The best architect I've worked with was previously a developer and then developer lead. He kept current with new technologies, development principles/tools and

The best architect I've worked with was previously a developer and then developer lead. He kept current with new technologies, development principles/tools and frameworks that were relevant to our stack. He helped with development occasionally and was pretty much the go-to guy for not being able to come to a solution on our own. Without a deep understanding of the moving parts of your systems, I don't think an architect can be very useful outside of taking meeting time from the development team. They're great for handling bureaucracy in a large environment, however a lot of that role can be done by your manager or their manager. Unfortunately handling bureaucracy isn't very high on the list of job satisfaction of someone who's role is in draught, he moved onto greener pastures shortly after I signed up.