Software development

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

By 11 octubre 2022 agosto 5th, 2023 No Comments

Coding experience may help them better understand the development team’s needs. It is an architectural description of a specific solution based on predefined processes and best practices. As the initial step for creating new enterprise solutions, it ensures that every solution meets the business requirements and fits into the enterprise architecture as a whole.

These qualities are very important for a solution architect, especially for beginners. Given the strategic place that Solution Architects hold, their technical background and experience prior to entering this role must be evaluated and meet a specific set of needs. Enterprise Architect – A more generalized role for fixing company problems, an enterprise architect concerns business models, management, executive functions, coming up with effective corporate strategies, and the like. The idea behind solution architecture is fairly straightforward; have someone who is good at finding problems and then have that person figure out a way to make that problem go away. Better yet, have that person turn that problem into an advantage if it is at all possible. A Solutions Architect is like water — you’ve got to mold yourself and your skillset into whatever situation you’re presented with.

Application architecture

Creating a solution architecture is a complex and resource-intensive task. A developer or project manager can’t give the desired result due to the lack of expertise and time for implementation. The correct approach would be to have an individual team member who is experienced enough and has no other responsibilities. The knowledge of technology is just as important for this specialist as a deep understanding of all business processes.

If there is a major shift in how personnel and business practices are done, it is likely that this was done under the advice of an enterprise architect. Solution Architect – This particular job basically rides the fence between corporate and tech solutions. It has a narrow purview in terms of what the person in charge will be focusing on and it mixes entrepreneurial goals and technological ones. Understand the current software stack with which your company works and evaluate its architecture from a functional and technical fit. Many organizations have different ideas of what a Solution Architect should be.

What Does Solution Architecture Mean?

It is the architects who can guarantee that a particular project will meet your company’s standards. During the development process, there are usually several stakeholders who are both technical and non-technical. The solution architect should consider all software development requirements and provide updates about the development process, expenses, etc. Simply put, solution architecture is a high-level description of a software product in the context of the problems it solves.

solution architect meaning

Feel free to modify responsibilities and requirements based on your needs. «Solution architecture for n-tier applications.» Services Computing, 2006. The Open Group’s definition of Solution Architecture, as provided above, is accompanied by the following three from Scaled Agile, Gartner and Greefhorst/Proper. It is worth noting that the Open Group does not recognize the role «Solution Architect» in its TOGAF skills framework whilst Glassdoor advertised 55,000 Solution Architect roles in August 2020. Once you have passed these four exams, you are classified as a System Architect. Experience over 6 and a half years delivering small to enterprise scale projects.

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In such cases, the architect will need to influence decisions made by the manager, which can include objecting to technology uses when necessary. In this article, the main topics of discussion will be the main obstacles of tech companies are experiencing, what a solutions architect can do to alleviate the issues, and what the role of a solution architect entails. Collaborate with software developers and engineers to ensure configuration and delivery of software solutions per the defined architecture specifications. Define and design proposed software architecture that fits the specifications of the project or business solution.

  • Solution architecture is vital for software development projects as it helps tailor IT solutions to specific business needs & brings clarity around functional requirements and implementation stages.
  • To address this, the architect continuously updates and refines the architectural runway.
  • Project scope is a part of software documentation that defines specific goals, tasks, features, and functions.
  • An IT solutions architect is an expert and one of the most significant and client-facing roles in the IT industry.
  • Thanks to cloud infrastructures, this process has become a lot easier.
  • And if you’re working on a product team, you might also be expected to work with clients to understand expectations and requirements.

Yet, each role is essential for a project’s success and could not be substituted by another position. At the first stage of a project, a solution architect gathers the requirements for a software solution from 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 architect job description

Take IDC’s ERP Modernization Maturity Assessment to benchmark your organization’s progress against your peers. Work with product and delivery teams to develop scalable solutions and products. Ultimately, you will work with the organization’s leaders to identify problems and then work with our IT Team to address those problems with innovative software solutions. To join our team and implement systems architecture to help solve our organization’s network problems.

solution architect meaning

It’s important to understand that enterprise architects and solution architects are not opposed to each other but form a synergy with technical architects. All three are integral elements when it comes to maximizing the value that a company can generate through the use of technology. As the name already suggests, enterprise architecture paints a big picture of the enterprise that includes all business entities and their relationship to technology and applications. EA is particularly concerned with the lifecycle of applications and defining IT strategies.

What does a Solution Architect do?

The SA role is a great next step if you are an engineer that is looking to get into the next salary band by developing a client facing skillset. This article will focus on the position of solution architecture responsibilities Solutions Architect in the software industry. At Morgan McKinley, we never lose sight of the role we play connecting talent with opportunities to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.

Overseeing testing and fixing errors, creating documentation, and ensuring compliance with relevant industry standards. Download this poster to learn more about core competencies of IT architecture and how to become a Solution Architect. Start Making Weekend Plans Again Free yourself from time-consuming upgrades, migrations, https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ and disruptions. Since The Open Group does not recognize a unique Solution Architect role a relevant link for these mentioned artifacts can be to the Business and Systems Analyst roles. It is also worth reminding that The Open Group does define Solution Architecture as something larger than Forrester .

Solutions architect responsibilities

But solution architects aren’t the only architects when it comes to software development. To successfully design, create, and lead the development of a software solution, a solutions architect needs to have a certain skill set. A solutions architect is responsible for translating the vision for the project to the development team and plays a pivotal part throughout the entire systems development lifecycle.

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