Business Architects and Product Managers

The project’s complexity determines these requirements, but the most common are safety, performance, usability, and more. The solution architect’s role is to analyze all non-functional requirements and ensure that further product development will meet them. It’s also worth mentioning that the role of a solution architect is not limited just to ideation. This person takes part in all stages of the product development process. To make it clearer, let’s look at the tasks solution architect job description should include.

However, if the software was well designed at the initial stages, these alterations won’t lead to time-consuming and costly rebuilding of the system. “If scalability is not embedded in the initial design, you will probably waste your money for nothing,” Ivan Mosiev cautions. The architect begins with studying high-level functional and non-functional requirements related to performance, security, reliability, and other quality aspects. He or she also considers constraints placed by compliance requirements (like GDPR and CCPA for working with personal data or HIPAA for medical software). Solution architect/sales engineering to me is a bit more interesting and since it’s more technical and gives you that edge. Also you get to be close to the revenue stream with account executives.

Business Architect: Dispelling the Myths and misperceptions

This drives meaningful change in an organization, although program management can also be used externally. As an example, your company’s learning and development program might include several smaller aspects which work together as a whole, such as an employee learning app, a team mentorship initiative, or a book club. They provide technical leadership and make decisions regarding the most crucial elements of a system being created. The elements that would be hard to change after implementing and elements that may be related to failure risks. Also, the architect may sometimes propose technical standards, including coding standards, tools, or platforms.

Compared to our professional services fee, the price of our products is a fraction of what we charge for custom work. Some of the role clarity issues go back to the genesis of the practice, the type of practitioners and their past background, and the lack of awareness and ambiguity among business and technology leaders. Domain architects focus on specific areas, for example an application architect or network architect.

How to Prepare for Your Solutions Architect Job Interview

The reason is to ensure appropriate licensing and also validating the deliverables. Now I am more focused as a developer, I am an architect of applications themselves, therefore I am an Applications Architect. I’d give a selected few people the Software Architect title if they want it but experience tells me the people who would actually deserve the title of Software Architect usually aint that in to titles.

Product designers use their user experience and usability expertise to lay out the application plan. There’s more to building a great product experience than just mocking up some nice-looking graphics in Figma. In a well-designed product, everything is intentional, from the color and position of a button to the page structure. However, before the team can start coding, they need to know what exactly to code. You have chosen opportunities you want to focus on and defined experiments and solutions you want to ship to capitalize on these opportunities. Now it’s time to specify the nitty-gritty details of an end solution.

Business Architect Job Responsibilities:

The latter determines what business structure, processes, and operations allow a company to meet its strategic objectives. Alternatively, we may say that enterprise architecture defines how a company’s business strategy can be executed most efficiently. At the same time, solution architecture is responsible for the technological support of such execution. A solutions architect typically needs at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or another related field. They might also need experience working as a software developer or engineer.

According to Zippia, 66 percent of solutions architects have a bachelor’s degree, and 24 percent have a master’s [3]. The average salary for a solutions architect is $130,598 per year, while the average salary for a product manager is $98,439 per year. Both of these salaries can vary depending on the size of the company, the location of the job and the level of experience the employee has. After the stakeholders have agreed on the project, the solutions architect is responsible for monitoring the process and keeping stakeholders updated and informed on the progress. Most of the time, the project involves technical and non-technical stakeholders, and the solutions architect must ensure that each party’s needs are considered and factored into the project’s scope. Business Architects strive to make business architecture the glue that binds various aspects of an enterprise strategy, design, modeling, and solutions ecosystem.

Integration Expertise

This is because their positions sound similar and the responsibilities overlap partially. Yet, each role is essential for a project’s success and cannot be substituted by another position. 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. Yes, there is a high demand for people with expert-level skills in solutions architecture because all businesses today incorporate technology. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment for computer network architects will rise by five percent between 2020 and 2030.

• To successfully perform their duties, software architects need to have a broad and deep technical expertise.
• Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
• Now I am more focused as a developer, I am an architect of applications themselves, therefore I am an Applications Architect.
• You have chosen opportunities you want to focus on and defined experiments and solutions you want to ship to capitalize on these opportunities.
• With both a clear product strategy and information about end users, it’s time to define the product itself.
• A Solutions Architect is responsible for the overall design and implementation of technology solutions that meet the business needs of an organization.

He or she is mainly responsible for building a proper infrastructure to support a company’s business strategy. A solution architect is also responsible for the continuous maintenance of a system developed. This person makes sure that there is a secure and stable IT environment for a software solution to work properly.

Develop career skills and credentials to stand out

For example, a product manager who will be overseeing the development of medical devices should have experience working in the healthcare industry. There is no need to be confused about what kind of architect suits your requirements. And, choose who fits the bill better between a software architect vs. solutions architect. It is the solutions architect’s job to upgrade the tech and systems of a company. That is why the professional must have the following required skills to make it happen.

Or consider a Specialisation such as IBM’s for DevOps, Cloud, and Agile Foundations to learn some of the most popular concepts and methodologies for managing the development process. Solution Architects typically begin their journey in software development roles, gaining experience in various technologies and understanding the complexities of system design. With time, they move into architecture roles, perhaps as an Application Architect and gradually advancing to become software architects in a development team. This is probably one of the most crucial parts of building a product; it’s where you make fundamental decisions such as what problems to address and what solutions to build. Some of the requirements for the job are listed below so you know how to pursue the career. It’s good to have a broad knowledge of software architecture design, hands-on experience with business intelligence tools, analytical skills, and various soft skills, including leadership and communication.

Solutions Architect Meaning: What Does a Solutions Architect Do?

“The first thing to do is to decide if there is a need for custom software or if we can take an existing solution and configure it to meet client needs,” Ivan Mosiev says. In the latter case, an engineering team is able to handle the task without an architect, so this expert won’t participate in the further development process. There are no pure technical architects — as there is no such thing as solution architect performance goals an ideal development cycle. Their functions are dictated by numerous factors, from an organization structure to particular business needs. However, we can roughly outline typical duties depending on the engineering stage. The overall goal of an architect is to ensure a smooth development lifecycle and efficient use of available resources building enterprise architecture for each application.