As Vlion stated, asking this question in a community overwhelmingly dominated by developers means the answers will be skewed towards "yes".
As somebody who has "architect" in his job title but who was also recently awarded the badge of "Distinguished Engineer", my loyalties are torn. In general, I think coding is not usually an effective use of an architect's time. So what should I be doing?
- Understanding the business.
- Understanding the systems used to enable the business.
- Working with the business on IT strategy and tactics.
- Making sure current projects are being done with a long-term view, where the project manager concentrates on the short-term view.
So how should an architect keep in touch with reality? I think by regular meetings and walkarounds, just talking to people at every level and oiling the wheels of communication.
