SODA 2018 - 2nd International Workshop on the Social and Organizational Dimensions of Software Architecting (SODA)

Software architecting shapes a software product and development process in both social and organizational contexts. Architects operate in these contexts, influenced by different stakeholders and other organisational and socio-technical forces. While some have tried to define the role of the architect, there is still no clear consensus of what makes an architect, e.g., in contrast to a developer. Also, social and organizational impacts on the architect and the resulting architecture are often neglected, e.g., since they are seemingly difficult to measure and quantify. Social aspects and the role of different players in the software development process have been previously examined within the broader context of software engineering (e.g., the CHASE and CSD workshop series at ICSE). The SODA workshop on the other hand focuses on the social and organizational dimensions in which architects operate and produce their outputs. SODA focuses on the architect, the surrounding organization, and the process rather than on the architecture as the output of the architecting process. SODA offers a venue for researchers, practitioners and educators within the software architecture domain to jointly discuss experiences, forge new collaborations, and explore innovative solutions in this area. The second edition of SODA focuses on: (1) Tasks performed and skills required from architects; (2) The wider social and organizational contexts of the architect.