What Does a Solution Architect Do?

For instance, a product is built with technologies that must suit the requirements of its particular modules. Project scope is a part of software documentation that defines specific goals, tasks, features, and functions. All projects also have an allocated budget.While these aspects are constraints in themselves, each of them has its own limitations. The solution architect must understand all these constraints, compare them, and then make a number of technological and managerial decisions to reconcile these restrictions with project goals. Well, I started as an operations lead, where I was leading about 28 people doing daily tasks, managing around 15 customers on a daily basis.

Basically, as soon as a software engineer starts thinking about business needs, they are on their way to becoming a solution architect. It’s like hiring a super-senior developer but with deep expertise in a specific field — healthcare, education, traveling, or any other. For solution architects, the business side of the product matters as much as the technical side. A solution architect’s job here is to explain how this app can be built, what tools — programming languages, frameworks, APIs — should be used, and how much time this process will take. For that, architects do some solution architecture — draw diagrams to understand which components are required for this app.

Enterprise Architect vs. Solution Architect

It is about understanding the current state, its impact on the overall architecture, and defining new blocks and their interfaces. The initial high-level design will need to be monitored to confirm that it is consistent and compared with the solution’s overall design. This is one crucial point, as there are many different practices related to platforms, programming languages, and tools. The architect needs to determine which of the technologies will be most suitable for a particular project.

• As such, solution architects may spend a significant portion of their time in meetings, discussions, and brainstorming sessions, both with their colleagues and with external stakeholders.
• Specifically, it communicates an idea of a product with business owners, top executives, and possibly customers to understand their pain points and requirements and define the future system’s right vision.
• Solution architects play a vital role in software engineering, business operations, and IT support.
• Business operations gather and employ the data, while IT obtains, stores, and derives that information from varied database resources.
• Solution architecture is focused on details and solution technologies to address a specific business problem.

To make it clearer, let’s look at the tasks solution architect job description should include. As a solutions architect, you’ll want to get certified in any relevant skills or technologies for your industry or field. The skills and knowledge that you’ll need can vary depending on the role, but you can always find certifications and courses for individual skills required for the job such as Java, AWS, Azure, or Apache Kafka. Besides picking the technologies, IT solution architects define the development stages the team will go through and help with calculating the product’s cost. As the solution architect knows the architecture components, they know what people — front end, back end, iOS, Android developers — they need to involve.

Q: What is a Solutions Architect, anyways?

This is why a good solution architect is critical to your company’s success. This specific exam will be suitable for specialists working with Microsoft Azure and possessing advanced knowledge of Azure infrastructure. An architect must be capable of analyzing and identifying potential short and long-term risks that may cause technical issues and impede business operations in the future. http://informaton.ru/article/17 AWS certifications are valid for 3 years after which the credential holders have to go through recertification to prove their continued expertise and knowledge of the latest AWS technologies and best practices. Solution Architect responsibilities include testing and integrating program software systems to address and solve specific business problems within an organization.

We are not selling the product, we are providing them the best solutions they can use to solve their problems. For me, I come in there, understand their problem, and have those big conversations. We still need to collaborate and integrate with other vendors, at the end of the day.

What is a solutions architect? A vital role for IT-business alignment

They are mediators between enterprise architecture (global business perspective) and software architecture (dealing with tech issues). These people work in big organizations that maintain complex hardware infrastructure. A solutions architect evaluates business needs and supports those business goals and needs with tech solutions.

Solution architects must be able to make decisions about which solutions are advantageous and which are worthless in a given situation. So, being the one who knows the ultimate target, they guide the development process accordingly. A solutions architect will also bridge the gap between business and development teams. Usually, companies already have operating systems, an information context, and integration requirements. The solution architecture helps ensure that a new system will fit the existing enterprise environment. To perform this task, a solution architect has to understand how all parts of the business model work together including processes, operating systems, and application architectures.

This definition may seem vague and generic, but only because customers’ problems are different, so they demand different solutions, usually with a unique approach. A senior architect is a role that has a high level of experience and expertise in solution architecture, and is recognized as an authority and a leader in the field. A senior architect provides strategic direction and guidance for the solution architecture practice, as well as the architecture standards and frameworks. A senior architect also participates in complex and critical projects, and provides consultation and advice to other architects and stakeholders. A senior architect needs to have a proven track record of delivering successful solutions, as well as the ability to mentor and inspire others. Designing a solution requires understanding how different parts of the business work together.

They are typically hired by organizations to provide technical expertise and guidance in the development of software applications, systems, and other IT infrastructure. A solution architect must be knowledgeable in both technical and business aspects, and work closely with stakeholders to understand their requirements and constraints. They are responsible for defining the scope, identifying potential opportunities, and selecting appropriate technologies and platforms to achieve the desired outcomes.