. Sometimes though these are uniquely personal, moments that can only be described as epiphanies. For me, a number of these moments were instigated by Juval’s no-nonsense, no excuses approach to Software Architecture. Awakenings like this don’t take place in some classroom, being led through scripted labs by a questionably-qualified instructor who fails to answer any question whose answer can’t be gleamed from the course materials or found by consulting Google. Your brain has to be stimulated and engaged enough to force this kind of introspection, and that’s what the Clinic delivers. I cannot begin to express how career-changing a course like this can be when it is led by a true master of the craft. The Clinic didn’t merely teach me new things, it taught me new ways to think about things I already knew and also to revisit things I thought I already knew. If you haven’t attended the Clinic, do it. If you’ve already attended the Clinic, send your team. You will produce software leaps and bounds ahead of your best prior to the Clinic.

It is difficult with a short testimonial to capture what a pleasure the Architect’s Master Class was. ...read more My appreciation and applause. I have been in the technology business for 30+ years, with the last 15 as an Enterprise architect. I have had the opportunity to be in about every position in a technical organization, from a simple code monkey to a support call associate all the way to the Chief Technical Officer of a couple of companies. I attended many, many classes and seminars on a plethora of topics. So when I say the following, I know from whence I speak. I have never had the pleasure to attend a training class or seminar so completely packed with valuable, insightful information. I have had more than a few classes where I simply walked out and went home because it was simply a rehash of things we all already know, the topic or the presenter never lived up to the promises they made, or I simply couldn’t justify the time away from the office any longer just to get the reheated, pre-packaged information. Your outline promised an advance in my skills that I was simply unable to believe and I was obviously skeptical. Needless to say you delivered on that promise. I have felt stagnant in my position for a long time due to the dearth of fresh, new practical ideas in architecture and design. After the class, I have a feeling of hope that the discipline is neither dead nor dying and, that to the contrary, architecture and design is actually becoming something I can be excited about again. I cannot tell you how enthusiastic I am to find myself in the office again on Monday. This class has been the single best investment I have ever made in training and skills advancement. It far exceeds any class I have had in the past or I am likely to in the future (unless it is with you again).

I would just like to update you on the massive success we are having, after placing myself and two other regional architects on the Architect's Master Class. ...read more We are now practicing the Method on some highly complex software applications, and have developed a solid methodology around it. At first the developers were very skeptical, about this new approach. Today developers are asking why they have not done this before, so I have a complete turn-around in attitude and adoption. It is great to see my development team so happy, and so enthusiastic about all the new things. I am seeing them growing and becoming more productive. Nothing makes me happier. The bottom line is, is that the first integration points are starting to roll out, making the business very happy. We are starting to see how easy it is to measure progress, and to plan and predict, when the architecture is at the center of the universe. EVEN IF the architecture is not 100% it is still 100% better than without it, as all stakeholders consume the integration path and can monitor where we are. Please forward on to Juval, I would love him to know what a positive impact his life is having on others.

If you are frustrated, lacking energy and demotivated after seeing and experiencing many failed attempts of our industry, this class is a boost of rejuvenation. ...read more It takes you to the next level of professional maturity and also gives you the hope and confidence that you can apply things properly. And it is for both architects and project managers. You will leave the Project Design Master Class with a new mindset and enough priceless tools that will give you no excuse to ever fail a software project. You get to practice, you get your hands dirty, you get insight and experience. Yes, you CAN be accurate when it is time to provide your stakeholders with the cost, the time and the risk of a project. For a (too short) week it is also a great opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with your peers and work and learn together under Juval's legendary supervision. Now, just don’t wait for a company to send you to this class. If you are serious about your career, you should hurry to take this or any IDesign master classes. It is the best self-investment you can make.

The Project Design Master Class will have a greater impact on the time and cost of my projects than any methodology or technology that I have acquired to date. ...read more This course gives you the ability to put forth multiple project designs that vary from least cost to least time and everything in between. You will learn how to associate risk with each project design option and give your organization a powerful platform to make sound business decisions. Understanding the real trends of the project and what corrective actions to take before things get out of hand will be invaluable to me as an architect and provide a tremendous ROI to my company. I highly recommend this class to architects and project managers who place value on completing their projects on time and on budget. Simply stated, you can’t afford not to attend.

A short review is just inadequate in trying to capture the importance of the Project Design Master Class. ...read more Rather than review the material or techniques, I would like to relate the value of the class. At the beginning of the class Juval Lowy stated that the Project Design Master Class would serve as a launching point to take the rest of our careers to a whole new level...and it did just that. By lunchtime on Tuesday I contacted my boss to let him know that we had already gotten our money's worth from the training. But as eye-opening and fruitful as the first day and a half were, the remainder of the week continued to expand upon the essentials, building in enough substance that we were comfortable doing our first project design by the end of the class. It may go without saying that any project manager regardless of background and seniority will benefit enormously from the IDesign techniques, approaches and insights. Additionally, any architect, especially graduates of IDesign's Architect's Master Class, owes it to themselves to do whatever it takes to attend this class. In my opinion, the Project Design Master was the single best use of training budget ever in my career of over 30 years.

IDesign’s Architect’s class is far and away the best training class I have ever taken. ...read more It transcends technological trends and gives you practical knowledge that will be useful for almost any platform and for the rest of your career. Easily the best thing I've spent my money on in quite a while.

Project Design Success Story
Summary: Completed project on time, on budget, and on quality. ...read more

The project in question was an infrastructural messaging system. The system design was along the IDesign Method comprising of half dozen or so services and three separate public APIs… Continue reading here.

There are a lot of great things to be said about the Architect's Master Class and the follow-up Architecture Clinic. ...read more The breadth and depth of information conveyed along with the flawless execution of the material, is something that must be experienced to be understood. If you don't leave the class without experiencing at least one epiphany I will be shocked. The information presented is fact-based, backed by years of practice and documentation and is presented with such focus and mastery that it should be worthy of an award. The IDesign architects are literally the masters of the art and science that is Software Engineering. If I had to sum up the entire experience in one sentence, it would be: This is the modern equivalent of an aspiring artist being taken under the wings of Da Vinci, Dali, or Monet.

The Architects Master Class would is light years ahead of the industry in terms of content and the sheer volume of knowledge the IDesign team presented. ...read more It’s a unique experience to be able to see the world through the eyes of world class architects, learn their techniques and way of thinking.

The Architect’s Master Class rigorous approach to software design and development will enable you to engage in software architecture as an engineering discipline. ...read more I can see how my past failures could have been prevented if I had applied the IDesign method. My understanding of what the software architect is actually supposed to do has been clarified and reshaped by the class. The IDesign Architect’s Master Class is an essential part of any software architect’s training. You should not in good conscience call yourself a software architect if you don’t posses the skills and techniques presented in the class.

Pour the IDesign Method out on the table, grab your hard hat, and get to work! That's the Architecture Clinic in a nutshell. ...read more Be warned, however: This awesome, multi-day, hands-on, team-oriented session is not for the faint of heart or brain. The stories you've heard are indeed true – grueling days and nights, intense design critiques, heated debates, walking on beds of hot coals, raised glasses. You'll come away thoroughly worked, molded, and evolved. You'll view distributed systems in a new light. You'll finally see how IDesign’s pragmatic approach and all of the great theory you've soaked up over the years fits together, how straightforward solving hard, complex problems can be, how it all makes sense. So what are you waiting for? You need this Architecture Clinic. Pull the ripcord. Sign up. Now.

Attending the Architect Master Class by Juval Lowy was simply the most rewarding professional experience of my career. ...read more The material was a world class combination of methodology, process, and technology that no one else in the industry is teaching. Juval’s extensive experience and knowledge base allowed him to present the material in a historical context that changed my perspective on current technologies in ways I did not previously think possible. I also thoroughly enjoyed Juval’s witty presentation style which kept me on my toes and, more importantly for such an intense class, kept my attention firmly focused. I now feel more prepared than ever to take my career to new heights and continue to build upon my newfound knowledge. I would recommend this class to any serious Architect looking for that elusive next level of enlightenment. Thank you Juval!

In the Project Design Master class, Juval proved software projects can be delivered on time and on budget you committed all the time. ...read more This class was full of ideas, practical techniques and tools to do just that. Key to this approach is proper execution of the fuzzy front end where high level requirements and architecture lead to accurate estimate to produce multiple project plans. You then examine each project plan with regards to cost, duration, staffing, risk factor and efficiency. Juval also provided a standard model for staffing, quantifying risk and efficiency. Putting these together you can validate your project design against the standard model and common project deign patterns. When it is time to execute the project, Juval presented effective metrics acting as sensors to measure the health of the project and the threshold values to act and the typical corrective measures. I recommend Architects and Project Managers taking this class together. Thank you for providing us the "secret sauce" to be successful, every time, all the time.

This unique class taught more about project design than I had previously learned throughout my entire career. ...read more A deep dive into the methodology, combined with real-life examples and the ability to practice during the class to try out the newly learned technics made it a very intense and productive week. I am ready to help my organization to take software projects to the new level. The skills also nicely complement the knowledge from the Architect's Master Class. I am convinced this is the way to design modern software projects. It is important to note that while project management takes care of properly executing a project and is usually performed by the project manager, designing a project is an engineering task and as such it requires that both the project manager and the architect be involved and cooperate on the project design. This is why the class is a must for software architects as well as project managers.

The Architect’s Master course was the single most relevant and useful professional training I’ve ever attended. ...read more Juval brings his deep experience and Zen master-like wisdom to the class and makes it easy to apply the lessons to real world scenarios. If you are lucky enough to attend, you will emerge from the class, a lean, mean, service-oriented machine.

The Project Design Master Class is life-changing event. ...read more The class didn’t just teach modern project design; it has given me tremendous energy to take my career to a whole new level. I wish I had an opportunity to learn the project design techniques from Juval long time back. The knowledge I gained in those 5 days were immense and I don’t think I could obtain that much knowledge by reading textbooks or even by doing a PhD! I really enjoyed the mini clinic that was the class finale. It provided me an opportunity to realize that given the right set of tools and training (of course from IDesign!), project design and the follow up project management will be very easy! Thank you Juval, you are truly a legend and I thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

Overall the clinic was awesome. ...read more I personally feel it provides more value for the $ than the AMC does (if you can imagine that is possible). Knowing there is a better way of architecting is great, which the AMC class helps bring to light - however I still found myself struggling with what it all meant prior to attending this clinic. The clinic is a special environment where like-minded peers can meet, work and learn together while surrounded with the attentive IDesign master architects. The result was a truly unique experience that has helped to elevate my skill set provided me with the tools and mindset to think outside the box. The clinic comprised of much more than just training on the IDesign method and architecture techniques. It provided invaluable experience and feedback on critical thinking, conducting interviews with clients and presentation skills, all while encouraging you to ask questions you normally have no hope of answering and is tailored to assist with your specific projects which makes it priceless. I also appreciated IDesign's patience with all the additional questions that were thrown at them outside off-hours. That was extremely helpful to the attendees. In short, the clinic is a must-do for any established or up and coming architect.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience to us and it was the best technical class I have ever attended. ...read more You have provided answers to many of the lingering questions I used to have and that too without me asking all these questions, again it was wonderful and enchanting class.

Veterans of the IDesign already value the knowledge gained at an IDesign master class. ...read more I attempted to apply The Method after taking the WCF and Architect's master classes in 2009 and 2010, and thought I was doing fairly well. However, I still struggled with identifying the volatile areas in real-world business systems. After attending the Architecture Clinic I now feel that I have truly seen the light. The IDesign Master Architects took us under their collective wing, and we architected four different systems. We also reviewed and critiqued twelve other architectures of the same systems. This clinic is more of a brief apprenticeship than anything else. An apprenticeship with world-renowned masters focused on boosting your knowledge and understanding to a level that is unattainable anywhere else. After only four time-crunched applications of The IDesign Method, we all progressed significantly. I feel that I moved ahead five or more years. On a personal note, if you are serious as a software architect, I implore you to become the change we desperately need to see in software architecture! Take this clinic as the first step. Then take again... I'll see you there.

I have attended the ...read moreidesign.net/Classes/Architect-Master-Class">Architect's Master Class, the Architecture Clinic, the WCF Master Class, and even had a week-long project design working session with Juval (which was an absolute treat). During that working session I remember telling Juval that I was not sure that many architects who took the Architect’s Master Class would have the necessary skills to produce an accurate and well considered development plan. He was somewhat surprised by my thoughts on this, but apparently others have been whispering the same thing in his ear. Enter the Project Design Master Class. It was tremendously rewarding attending the Project Design Master Class, seeing that Juval has organized his experience and skills into a digestible insightful curriculum. All of the stressful unknowns and variables that can come at a project are in fact completely irrelevant to project design. There is no reason the be paralyzed! After going to the Architect’s Master Class, I knew *what* I had to do to succeed, I just didn’t really know how or even the finer points of why. The Project Design Master Class teaches a straight-forward way to mechanize approaching and producing the project design. For example, counter intuitively, you can and often must start the project design without knowing how many developers you’ll have and who is will be doing what activity. This class will teach you how to come up with the best options available, what tradeoffs to be aware of, what causes certain project death, as well as what matters and what does not to this stage of a project. Our job as architects is to create a menu of all good choices that management can consider. The class meets this goal and much more. Thanks to IDesign for the great and eye opening week!

I just wanted to thank IDesign for the class. ...read more I used things it taught me immediately in my work and found the ideas presented to be quite excellent. I would even say those that gave testimonials were not blowing smoke on this whatsoever. If anything they are underselling it. I started architecting my current system based on your methods, and am finding it to be a really intelligent way to go about my work. Juval, everything you said is coming out in spades. I feel I can handle pretty much anything that is thrown at me and I will create a great system for my company. Thanks again for the class and the ideas presented.

IDesign has a unique way of presenting the design alternatives and narrowing them down to the best practices. ...read more The Architect's Master Class will teach you everything you need to know about architecting and building service-oriented applications. Not only will you walk away with a great learning experience, you will also have a host of tools and examples that you can put to work in your applications right away. This alone saved us months of development time and effort.

The incredible amount of experience and knowledge presented during the Architect’s Master class, in a few unbelievable days, has completely changed the way I think about software architecture. ...read more One of the main takeaways is the IDesign Method which is simple and effective way of designing systems. The method is so clear, simple and to the point that it can be implemented into our existing or future projects immediately, improving project schedules and increasing quality.

Prior to taking the ...read moreidesign.net/Classes/Architect-Master-Class">Architect Master Class (AMC) and the Project Design Master Class (PDMC), my company was attuned to past due and over-budget software projects that were usually riddled with bugs. We had come to accept that this was normal in software development. In other words, we were used to failure. After taking the AMC in 2010, we decided to apply a disciplined approach using the IDesign Method to an upcoming software development project. Over a year ago, we finished the project and our client has gone live on their brand new system. To this day, we haven’t gotten a single support call . We actually had to call the client to make sure that they were still using the software. Our team now has a proven method to deliver software. The PDMC complements the AMC by teaching us a methodology to design a project plan based on our software architecture. During the five day course, we learned about estimation techniques, quantifying risk, project staffing, planning and the math behind the mechanics of project design. It was an amazing five days with the IDesign team. We were given the secret ingredients to the project design sauce. After taking the AMC and PDMC, my company is now equipped with the tools to provide our clients with successful project delivery and software design. The IDesign Team and Juval Lowy are simply awesome!

I just wanted to let you know what a truly amazing week I had and how thankful I am to the IDesign team. ...read more From getting to meet my peers to designing real-world systems to your emphatic slaps of “FUNCTIONAL” and “APPROVED”, it was an experience I won’t be forgetting anytime soon! Having had a few days to step back, I think the biggest personal impact of the clinic was going beyond learning about the IDesign Method to learning how I could apply it and the realization that it is something I can actually do, and instruct others in executing. Of course, the flip-side of that is appreciating for the first time how much more there’s still to learn and practice. It was inspiring and real pleasure learning from IDesign, not just the design techniques but also the “softer” aspects of architecting a system such as customer interview and presenting a design for review. I can’t wait to see where IDesign takers the work of educating architects next.

The Architecture Clinic is an exceptionally well designed and organized week. ...read more The level of knowledge and experience available for consumption in the clinic was astounding. Each day from sun up, until well past sun down we worked through exercises and discussions on applying “The Method”. This clinic is a battle, through the fields of volatility fighting the functional thought process. You are not alone in this battle as you are led by world renowned Generals in the field of software architecture, and fight along side others of varying yet valuable skill sets. The final victory is an “Approved” sign stamped on your architectural design. There is nothing that can compare to the feeling of a panel of Industry leaders rewarding you for your work. The amount of hard forged experience available by attending this course is immeasurable.

I am the director of my company's Project Management Office (PMO). ...read more The Project Design Master Class is truly an eye opening experience and gives an entire new discipline to augment commonly known project management practices. Having attended the class, I now know why past projects have failed and what needs to be done to make future projects successful. Great Project management alone is insufficient for a viable project. It takes designing the project to deliver complex software projects on time, cost and quality. This is the goal of our PMO, thus this battle proven class is an excellent resource in establishing guidelines and driving projects success. It is obvious why Juval is so well regarded as his knowledge is truly remarkable. The fact that he supplies templates to facilitate optimizing project design is invaluable as it enables you to hit the ground running by demystifying the process, associated data and calculations. I can highly recommend this project to any professional that is responsible for the success of project output but especially software development professionals that deal with highly complex systems. Down with agile, up with project design! I plan to use this knowledge to reshape my organization and accelerate the success rate of the company projects and my career. I can’t thank Juval enough for putting things in plain and simple terms and reminding us all of the responsibility we have to our organizations.

I am still raving to my colleagues and customers about what I learned. ...read more The class has raised the bar of my own expectations of the success of software projects. Ensuring that the customer is happy at the conclusion of a major project is no longer good enough. Now I must deliver the project on time and on budget as well as delighting the customer. The class mechanises the project design process to the point that this is not only possible but repeatable. While the IDesign Architect's Master Class and Architecture Clinic give you the tools to design software systems the Project Design Master Class gives you the skills to deliver the system with all of the real-world constraints and limitations that we all deal with on a near daily basis. The class acknowledges these challenges faced by every architect and confronts them head-on. From designing the project to risk analysis to team management and stakeholder communication the class covers a wide variety of topics - all of which are essential to the success of a software project. I have already been able to apply many of the techniques learned to existing projects. Nothing beats having the confidence to present definitive project cost, duration and risk curves and numbers to senior management with the knowledge that you can back up those numbers and then deliver the project to your estimates. The long exercise on the real project at the end of the week was perhaps the most startling part - the estimates we calculated matched the other teams with an astounding level of accuracy - really proving the points of the class.

I wanted to let you know how impressed I was with the Architect’s Master Class. ...read more I have had a somewhat chequered career and for the last ten years or so have been in IT. During that time, I have attended more lectures, training courses and conferences than I care to count, but never have I walked out of any them as affected as last week left me. The course was entertaining, enormously thought provoking and yet, still managed to walk that fine line between theoretical and practical content. More importantly, it reignited my enthusiasm for the industry and my role in it. In addition, I will be seriously adopting the IDesign process for a project that we are just commencing. It is also the case that the knowledge that you divulged during the course will form part of our core architectural direction over the coming few years; in particular, your ‘every class as a service’ approach has ignited a great deal of curiosity and excitement amongst our senior developers!
Thanks Again,

The IDesign Architecture clinic was a truly unique experience which allowed me to be immersed in both time tested and the latest architectural concepts and trends all under the mentorship of true masters of the art. ...read more It was a rare opportunity to work so closely and share knowledge with other individuals in this field on real world architectural problems and solutions. The week long class far exceeded my expectations and I recommend it to any serious Architect who is interested in taking their knowledge of systems architecture to a higher level.

The IDesign Architect’s Master class was first rate. ...read more I never thought it was possible to learn so much in a few days, and my only regret is that the class was not longer. Juval’s clarity of thinking, precise examples, and anecdotal information has enabled me to start thinking more like a software architect. I highly recommended for anyone contemplating an architecture career or needing to work closely with architects.

The IDesign Architecture Clinic was hands down the best training I have attended in my career. ...read more Juval's passion for architecture shines through and I learnt a great deal. It was refreshing to be challenged to think, rather than just being spoon fed course content. Running through the IDesign Method for a few real life systems gave me a good understanding of the thought processes behind the Method. The focus on decomposing a system into change resilient components is invaluable. If you want a thought provoking, challenging week of training, I highly recommend the IDesign architecture clinic.

Four weeks after the Architecture Clinic we have completed the design for a substantial project based on the IDesign Method. ...read more My journey started after the Architect's Master Class last year. The architect’s role was so much broader than I imagined. Would I be able to do all these unfamiliar tasks that I still hadn’t quite got my head around? Was that really my responsibility? Would I even be allowed to try? I was battling to get my everyday tasks done as it was. But the new perspective came with an obligation, and I started looking at old problems in a new light and talking about some of the concepts (don’t base design on the requirements because they will change, encapsulate volatility, separating orchestration from execution, etc.). I was pleasantly surprised at how receptive people were to the concepts (especially business people). Those conversations were noticed and in November last year I was asked to take on the architecture of the new project. The biggest stumbling block for me at that time was getting the decomposition of the Managers and the Engines right – I knew what I was supposed to do in theory, but I kept running into problems (I felt I needed another layer of managers above the managers). Through the most amazing luck the Architecture Clinic came to Australia at just the right time and working through real life examples helped it all fall into place. It was also great to have a refresher of some of the Architect's Master Class material (I could much better understand the significance this time around). It was invaluable to bounce some of our specific problems off Juval. At the time I thought the emphasis on presentation skills was a bit off-topic but it was a tremendous help when I found myself standing in front of a crowded room presenting our design just a few weeks later. It really drove home what an important role confidence plays at all levels.

The Project Design Master Class fully delivered on its promises to take its attendees to the next level in their career as architects and project managers. ...read more IDesign makes a compelling case for a consistent, structured, and mechanical approach to system and project design, navigating through complex issues such as staffing, team dynamics, life cycles, estimations, earned value, and project tracking with remarkable agility. The week can be likened to a crucible as ideas are challenged and impurities are burned away by invaluable insight into the behavior of projects as dynamic systems and how changing boundary conditions can dramatically impact the entire entity. Most impressive is a dead-simple method for evaluating a project’s risk and how to design the project in a way that provides phenomenal visibility by modeling the relationship between time, cost, and risk. The class culminates in a mini-clinic that allows students to practice project design and the soft skills need to present key deliverables to decision makers. While a lot of the topics (but not the material) can be found in traditional project management the value of this class is that Juval Lowy is, at heart, an engineer. And, with the Project Design Master Class, Juval has managed to take the mystery out of project design and reduce it to a completely mechanical engineering discipline. Any project manager that has ever tried to determine whether a given activity chain or project was “high” or “low” risk will immediately recognize the benefit to such a rock solid methodology that is also wonderfully demystified. As a project manager and architect, I cannot recommend this course more highly. For the novices this course provides all of the practical tools needed to effectively design and run a project, and for the veteran project manager it is an incredibly potent booster shot that you can’t afford to ignore.

The Architect's Master Class was a mind blower, and a perfect educational complement to the WCF class. ...read more Juval was on fire. By the end of the week he had led the discussion beyond skills and techniques to address the larger concerns of professional and personal responsibility, which was truly inspirational. (And daunting. He sets the bar so high.)

When I attended the Architect Master Class several years ago I was literally blown away by all of the content covered. ...read more It was easily the most thought provoking week of professional training I had ever experienced. It was also a bit overwhelming similar to when you first dump a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle onto a table. The Architecture Clinic helps you to piece all of the theory learned in the Master class together by applying it to real live systems that the participants are working on, as nothing crystallizes theoretical concepts like the act of applying them to real-life scenarios. The ability to architect multiple systems side by side with your peers is invaluable—the level of expertise and knowledge contained in one room is profound. That alone is worth the price of admission but there is so much more. You spend an entire week with the IDesign architects whose credentials speak for themselves—not only are they teaching software design, they are your mentors—the key to your success. Success not only in architecting a software system using the proven methodology ("The IDesign Method") but success in selling your design to your boss and managing the project to its successful completion while both minimizing costs and risks. The Architect Master Class combined with Architecture Clinic creates a lifetime worth of training that any aspiring architect should not hesitate to attend. It was the best training in my lifetime.

Even as a veteran architect and project manager, when it comes to project design your intuition often plays tricks on you. ...read more One of my favorite aspects of the class is that in such cases not only does Juval prove you wrong, he also proves you’re right about many gut feelings you’ve always had. He takes those hunches and arms you with concrete definitions and a formal structure backed by real world experience. There are so many useful tools in this course that it would literally take me days to talk about them all! The Project Design Master Class is as much for software engineers and architects as it is for project managers because it is about engineering the design of a project that is then executed by project management. After this course you will look at all of your software projects (past, present, and future) in an entirely new perspective. Yes, this is a paradigm shift and a big reset for your brain. I took this course to transition my career to the next level and I am extremely grateful that I did. This course gave me a new insight about my projects, a set of tools and methods to provide accurate and timely estimates, and fundamentals about communicating with my managers.

The Project Design Master Class is a career changing event. ...read more Having come from an environment where deadlines and budgets are almost pathologically abused, having the opportunity to learn from Juval was a godsend. Piece by piece he provided the parts and the appropriate tools for properly designing a project. The result is that costs and timelines are kept in check in the dynamic and even chaotic environment of modern software development. Juval says that you are going to engage in asymmetric warfare against overdue and over cost, and you walk away truly feeling that you have a gun to take to a knife fight. There is no magic – only the application of basic engineering and manufacturing tenets to software – but you will go back to your office feeling like a wizard.

The Project Design Master Class flips the light switch on in an area that was once filled with complete darkness. ...read more It is unlike any other training I have ever experienced. It builds nicely on the Architect's Master Class (though the Architect's Master Class is not a prerequisite). I especially liked the material learning method to hammer home additional details with every class iteration. The teaching is fast-paced, deep and often (intentionally) contradictory to what we were taught to believe in software engineering. The software world is not what it seems. This class is a MUST for anyone who wants to increase project success rates (across budget, schedule and quality) - and is even not necessarily limited to software projects. If you have a training budget, send your best here and make them leaps-and-bounds better. Then, trust them with their new experience. If you don't have a training budget, get one, and then make the IDesign classes a priority. There is no better source for improving resources.

The Project Design Mast Class was much better and much deeper than I anticipated. ...read more We left the class with the tools and patterns to take our software project designs to an entirely new level. I was expecting PMP for software projects, and in a respect we got that… on the first day. The rest of the week was learning to address project design as an engineering task unto itself (with real world patterns, tools, and heuristics). The “final” lab was great – hands on design and executive presentation of a sample project. The process brought everyone together, highlighted the lessons from the week, and facilitated additional insights. We have started applying the patterns and practices already, and it is clear we are a greatly improved organization as we progress down this path.

The Project Design Master Class is a fusion of theory and practice distilled into a teachable and repeatable methodology. ...read more The project design process creates multiple good project options so that the organization can identify the best project design that will fit their needs. You simply replace the vague and nebulous concepts of project management with objective, clear, and concise measurements. This in turn ensures that the project is delivered on time, on budget, and on quality, within the defined scope as well as within the defined risk tolerances. Juval Lowy masterfully illustrates what works, what doesn’t work, and as importantly if not more so, why it is the case. The class provides real world exercises so that you can gain the experience while still at the class. After the class you get access to tools and support and private discussion forum on the Alumni. I highly recommend this class to anyone that is responsible for project delivery and is ready to take their career to the next level.

The IDesign Architecture Clinic is a thought provoking in-depth look on how to properly architect software systems. ...read more The Architecture Clinic picks up where the Architect's Master Class leaves off by allowing you to apply the IDesign Method to real software projects under the tutelage and mentoring of IDesign. This is the kind of real hands-on experience that you can’t get anywhere else. If that was all there was it would be the best class I have ever taken, but it does not stop there. We practiced everything from the soft skills of communicating effectively to how to guide and execute the project to its conclusion. We had bonus night training sessions and an entire day devoted to process. If you want to know how to better decompose a system based on volatility or how to provide real answers to questions like “how long will it take and how much will it cost?” than this is the class for you. No fluff, no nonsense real world training presented in language that is simple to understand but deep in meaning. The IDesign Architecture clinic is a must for any software architect who is looking take the next step in building great software.

Prior to taking the Project Design Master Class I had always suspected that there has to be a better approach to project design than the voodoo methods I was exposed to. ...read more That hunch was more than confirmed as Juval expertly lead the students in a spiral of knowledge acquisition. Using the architecture output from system design as input to the process, the class advanced from relatively basic project design techniques to the more advanced capabilities of identifying the risk level of a project, network compression, risk decompression, and crashing. To succeed in delivering projects on-budget, on-time, every time one must have a project design that is achievable and the Master Class gives you the tools to create and assess project designs that meet these criteria. Every technical career professional owes it to both themselves and to their company to take this course.

Software architecture is engineering. ...read more Design and development of software systems must be done using a methodology that demystifies the process, reigns in technology and complexity and enables the teams’ productivity. The Architect’s Masters Class targets precisely these goals. The curriculum is built from Juval’s amazing in-depth understanding of architecture and original analysis techniques along with years of actual experience. All elements give architects the skills to deliver successfully on quality, on schedule, on budget, on features, for now and as the system evolve. I consider this the graduate class for real world Architects charged with providing solutions to real world businesses.

I see many others have testified about the value of the class, so I wanted to relate specifically to project design and Agile. ...read more If like many you practice Agile but you know your project success still falls shorter than it should, this class is for you. You will get to know the power of “Good Agile” by combining project design and agile for a superior result. To the understanding of the mechanics of project design you add quantifying risk and its impacts on the project setup, the sprints and the possible project outcome. These engineering techniques will allow you to repeat your Agile project success over and over again. In an adaptive Agile environment you need to also learn how to continuously communicate the results and risks successfully. If this is what you are looking for, the Project Design Master Class is for you and it will enable you to truly succeed in your project and career.

For anyone who has ever wondered if there is a better way of creating software, the Architect’s Master Class is nothing short of a revelation. ...read more Juval Löwy systematically demolishes (seemingly) all conventional-wisdom of software best-practice with precision, contextual honesty and reasoned argument; by the end of the first day you can already feel your consciousness being raised to a level you never knew existed. At the same time, he deconstructs each of his original teaching modules with crystal-clarity, coupled with the wit and good-humour of a master raconteur. As such, your attention is held with relentless focus for five gruelling days, during which Juval takes it upon himself to instil in you his vast experience as a world-class engineer. Microsoft recognizes him as a ‘Software Legend’, but to anyone who wants to be the best they can be, he is simply the Maestro.

Simply put, the IDesign alumni that referred me to the Architect's Master Class described it as "career-altering," and he is not one for hyperbole. ...read more The class was the finest 5-day training I have been to in the last 10 years. Most classes focus only on technology, and by the end of day 5 you want to poke your eyes out with your laptop. The Architect's Master Class on the other hand, I could've done for another week. In fact, I will be back for your clinic next March. I have the benefit of having excellent sponsors that fully support my professional development, and that of my team. When I told them about the class and the clinic, they said "go!"

The software project I work on was plagued with breakneck deadlines for years. ...read more I thought “agile” was the cure for my deadlines but it only achieved faster chaos and more pain. Trying to understand software development methodologies and proper process felt like an energy drain because I had to battle management’s unwillingness to change on top of meeting the unreasonable demands of my clients. I was fighting a war on two fronts and felt hopeless. I felt like a rōnin. The Project Design Master Class provided a rush of clarity I never knew existed. It taught the exact knowledge I was searching. I learned profound techniques that transformed my understanding of how software projects operate. Juval elegantly wove a rich tapestry of historical context for software and project design to which I was absolutely oblivious. I now have tools to efficiently and effectively navigate my project in a torrent of never ending requirement changes. In a world of chaos this class brought order. I am forever grateful to IDesign. My life will never be the same.

A trusted colleague recommended IDesign to me, claiming this would be the most productive week of education in my career. ...read more The Project Design Master Class delivered on that promise. In a class full of people who are usually the smartest in a room, the explosion of light bulbs going off was blinding. This seminar opens a world at a level of project design that you did not even know existed beforehand. Each concept is backed up by real world examples and the tools and templates you need to get started back at the office. What puts this class over the top is that Juval understands the politics behind projects and he goes over how to implement these processes in your organization. Another benefit of the class is access to the alumni discussion group so the learning doesn’t stop when the class ends.

The Project Design Master Class over-delivered on every promise it made. ...read more As the second half of the IDesign Method, it resonates explosively with the System Design from the Architect's Master Class, giving you objective ways to determine feasible project options in advance. Juval showed us how a project is a living, breathing, dynamic entity, and a finicky one at that. Starving, overfeeding, and neglect are all fatal. With so many paths leading to failure, you need a compass pointing to repeatable success. Project Design is that compass. In so doing, the IDesign Method actually puts the Engineering into Software Engineering, with metrics for complexity as well as risk, plus guidelines for detecting and preventing all sorts of failures in order to start a project on track and keep it there. And it can pair with Agile practices, transforming them from chaos into a healthy process suite.

The combination of the Architect's Master Class with the Architects Clinic provides a great, well rounded approach for budding architects as well as seasoned professionals that want to get a handle on the task of design and implementation of service based architecture. ...read more I am glad I got a chance to attend both classes within a few months of each other. It’s not every day that you get to sit in a room with top of your peers and discuss designing systems on the fly, or presenting your designs to the group and having them critique your designs. In many teams there are few people to run ideas by, and having this forum was of immeasurable value to me. I’ve had similar comments from the other attendees from my company. In addition, it gave me a wealth of topics for research, as well as practical experience in all phases of creating architecture. From the interview, to the use case and areas of volatility identification, and on to the design diagrams and beyond, the clinic provides real world examples of the problems people are trying to solve daily, and a roadmap to accomplishing that in a standardized, rational way. I highly recommend these classes to any architect wanting to learn more about what today’s evolving technological landscape has in store for an architect, and how to meet those challenges head-on.

Getting to where I could practice being a software architect has actually been a much bigger problem over the years than the act of trying to decide on how to structure the software or apply this framework or that one. ...read more In one fell (week long) swoop, Juval's Architect Master Class has propelled my understanding forward by years, probably decades. Still, I have spent years thinking about every single topic he touched on. But I was thinking about these things in a toxic environment where people don't just do the wrong thing, they do the opposite of the right thing. I was not able to organize the material in a way that allowed me to get above zero and leverage my knowledge. All I had done was make myself an outsider. Now I have a new place to go. I now see how I can go from being the outsider to being the leader, from being the one seen as the complainer whining that "we can do better," to being the one that has the direction - the plan. Just having a better understanding of software and best practices is not enough. You need a context that allows you to understand business people and software development process in a way that you can apply the kung fu needed to even be allowed to play the game. This *is* the hunger games and just being good with a bow is not enough. You need to act in a way that convinces those trying to kill you that it's better to act together and win as a team. Juval has help me start that journey only this time I know a bit of kung fu.

I attended both the Architect's Master Class and the Project Design Master Class. ...read more I waited with my testimonial till I had both under my belt. Before these two classes I had almost lost all hope of ever being able to figure out why the efforts of my team were never leading to a successful end and was struggling to find a working solution to stop the insane death march which we are on. Attending the Architect and the Project Design Master Classes opened my eyes to a world where the software development is elevated to the level of all other engineering disciplines and is conducted in a professional, predictable and reliable manner which results in a high-quality working software developed on time and within budget. The knowledge gained during these 2 weeks is priceless! From revealing the secrets on how to create a solid and sound system architecture which withstands the challenges of the ever-changing user requirements to the intricate details on how to plan and guide the project to a successful end - all this was presented with expertise and professionalism which are hard to match. Considering that every bit of distilled truth which Juval shared with us in class is acquired, tested and proven in real life, it transforms this learning experience into a powerful body of knowledge which is of absolute necessity for everyone who aspires to the Software Architect or Project Manager career.

I would just like to update you on the massive success we are having, after placing myself and two other regional architects on the Architect's Master Class. ...read more We are now practicing the Method on some highly complex software applications, and have developed a solid methodology around it. At first the developers were very skeptical, about this new approach. Today developers are asking why they have not done this before, so I have a complete turn-around in attitude and adoption. It is great to see my development team so happy, and so enthusiastic about all the new things. I am seeing them growing and becoming more productive. Nothing makes me happier. The bottom line is, is that the first integration points are starting to roll out, making the business very happy. We are starting to see how easy it is to measure progress, and to plan and predict, when the architecture is at the center of the universe. EVEN IF the architecture is not 100% it is still 100% better than without it, as all stakeholders consume the integration path and can monitor where we are. Please forward on to Juval, I would love him to know what a positive impact his life is having on others.

This class was enlightening beyond my expectations – and this is even after prior experience with IDesign. ...read more Juval has orders of magnitude more relevant experience across the industry than nearly anyone else, and it shows in his approach to teaching all the skills and techniques an architect must possess and master.