The role of a solution architect is to ensure the product meets business requirements and requirements from other stakeholders. 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.
You may have a large project that requires someone to manage designers, technical or business architect teams to produce a quality technical project outcome. If you have already realized the importance of solution architecture in your projects, the next step is to source and hire the person for the role. There is no set career path to becoming an SA, but most come from a background in architecture, project management, or software development. As one of a few IT experts and leaders whose goal it is to develop enterprise-wide infrastructure plans and projects to achieve goals, improve systems and manage solutions. Along with developers, engineers need to understand and interpret the product requirements to build the apps, systems, and solutions to achieve the desired outcome.
Solutions Architect Vs. Enterprise Architect Vs. Technical Architect
There are many different programming languages, frameworks, libraries, databases, architectural patterns, and standards. The responsibility of a solution architect is to pick the most suitable tools for a particular project. In short, this specialist comes into play after a business analyst finishes prioritizing features and eliciting limitations. Their core task is to create exhaustive documentation, e.g. well-elaborated specifications and thorough diagrams.
The synergy between these roles is key in building a long-lasting, effective enterprise architecture. A cloud architect is responsible for overseeing a company’s cloud computing strategy. SAs need a strong knowledge of cloud computing systems and work with cloud architects to develop solutions related to the systems in place. These tools – such as the LeanIX EAM – help SA’s map design IT infrastructure, produce diagrams and facilitate the to-be architecture. Therefore, selecting the best solutions architect tool can be essential to the success of the solution.
Solutions architect responsibilities
A business architect’s main responsibility is leading the architecture of new organizations or re-architecting aspects of existing ones. To transition into a successful business architect, there are certain key skills and qualifications you should seek to acquire. Business architects will tend to come from a background of consultancy or business analysis–but others come to the role through solutions or enterprise architecture. A business architect will take a leadership role in the strategy and development of holistic, multidimensional business architecture to achieve an organization’s goals and solutions.
- They typically have a strong custom software development, system design, and project management background and may also have specialized knowledge in a particular industry or technology domain.
- Although the true list of non-technical elements depends on the software complexity, a general one would consist of performance, maintainability, security, usability, and scalability.
- Successful solutions architects are usually curious, rational, analytical, and methodical—all of which are important traits for this job.
- Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.
- It is this expert who is responsible for creating a strategic plan for implementing technical changes.
- A candidate with an MBA in information systems may also be a good fit for a role as a solutions architect.
- Solutions Architects also inform project managers and software engineers about the requirements of the project, and they remain involved in the whole development lifecycle.
The solution architecture discipline consists of several complex processes and sub-processes. Therefore, SAs plays a central role in an organization’s efforts to introduce and successfully implement new technology solutions. Solutions architecture requires both technical and interpersonal skills to design, describe, and manage solutions. They evaluate the existing environment and examine how different elements of business, information, and technology can be applied to solve a specific problem.
Solutions architect skill sets
These individuals are responsible for engineering, creating software architecture, and implementing technology. This is where the ability to explain complex and abstract technical concepts is crucial for these professionals. Solutions Architects also inform project managers and software engineers about the requirements of the project, and they remain involved in the whole development lifecycle. Over the past decade technology has transformed business processes, systems, and methods across various industries. Organizations need to ensure that their core operations are transferred to the best tech solutions, otherwise they risk falling behind their competitors.
This means formalizing the supporting infrastructure, training, methodology, governance, and tools. Coordination and collaboration with diverse stakeholders is an essential endeavor for Solutions Architects. They serve as the vital liaison, uniting disparate teams and fostering a shared understanding and vision. By adeptly managing and balancing the interests and business solution architect roles and responsibilities expectations of stakeholders, Solutions Architects drive seamless project execution and cultivate a collaborative environment. Solutions Architects are entrusted with the task of meticulously analyzing existing systems. By identifying potential areas of improvement, they can recommend modifications or enhancements that increase efficiency and productivity.
Best Practices toDefine Business Capability Maps
The role of a Solution Architect requires a mixture of both technical and business skills. Anyone applying for the role of a Solutions Architect position must have a certain set of skills, education, certifications and relevant work experience. In conclusion, a solution architect is a valuable asset for any business that wants to stay ahead of the competition and avoid costly tech-related headaches. The tech architecture strategy directly depends on the technology stack architects choose. Business operations gather and employ the data, while IT obtains, stores, and derives that information from varied database resources. In other words, they answer for determining procedures and technologies to be applied in collecting, structuring, storing, and accessing enterprise information.
Most Solutions Architects have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in information technology, computer science, software engineering, or another related area. As a result, our Client has received a responsive and user-friendly web-based QMS and easily integrated it into customer’s services. In addition, the processes became digitized and transparent, with improved usability for all parties.
Technical expertise
An enterprise architect
This specialist evaluates the technology ecosystem in its entirety and makes certain that the resulting program will seamlessly blend into the picture. An extensive part of the job is informing the executives about the importance of the tech advances made, as well as conveying the management’s long-range plans to the developers. There’s no universal tool set, but there is modeling software for solution architects like ABACUS. The candidate is also required to have over 5 years of experience in leadership, managerial, or high-level advisory roles.
Their expertise enables them to optimize the design and implementation process, ensuring the chosen technology stack aligns seamlessly with the organization’s needs. As a technical business analyst, one oversees the technical business project and solution implementation. Technical business analysts work with the technical team members and stakeholders for the mapping, analysis, and documentation of business projects and processes. People in the business world consider them as market technicians, chartists, securities traders, or researchers.
Solution architect’s certification
Enterprise architecture, which we covered in a dedicated article, focuses on building complex enterprise ecosystems and solves high-level strategic issues. Enterprise architecture defines the strategic directions of the business architecture, which then leads to an understanding of what technology facilities are needed to support that architecture. So, in other words, the enterprise architect defines what has to be done, while the solution architect then decides how to do it. Senior technical business analysts earn lower levels of education than business solutions architects in general. They’re 6.9% less likely to graduate with a Master’s Degree and 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree. While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren’t so similar.
