Solution Architect Engineering

A solution architect accounts for developing and implementing IT systems architecture that fulfills the planned business needs. The overarching goal of an enterprise architect is to ensure that the company has smooth development lifecycles and uses available resources for every enterprise application effectively. Although a solutions architect https://globalcloudteam.com/ is not directly involved in project development, they still need to ensure that project resources are being used efficiently and impactfully. As the job title implies, a solutions architect primarily focuses on solution-level decisions and evaluation of their impact on a client’s overarching business objectives and their outcomes.

Once software engineering projects grow more complicated and entail a bigger number of processes and risks, it’s better to consider solution architecture consulting services. One of the most important challenges of software product development is meeting the stakeholders’ requirements. Usually, solution architecture responsibilities a product has a number of stakeholders that are both technical and non-technical specialists. Solution architecture’s aim is to ensure that all their requirements are taken into account. Stakeholders have to be regularly informed about product development processes, costs, and budgeting.

Ensure implementation flexibility – While some requirements are known upfront, many can vary as new knowledge emerges and is subject to further discussion. To support this, AEs can use ranges (e.g., The vehicle’s recharging time is within 20 to 30 minutes) in system specifications that become fixed based on the knowledge gained as teams explore alternative designs. Requirements can also be expressed in the ‘language of intent’ instead of ‘shall statements’ that often constrain the implementation. Instead of reaching decisions in silos, AEs can host collaborative Specification and Design Workshops .

Superior Communication

The Solution Architect has the strategic role of designing and planning solutions in a technology environment. Essentially, this individual leads processes that help develop solutions for enterprise architecture in the sense of the business, information, and a technical standpoint. An infrastructure architect is much like a technical architect but with a focus on a corporate on-premises server or cloud systems employed by an organization.

Architects consider the existing company’s architecture to make sure the new product will work in the existing ecosystem. Project managers watch over software development process — monitor tasks, ensure the team meets deadlines, and report to clients. That’s why companies need IT solution architects to make sure the product will meet their requirements, and there won’t be any time or budget overruns. A solutions architect must possess a set of skills in order to properly design, create, and lead the development of a software solution. Prior to considering solution architecture, we recommend exploring enterprise architecture frameworks that combine both solution and enterprise levels. Certifications are intended to validate the skills and expertise of solution architects.

At this stage, the Solution Architect’s role is to oversee the progress of the project in accordance with the solution goals and enterprise resources. A Solutions Architect must collaborate with sales, marketing, project management, QA, and development teams. As well as, working closely with stakeholders to deliver the right solution.

Roles and Responsibilities of Solution Architect

Most of the certification platforms, besides the exam itself, offer training courses, learning materials, and practice tests. Other resources can also be helpful to prepare and practice such as Udemy, Coursera, or MeasureUp. However, the exam can be taken without previous preparation — all that is required is deep knowledge of the architecture concepts and principles and a vast hands-on experience in the industry. A solution architect will suit your product needs with the best ways to implement them while explaining everything clearly according to the business terms. Participate in design and engineering of analytics solutions that have significant strategic impact and achieve long term competitive advantage for Client. CEOs and project team members should be kept in the know of what is going on at the moment and what is going to happen next.

From a technical, business, user, and another standpoint, this person must guarantee that the new solution fits into the existing enterprise architecture. A role of a solutions architect is supervising the development of software, providing the solutions in overall design, and giving strategic guidance throughout the development process. You make a good point that to find a solution architecture function to see what’s best for the building you’ll need technology assessment and comparison.

Solution architect role description and responsibilities

Salary bands for Solutions Architect roles depend on the level you are at. I write about interview prep and career planning for Exponent, but I also write about climate change, tech, and, politics. With a few mocks under your belt, you can build the confidence you need to sail through any Solutions Architect interview. However, a great way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to practice with some mock interviews beforehand. An interview prep course like the Exponent Solutions Architect course can be a great way to look inside how Solutions Architect hiring decisions are ultimately made.

The primary role of a solution architect is to ensure the product meets business requirements and requirements from other stakeholders. Usually, it’s senior developers, team leads, and project managers who have skills required for a solution architect. They have the needed tech background, business expertise, and are excellent communicators. Basically, as soon as a software engineer starts thinking about business needs, they are on their way to becoming a solution architect.

With companies increasingly relying on software and emerging technologies, the role of a solutions architect will continue to gain weight. The solution architect’s job focuses on solution-level decisions and analysis of their impact on the overall business goals and outcomes. So, we can say that the product of a solution architect’s job is the set of technological solutions and the strategy of their implementation. Considering that this role entails negotiating with stakeholders, understanding the needs of all parties, managing risks, and product delivery, the lack of communication skills can create a real bottleneck.

For example, protecting customer data under GDPR and other privacy regulations is a business-level problem. Solution architecture defines how those requirements would translate into the way a given software operates. Software architecture and systems integrated into it are numerous details that work together.

Overview of the different architecture roles

Technical Architects are in charge of a specific engineering, software architecture or implementation technology. From an employee’s point of view, certification is mainly needed for a specific company. However, it’s the proven approach to become an IT solution architect, increase and acquire credibility.

In this article, we’ll talk about what a Solutions Architect does, what the main requirements for this role are, how much these professionals typically earn, and how to become one of them. This article focuses on the Solution Architect role, but for clarity, here’s a brief explanation of the other two roles and how they compare to the Solution Architect role. Rapidly respond to changes in external environments and rebuild in the direction of solving new problems. Have a sense of the correct strategy and the ability to lead the whole team. If you want to launch a streaming service, you must own the copyrights and content licenses. For example, here’s the tech stack we used while working on Blockbuster, a video streaming platform.

Do AWS Cloud Projects to Gain Hands-On Experience

However important the above-mentioned skills might be, they won’t help a solution architect to reach their goals unless he can efficiently interact with other people involved in the project. Solutions architects collaborate with managers, developers, project teams, enterprise and software architects, and a slew of other stakeholders each with their own tasks, visions, preferences, and values. Consequently, solutions architects must be able to communicate the adopted policies to them and be ready to listen to the feedback, explain, and persuade. Security, scalability, usability, and performance are the usual non-functional requirements, although they may vary, depending on the overall product characteristics and complexity. The solutions architect’s job is to oversee the software development process to ensure that the end product meets these basic quality attributes.

In our rapidly evolving world driven by new realms, organizations feel the need to change their operating methods and techniques to face the emerging business challenges and fluctuating customer demand. They create a model of the solution they plan to implement with a view to its imminent upscaling and maintenance. Artificial intelligence Talk to our AI specialists and business analysts to get a free project strategy and roadmap.

• If, for example, your colleague is classified as a cloud engineer and another colleague as a cloud architect, you would know who your first point of contact would be for a cloud migration.
• Owning the planning, execution, technical engagement, and outcomes of specific implementation projects and assignments.
• Plus, solutions architects ought to constantly keep in mind the overall corporate strategy and goals the organization aims to achieve.
• In addition, their development and integration efforts are substantial, necessitating continuous technical alignment and adjustment.
• A solution architect accounts for developing and implementing IT systems architecture that fulfills the planned business needs.
• You may be working in a small company where many roles have a broad role description due to the size of the company.

This role is responsible for making information attractive and readily accessible to its intended audience. An information architect organizes digital information with a focus on user experience, navigation, searchability, and ease of access to the information that people need. The term “architect” comes from the Greek word architekton, which means chief creator or master builder. The event triggers an application process that is served by an application service called “Candidate and role selection”.

When Do Companies Need a Solution Architect?

A solution architect will match product requirements with ways to implement them and explain everything in clear business terms. It must fit into the current enterprise architecture — the software the company’s been using before. For example, if you use legacy software, your brand-new admin plan should fit right in and communicate with that legacy system.

Various programming languages, libraries, frameworks, architectural patterns, databases, and standards are there. The solution architect accounts for choosing tools that best suit the specific project, and this demands tech proficiency to compare and access tools. First, they craft a technical vision to exhibit how the software will meet the business requirements. They should be business-minded, capable of identifying the most effective solution at every turn, for every part of the architecture. It is their responsibility to focus on business goals, including hiring new people, and understand how to achieve them in the set timeframe and within the given budget. You can’t have a precise answer to this question that will give you an exact amount down to a penny.

What Is the Role of a Solutions Architect?

A solutions architect is in charge of communicating the project’s vision to the development team and plays an important role throughout the system development lifecycle. 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. Software or technical architect is mainly in charge of engineering problems and software architecture. We have a detailed article describing the role of a software architect and the importance of this position to the company’s success. Now, we hope you have answers to all the solutions architects’ relevant queries and more.

As these applications get developed, solutions architects ensure they are aligned with the listed requirements. That is why the solution architect must have both general project management skills and exceptional abilities. The previous sections have outlined the importance of solution architecture during digital transformations and how solution architects can drive change by managing the implementation of IT projects. But what are more specific solution architecture benefits that motivate business leaders to hire SA specialists? However, solution architects don’t just hand out instructions and then leave the scene. They work closely with technical architects and manage all the tasks that are needed for the project to succeed.