Gideon reads
Considerations
BLT Green
Solutions Architect and Hobby Lover
A TOGAF Certified architect specialising in AWS and Google Cloud Architecture.
And cat herder and zine maker and photographer and writer and musician and researcher and...
Architecture
Recognised as 'One to Watch' on the Tempo Rising Super Star shortlist in 2020, I've been the lead architect in an innovative FinTech for two years.
From introducing Flow Architecture and DDD while migrating legacy systems to a modern, sustainable platforms, to working with stakeholders across all levels, I see my role as balancing the technical and the human.
I'm TOGAF-certified with experience in both AWS and GCP architecture, and specialise in effective, readable documentation.
What I do well
Solutions Architecture is a broad church. Here's the parts I'm really great at.
Knowledge Bases
I've built full knowledge bases from scratch. I use TOGAF's concept of an architectural repository, and go deeper, building pattern libraries, templates, system architectures and runbooks/playbooks. I have a rigorous background in technical documentation.
Risk Management
I love to work with SREs, Dev-Ops and risk and compliance teams to institute BCP and Disaster Recovery plans across enterprises. Instituting and cataloguing game days and other chaos engineering concepts helps us build strong systems.
Metrics
The mark of a mature architectural function is its measurability. As a lead architect, I've worked to put in place metrics like DORA, Minimum Maintainability Index, and Architectural Maturity Index.
Projects
A lot of my working life is wrapped up in designing proof of concept architectures. Then I come home and work on more!
I like to use different languages but I really enjoy Flutter and Rust for conceptual work. I've been enjoying OCaml more and more, but my favourite is always Python.
Featured Project: Lofi Pomodoro App
A mobile app built in Flutter designed to help the user focus in a way that does not encourage burnout. Utilising research around rest and attention, the app encourages exercise, breaks, and calm. Design document available on request.
Featured Project: Architecture Metrics Calculators
Calculators built in Rust to measure metrics such as SLOC, MMI, Tech Debt Cost, and more. Design document and Proof of Concept code available on request.
Featured Project: Commonplace Book Graph
Using a graph database to not only map out your personal library's data (much like Storygraph), this app, written using OCaml and GCP's Spanner Db, allows one to save quotes from books under common headings like the traditional 18thC Commonplace Book. Design Document available on request.
About me
I'm London born and bred, but my dad is Irish and my mother is from Georgetown, Guyana so I've grown up with an international perspective. I identify as queer. My first love will always be books. I've studied literature to MA level. I've turned my ADHD into a superpower and live the phrase Jack of All Trades, Master of None, Still Better Than a Master of One.
The Most Important Part
The orange cat is named Gideon Nyav, after Gideon Nav of The Locked Tomb series. Both are beefy and orange with amber eyes. Both love women. Both are menaced by a small dark creature. It fit immensely. Gideon is more fourteen year old boy than cat. He refuses to play with toys and instead prefers watching YouTube. The black cat is named Studio Ghibli Soot Sprite the Cat, or Gigi. He likes to play fetch and try to suplex his brother.
