solutions architect

How much does a solution architect or solutions architects earn?

Depending on where you live, salaries for solution architects vary, ranging from $90k-180k, according to Glassdoor. The national average wage for Solutions Architect is $127,279 per year in the US.

What skills do you need to be a solutions architect?

Solution Architects can take a set of requirements and design them into an architectural blueprint for a successful solution—their techniques, tools, technologies. Field experience helps them deploy effective solutions.

• Detail-oriented: The Solution Architect is detail-oriented; they ensure constant and consistent evaluation of every aspect and understand what is valuable, discarding what may be insignificant.
• Communication: The solutions architect is a clear communicator on selling points, challenges, technical factors, and risks involved
• Construction and management: Solution Architects are assertive, responsible, and multi-taskers, with innate abilities for designing, shaping, and managing a solution.
• Risk management/identification: solutions architect are skilled in identifying, evaluating, and assessing risks. By deploying performance and security tests and incorporating user experience, they can foresee and mitigate risks that may hinder the solution’s success.
• People skills: Without people skills, solutions architect won’t have their team’s trust. Solution Architects skillfully navigate business requirements and expected outcomes from various groups working on the solution.
• Resource management: solutions architect are adept with resource management, using resources efficiently and effectively; this is significant to meeting deadlines, staying within the budget, and providing an impressive solution.
• Software development process and technical skills: An solutions architect is knowledgeable in the technical aspects of the project, identifies risks, provides guidance, and assesses the technological infrastructure of the solution.

Is Solution Architect a good job?

Stakeholders have concerns and requirements that must be met. The needs of the technical development team are equally important; SAs are at the crux of this crossroad. Solution Architects are usually at the top of the list of people ultimately responsible for its implementation and success.

A company’s technical, functional, and business requirements may not always be well-defined or well-documented, creating a challenge for Solution Architects. They need to identify essential vs. non-essential given the sheer volume of requirements involved in solution architecture.

Does Solution Architect require coding?

Solution Architects come from various technical fields, including information technology, computer science, software engineering, and other areas. SAS are often required to have the knowledge and practical skills in:

• Business analysis
• Cloud development
• Computer and operating systems
• Database management
• DevOps
• Hardware and software management
• Infrastructure and engineering design
• Network administration
• Project and product management
• System security measures
• Web platforms

Is Solution Architect equivalent to a manager?

The Solution Architect is the keystone for all those involved in the solution; they must provide negotiation skills, advice, empathy, explanation, and influence to traverse the solution with proficiency.

What is next after solution architect ?

After designer, it is architect, solution architect, enterprise architect, enterprise solution architect, principal architect, Head / CTO, all the way to CEO. Titles or designation may differ by company, region, or country. This career path is very proving to be very rewarding, especially in digital transformation organizations.

What is the difference between a solution architect and a technical architect?

SAS conducts complex research to determine trends that may impact an organization’s operations. TAs oversee the execution of specific solutions that align with an organization’s application goals.

A career as an SA or TA may appeal to those with strong analytical abilities and technical skills—both jobs ensure networks operate efficiently, but each specializes in different areas. An SA focuses on an organization’s overall needs; a TA focuses on a specific area.

Solutions Architect Job Role

A solutions architect specializes in:

• Overseeing technical forecasts
• Assisting management in strategic planning
• Analyzing current issues and recommending solutions
• Creating and managing a team
• Developing best practices
• Determining information technology architecture; ensuring it aligns with the business’ needs
• Requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, business, mathematics, or engineering

Technical Architect Job Role

A technical architect:

• Collaborates with SAs and end-users
• Evaluates business needs
• Develops implementation costs and timing
• Provides application design recommendation
• Analyzes design specs
• Validates design specs with technical development personnel
• Collaborates with tech personnel to ensure efficient application implementation
• Requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, management information systems, or engineering

SAS conducts complex research to determine trends that may impact an organization’s operations. TAs oversee the execution of specific solutions that align with an organization’s application goals.

A career as an SA or TA may appeal to those with strong analytical abilities and technical skills—both jobs ensure networks operate efficiently, but each specializes in different areas. An SA focuses on an organization’s overall needs; a TA focuses on a specific area.

Solutions Architect Job Role

A solutions architect specializes in:

• Overseeing technical forecasts
• Assisting management in strategic planning
• Analyzing current issues and recommending solutions
• Creating and managing a team
• Developing best practices
• Determining information technology architecture; ensuring it aligns with the business’ needs
• Requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, business, mathematics, or engineering

Technical Architect Job Role

A technical architect:

• Collaborates with SAs and end-users
• Evaluates business needs
• Develops implementation costs and timing
• Provides application design recommendation
• Analyzes design specs
• Validates design specs with technical development personnel
• Collaborates with tech personnel to ensure efficient application implementation
• Requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, management information systems, or engineering

A solutions architect:

• Deploys a risk assessment on related applications
• Creates an architecture implementation plan
• Oversees the process for choosing “buy or build” technology solutions
• Manages processes, i.e., gather requirements, project intakes, and prioritization

Conducts post-execution reviews of applications for effectiveness

Is Python or solutions architect responsibilities useful for AWS?

An AWS architect should be able to write code in any programming language that has official AWS SDK, i.e., Python, C#, or Java. An understanding of programming is essential for creating viable solutions that work as intended.

Do architects write code?

Solutions Architects don’t need to write code, but some companies let their architects code while fulfilling their other duties. However, keeping architects from writing code can limit your development team’s potential.

An  solutions architect vision typically results in a reliable and maintainable product. They align different teams to build interdependent software ecosystems, sharing integration decisions on how apps and components should work together. Additionally, they review and prescribe tools and frameworks tying it all together by communicating the goal and vision of the final product.

When architects don’t write code, certain things can happen:

• The architect won’t see when libraries and tools fail
• Tools a solutions architect prescribes may not be working well in a particular scenario OR
• Tools they recommend may be overkill for a specific scenario

An architect could be completely unaware of the repercussions of some of these choices. Had they been writing code and closer to the team, they would have been aware of the impact, modified the design in real-time, made minimal design changes, and assisted the team in evolving the architecture.

Does Google have software architects?

Yes. Google’s solutions architect teams design and build the networking technologies, software, and hardware that drive all of Google’s services. As a Google Software Architect, you learn software product requirements, applications, use cases, and how they relate to sub-systems and specific hardware blocks within Google.

Do software architects or solutions architect skills still code?

Should software architects also code? The best argument in favor of this is that if you don’t keep your development skills up-to-date and continue to write code, you will become detached from the very applications you are designing and architecting. This can ultimately lead to “Architecture Astronaut,” a situation where a person gets so obsessed with the big picture that they miss the crucial details that make things work. The Architecture Astronaut thinks in increasingly higher and less relevant abstractions.

Although they don’t code at the same pace as software developers, a software architect maintains a greater degree of relevance by writing code. Software architects enforce technologies and processes; their role is to make management comfortable with the technical direction that a company is headed.

Does AWS Solution Architect require coding?

A career as an AWS Solution Architect does not require any programming skills or any other pre-requisites; knowledge in hardware and networking would be beneficial.

The job of an AWS Solutions architect

• Designs builds, and maintain scalable, cost-efficient, highly available AWS cloud environments
• Keep up with the latest updates in the field of cloud computing
• Makes recommendations regarding the AWS toolsets

What makes a good technical architect?

A Technical architect, a.k.a. as an IT Systems Architect, is a systems logistics specialist—they manage IT projects from inception to completion. A technical architect is a bridge between an organization’s business and technical aspects; they oversee the design and implementation of IT systems. They are the unicorns of the tech job market—a rare combination of advanced technical skills and remarkable managerial abilities.

Technical architect responsibilities:

• Design technology systems structure
• Program implementation management
• Collaborate with the software development teams to ensure the system operates smoothly

If you are a computer guru with excellent business skills, a career as a technical architect may be the perfect choice for you. It is one of the highest-demand IT jobs today, offering a wide variety of industries where you can choose to work.

What are the six basic elements of enterprise architecture?

Advancement in technology is changing the way people work globally—as tech evolves, EA helps keep the balance between business development and IT performance; however, all EA framework consists of the same core elements.

1. Associated best practices–Best practices are standardized operating procedures, promoting transparency, and enforcing consistency in processes and compliance.
2. Architecture framework–This is the methodology of the architecture—the blueprint that defines the enterprise strategy, including the IT infrastructure.
3. Architecture management–Each enterprise needs oversight teams for the architecture; they ensure that everyone stays on track and keeps IT infrastructure aligned with the business goals.
4. Architecture repository—All of an organization’s resources and processes are made available–teams can use any tools necessary to achieve the goals set out by the framework.
5. Documentation artifacts–This is where the organization documents plan, strategy, and workflow and records all the changes, keeping them current. IT solutions are set up to fit the parameters set out by the framework and implementation.
6. Implementation methodology–These are the steps required to implement the strategy laid out by the framework. Implementation directs a project to completion.

Is Solution Architect a sales role?

A pre-sales consultant is expected to be the SME on CRM; they engage during the initial stages of client acquisition. They are the technical point-of-contact of the company and serve as the client’s technical team’s go-to person for problem resolution. The Solution Architect provides the overall solution and remains throughout the project; they take questions from the client’s technical team, understand their context, consider all the requirements, and make recommendations. The SA continues ‘selling’ the CRM solution while remaining objective and unbiased.

What qualifications do I need to be a technical architect?

Technical architects are systems logistics specialists; they design new technology systems, oversee the implementation of programs, maintain IT systems, and liaise with software development teams.

A technology architect requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in computer science or other related fields. Employers prefer to hire candidates with some certification and experience. The average TA salary in the US is $97,775.

You should have advanced problem-solving skills, extensive knowledge architect of enterprise networking systems, and act as a architect project manager. A top-notch TA can design and implement any size system to align precisely with the client’s needs.

Technical architects are responsible for meeting with the IT manager to discuss company processes. They design the structure of enterprise-level IT systems, oversee project implementation, and measure the new system’s performance.

Technical Architect Requirements:

• Ability to problem-solve complex IT issues
• Ability to see the scope of the project from basic specifications
• Advanced project management skills
• A Bachelor’s degree in information technology or computer science
• Be familiar with operating systems, programming languages, and Office software
• Excellent communication skills
• In-depth knowledge of networking modules, enterprise systems, and software integration
• Knowledge of computer hardware and networking systems
• Managerial experience
• Previous work experience as a technical architect

Technical Architect Responsibilities:

• Meet with the IT manager to determine the company’s current and future needs.
• Determine whether they can upgrade the current system or if the client needs a new system installed.
• Provide the company with design ideas and schematics.
• Project manages the design and implementation of the upgrade or new system.
• Troubleshoot systems issues as they arise.
• Collaborate with the software developers to determine system software needs.
• Oversee all the moving parts of the system integration.
• Measure performance of the upgraded or newly installed system.
• Train staff on system procedures.
• Provide the company with post-installation feedback.