7 great podcasts for enterprise architects

Podcasts are an excellent way to learn new things or expand your knowledge about familiar topics, whether you're already an IT or business systems architect or traversing the world of systems architecture for the first time. Listening to podcasts is an excellent way to learn while you're doing other things—driving to work, exercising, walking the dog, cooking, or even working on an important task.

[ Learn how to build a flexible foundation for your organization. Download An architect's guide to multicloud infrastructure. ]

7 great podcasts for IT pros

The following are some great podcasts by systems architects and engineers that you may want to add to your queue. All keep systems design experts of all domains in mind, so find them in your favorite podcast application, listen in, and learn something new.

Compiler

If you're looking for a lighthearted spin on general technology, look no further. Compiler (sponsored by Red Hat) hits on various topics relevant to the future of technology that IT professionals—including programmers, sysadmins, developers, engineers, architects, and CTOs—may find helpful in their careers.

Data Engineering Podcast

Every week, the Data Engineering podcast dives into "scaling processing pipelines, deploying databases, maintaining your data lake, and establishing proper governance practices." It's hosted by Tobias Macey, an engineer who manages the technical operations team at MIT Open Learning. This podcast informs listeners about data management through Macey's experiences in building and scaling data infrastructure and processing workflows.

[ Become a Red Hat Certified Architect and boost your career. ]

Design Better

The Webby-nominated Design Better podcast was made to inspire better products, with insights from influential product designers worldwide.

Jim Tyrell, chief application services architect at Red Hat, says, "Design Better gathers the best thinkers and leaders in design thinking. The episodes are short interviews, perfect for your morning walk or commute, chock full of books I want to read and insights I've not heard anywhere else, that all inspire me to be a better software developer."

Maintainable

Hearing how other people solve problems is a great way to learn how to solve your own issues. The Maintainable podcast, hosted by Robby Russell, who created Oh My Zsh, features seasoned practitioners sharing lessons learned with technical debt and legacy code. They offer real-world approaches and tangible, actionable advice toward "the art of improving existing software" (which is the podcast's subtitle).

Evan Stoner, a senior specialist solutions architect at Red Hat, is a Maintainable fan. "While it's fun to build new things (we call those 'greenfield' projects), the job of an architect is filled with a lot of 'brownfield' too: projects that have been underway for years, or even decades, before we showed up," he says. "Learning how to approach, deconstruct, and improve such projects quickly becomes an invaluable skill in an architect's career. In this podcast, you learn how others have attacked technical debt and legacy code—and lived to tell the tale."

[ You might also be interested in 8 books to boost your enterprise architecture career. ]

Red Hat X

In this podcast, Red Hat partners discuss application modernization, cloud-native development, workload security in the cloud, and other topics. Recent topics include Backstage, Spotify's open platform for building developer portals, securing devices at the edge, and the effect of cognitive load on tech workers.

Thoughtworks technology podcast

The Thoughtworks technology podcast offers insights from industry-leading senior-level technologists on some of the most in-demand trends in tech today. The podcast also includes a series on challenges facing today's digital leaders and practical approaches to overcoming them through pragmatism). In its 60+ episodes, you can explore topics from securing the supply chain to software engineering, to full-stack testing, to the architect elevator.

What's Your Baseline?

This podcast (subtitled "Enterprise architecture and business process management demystified") focuses on business transformation through enterprise architecture and business process management, emphasizing the project management portion of these transformations. Twice a month, hosts Roland Woldt and J-M Erlendson present topics relevant to systems architects and BPM professionals, such as security architecture, process mining, and getting recognition for your work.

What would you add to this list?

Podcasts are a great way to learn while being entertained (and maybe even accomplishing something else on your to-do list). Since new podcasts continually pop up, we know this isn't a complete list. So please share your feedback: What are your favorite podcasts for architects and engineers? What topics do you enjoy listening to? Also, if you host a podcast for architects and engineers, please let us know so we can check it out. You can email us at enable-architect@redhat.com.

[ Cheat sheet: IT job interview tips. ]