Interplay of Architecture, Business Goals, and Current Technology in the Evolution of Call Center Systems

Architecture, business goals, and current technology (ABCs) continuously interact with each other to define and evolve the structure and function of software systems. This experience report looks at the ABC relationships in the domain of call center (CC) systems. Call centers are IT systems that provide telephone-based customer service. We look at the architecture and quality attributes of CC systems circa 1990. We then examine technology disruptions in the late 1990s which led to new business goals. Finally, we see how the system architecture has evolved to satisfy these new business goals, why this change has reprioritized the quality attributes of the system, and how the architect's skills have had to evolve to address this new type of system.