[foolsgold]

I've worked for Fortune 50 sized companies, as Chief Architect, and I've worked for some amazing software engineering companies in a similar capacity.

Doing software architecture for the business side of the house, traditional IT, at any company is next to impossible. We are at the mercy of the business and the business doesn't care about standards, efficiencies. or anything, except making the quarterly estimates. The business is very supportive of all efforts right up until they decide that it might impact quarterly estimates, and then everything is out the window. When operating in such an environment there is no way software architecture, or security and compliance has a possibility of success.

On the Engineering or product side of the house especially for software product companies, software architecture is easy, and welcomed.

It all comes down to who you work for and what you are doing.