This process can either be done alone or depending upon the size and velocity of the project can be delegated to a development lead. Solutions architects early in their career report earning an average salary of $94,000 per year. As experience rises to mid-career, the average reported salary ranges from $115,000 to $137,000 per year. For late-career solutions architects with 20 years or more of experience, the average reported salary is $135,000 per year.
Designing a successful large solution is a highly collaborative process that requires ongoing communication, coordination, and cooperation across different people and teams involved in large solution development. This process is led by the Solution Architect and involves the key collaborations depicted in Figure 1. One crucial thing that we also want to mention related to the IT solution architect is their certifications which are needed to validate their skills and qualifications. The certifications are aimed at assessing the overall knowledge, abilities, and experience of an IT solutions architect and at proving their proficiency. The average annual base pay for a solutions architect in the US is $197,854, although it ranges from about $99,000 to $172,000, according to Glassdoor [1].
Meeting the requirements of all stakeholders
To clarify, solution architecture does involve other work as it relates to implementing applications into corporate environments. In many cases, it is the recommendation of solution architects based on their analysis of business requirements that will lead to the examination of specific enterprise applications for potential fit within the company. Just like many other roles in information technology, there are many aspects to the role of solution architects and those aspects involve working with architecting solutions in two directions. One is from the project direction where business requirements are documented and the solution architect must determine how to meet those requirements. This can, naturally, involve the possibility of implementing new enterprise applications to meet those requirements. The other angle is from the implementation direction where it has been determined that a specific technology or enterprise application must be implemented and the solution architect must figure out how.
- As far as technical background, Solution Architects come from a variety of fields including computer science, information technology, software engineering, and other areas related to technology.
- After developing and testing ETORRS based on the solution architecture, TWG demonstrated the solution to a larger working group that included EPHI, CDC Ethiopia, ICAP, and CHAI directors for their endorsement.
- For example, protecting customer data under GDPR and other privacy regulations is a business-level problem.
- You can start learning the basics of Kubernetes, but hey, you cannot learn the basics of Kubernetes without learning Linux basics because Kubernetes is actually Linux.
- They will work directly with EAs, TAs, business architects, etc. to achieve future state architecture.
- They formulate clear guidelines that help manage technical teams and outline the development stages of a project from start to finish.
Solution architects are involved in all aspects of a solution, from understanding the business strategy and requirements to determining how technology can support them. Solution Architects can work on a single solution such as a new system or application, or on an entire architecture program encompassing multiple solutions. Solution architecture focuses on specific, small pieces of a project, whereas enterprise architecture looks at the big picture.
Solution architecture
Once everything is agreed upon, he or she monitors the process of development and keeps stakeholders informed about the progress. Since we’ve discussed high-level goals of solution architecture adoption, let’s break them down into specific responsibilities and underlying skillsets. When introducing a new product or system as part of an IT solution, solution architects make sure that it fits into existing information security practices. How the project complies with each regulation is formally documented at the beginning of a project.
The initial high-level design will need to be monitored to confirm that it is consistent and compared with the solution’s overall design. Still, he/she is focused on the highest quality result and that everything is completed on time. Therefore, they have to decide which decisions are beneficial and which are useless in a particular situation. The Enterprise Solution Architect oversees the IT infrastructure of an entire enterprise in terms of business entities, properties, external ecosystems, relationships, and more.
Deep analytical skills
This person makes sure that there is a secure and stable IT environment for a software solution to work properly. Solution architects also ensure that such a solution will remain relevant in terms of the business what does solution architect do value it should deliver. This article will provide solutions architect job description, how their role is different from other similar positions, and what kind of projects require input from these specialists.
If you are creative, analytical, outgoing, pragmatic, and can explain problems and solutions on both a technical and non-technical level, you could have a future as a solutions architect. For example, if we talk about integration with existing solutions, then a new project must be created using particular technologies to comply with the corporate system. Solution Architects require a combination of technical expertise, business acumen, and excellent communication skills. They need to understand not only the technology and software they are working with but also the business context and the needs of the end users. Usually, Enterprise Architects supervise and take a back seat role by delegating specific tasks to specialists in particular areas. The principal involvement of Enterprise Architects is ensuring the company, as an entity, has streamlined IT application lifecycles and uses the technologies best suited for each application.
Solution architecture and its main processes
There’s no universal tool set, but there is modeling software for solution architects like ABACUS. If you must present a future product to investors and stakeholders, a solution architect will suggest the technologies that will match product requirements and communicate the reasoning in plain and clear business terms. While most of these responsibilities require a leadership role from a solution architect, this person just supports PM activities to ensure that resources, risk recognition, and planning stay aligned with the solution goals. While these aspects are constraints in themselves, each of them has its own limitations.
There are many options available online and in person, including free courses from leading universities like MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. There are other ways to learn about technology and its applications in different industries. For example, if you want to become a solution architect for healthcare organizations, look at how they use their systems and what their limitations are.
Python Courses to Enhance Your Career
Patterns are previously described and validated approaches that can be used to create portions of the solution. Patterns are released through research and can come from places such as Microsoft’s software development libraries. Reviewing the pattern allows the architect to refresh their memory on the details of the pattern and to evaluate what additional guidance they will have to provide if they choose to use https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ the pattern. You will likely need a bachelor’s degree or higher in information technology, computer science, software engineering, or a related field. For more senior roles, you may need more experience or education, including a master’s degree. Depending on the role, you might also need experience in specific IT areas, such as networking administration, development, customer service, or other relevant areas.
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. But our aim is to make sure that who we’re talking to has the best solution and we are there every step of the way in that decision-making process. Analysis, design, and development of the software components, database, web APIs, and other services at the central server (EPHI), SmartCare-ART, and VL database system.
What Is a Solutions Architect? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.
To successfully align IT solutions with business objectives, solutions architect must have strong leadership and communication skills, as well as both technical and business knowledge. As a solutions architect, you will need to understand the business side of the organization to understand which IT solutions will fit the company’s goals. Your leadership skills will be important for steering the overall process of identifying key business objectives and determining the requirements for each solution. 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.