Solutions Architect: Role, Responsibilities and Required Skills

Solutions Architect (SA) is an IT specialist role that often appears in complex IT projects. If your project involves cloud hosting, numerous integrations with third-party services and systems, and compliance with strict security standards, this may be a reason to expand your team of developers, QA specialists, designers, and PMs with one more expert, SA. Below, we will explain the Solution Architect's definition and discuss the Solution Architect's roles and responsibilities in more detail.

Who Is a Solution Architect?

So, what is a Solutions Architect? In a nutshell, it is a specialist who plans and implements technical solutions to achieve specific business goals and meet certain technical requirements and constraints. Thus, the main task of an SA is to transform business needs into a set of technologies and approaches that the development team will use to create a particular software solution.

If we try to identify specific tasks that project owners usually assign to the Technical Solutions Architect, they include the following:

• Building architectural solutions by business requirements and constraints of the existing IT infrastructure and resources allocated for the project implementation;
• Coordinating the project team at all stages of its implementation, from drawing up technical specifications and selecting a tech stack to the final stages of testing and deployment in the use environment;
• Interaction with software developers, DevOps specialists, and stakeholders.

Solutions Architect vs. Enterprise Architect vs. Technical Architect

Along with the Solutions Architect role, there are two — Enterprise Architect and Technical Architect — which many of us may think are identical. In fact, they are not. So, let's find out how they differ from each other.

Role of an Enterprise Architect

The main task of the Enterprise Architect is to develop a comprehensive strategy for implementing the IT infrastructure at a specific enterprise, taking into account long-term business goals, corporate standards, and the digital solutions and systems that it already uses. In particular, EAs often manage an organization's digital transformation processes.

Responsibilities of a Technical Architect

In a global context, the task of a Technical Architect is to immerse themselves in the technical aspects of project implementation. This includes selecting specific technological solutions (while the Solutions Architect only coordinates this process), creating a list of technical specifications, and closely interacting with developers.

Solutions Architect Overview

Now, let's remind ourselves once again what the SA does: unlike Enterprise Architect, this specialist has more local tasks (i.e., within the framework of a specific project), and their competencies do not extend to the entire IT infrastructure of the company; as for the differences with Technical Architect, the SA bears less responsibility for the implementation of the project at the technical level – instead, they have to coordinate processes without deep immersion in development aspects. If we compare the Solution Architect vs Cloud Architect couple, it is essential to note that the second one's responsibility is still more focused on implementing cloud solutions.

Key Skills for a Solutions Architect

In this paragraph, we propose you analyze the primary Solutions Architect skills.

Advanced Technical Expertise

One of the most important hard skills for the SA is deep technical expertise—in particular, understanding all aspects of modern cloud platforms, containerization and orchestration principles, and other technologies aimed at creating scalable and fault-tolerant systems. The deeper the understanding of these technologies, the more productive the Solutions Architect's interaction with the development team will be.

Comprehensive Understanding of Architectural Frameworks

An experienced Solutions Architect should have a good understanding of the main standards of architectural frameworks such as TOGAF's ADM, Zachman, Gartner's Enterprise Architecture Method, Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEAF), and the Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF). This knowledge will help the SA create architectures that meet enterprises' short-term and long-term business goals.

Familiarity with DevOps Processes

DevOps practices can significantly speed up the deployment of digital platforms and services, which is why SAs should understand CI/CD, automation, and orchestration principles. DevOps also reduces the risk of errors during implementation and ensures rapid response to changes.

Effective Communication and Collaboration Skills

Since the value of an SA also lies in effective communication with managers, developers, and stakeholders, this specialist must be able to explain complex concepts in simple language.

Strong Analytical and Critical Thinking

A Solution Architecture expert must be able to analyze project requirements and assess risks to select the best solution among many options correctly. Critical thinking will also be helpful here, allowing SAs to find the optimal way to solve complex problems and prevent technical debt.

Leadership and Project Coordination Abilities

Finally, since an SA typically coordinates several technical teams simultaneously, this specialist must have strong leadership skills. As for project coordination, this helps SA-led teams meet deadlines and budgets, follow a single motivation, and minimize conflicts.

Primary Duties of a Solutions Architect

Now, let's move on to answering the question: “What does a Solution Architect do?”

Identifying and Addressing Business Objectives

An SA is responsible for in-depth analysis of the enterprise's business needs and their correct transformation into technical requirements. This approach allows these specialists to create IT solutions that correspond to a particular business's long-term strategy, maximize its efficiency, and reduce risks (including those associated with exceeding the budget).

Evaluating Current Systems and Proposing Enhancements

The Solutions Architect must examine the current IT infrastructure to identify areas for optimization, vulnerabilities, and barriers to further scaling. This study aims to increase its performance, reduce support costs, and prepare it for introducing new technologies.

Preparing Technical Documentation and System Blueprints

At the beginning of a project's work, an SA should model detailed architectural descriptions so that development teams and stakeholders understand how all stages of the project implementation will occur. This, in turn, guarantees alignment between departments and reduces the need for revisions.

Selecting Optimal Tools and Technologies

The SA specialist must analyze the market for modern digital technologies and select solutions that best meet the project's needs. This analysis aims to maximize the performance and reliability of the new (or updated) system.

Collaborating with Stakeholders

The SA must interact on an ongoing basis with managers, technical teams, and business analysts to align the interests of all parties within the project and avoid conflicts. This ensures that the work on the project becomes predictable (as well as its results) for all project participants.

Managing Solution Implementation and Integration

The Solutions Architect coordinates the implementation of new technological solutions, guaranteeing their smooth integration with the enterprise's systems and the stability of their joint work. This includes testing, bug fixing, and monitoring the timely execution of tasks.

Ensuring Scalability and Security Compliance

The IT Solutions Architect designs systems considering the subsequent scaling of the enterprise and, equally important, possible changes in legislation and standards. This approach reduces the possibility of cyber-attacks and maintains the long-term stability of the IT infrastructure.

Forecasting Project Deliverables

Finally, the SA must estimate the time and other resources needed to complete the project. The more accurate the forecast, the more predictable the project will be at all stages.

Solutions Architect Salary Insights

It's time to discuss the salary for a Solutions Architect. According to Glassdoor, it fluctuates between $172K and $272K per year. It all depends on the specialist's experience, the area of ​​responsibility, and the specific region where the employer is located.

Indicators for Hiring a Solutions Architect

Now, let's evaluate the criteria that will help you find a genuinely experienced Solutions Architect (however, this paragraph will be no less valuable for those looking for the answer to the question: "How to become a Solution Architect?"):

• 5-7 years of experience in the IT field in positions that involved architecture design, team management, and implementation of complex digital solutions;
• Experience in working with cloud solutions;
• Deep knowledge of system design, programming, DevOps practices, and databases;
• Ability to create distributed systems using modern containerization/orchestration tools;
• Understanding of business processes, as well as the ability to transform them into technical tasks and assess risks;
• Ability to work with teams of different specialists;
• Understanding of how to present complex technological concepts in an understandable form.

Also, do not forget to identify in your Solution Architect job description the presence of certificates such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, TOGAF, or PMP – this will be an additional advantage for the applicant. 

Conclusion

In general, a Business Solution Architect is a must-have specialist in implementing complex technical projects (particularly for enterprises with a distributed IT infrastructure). The need for this expert may also arise in companies that plan to transfer the entire or part of their IT infrastructure to the cloud. If you are looking for such an expert, you can contact us.