Solutions Architects

Solutions architects need at least five years of experience (more at large companies) in software engineering, IT infrastructure, telecommunications engineering, systems or database administration, project management, or in lower-level solutions architecture positions.  

The ability to communicate effectively with people who have various levels of technical knowledge is extremely important for solutions architects. Other key traits include strong analytical and problem solving skills, leadership ability, a detail-oriented personality, initiative, self-motivation, good organizational and planning ability, and strong teaching and mentoring skills in order to educate and guide others regarding architectural principles, standards, and methodologies. Finally, SAs must be proficient in the use of workflow management tools, various hardware platforms (mainframes, desktop computers, mobile devices, and distributed platforms), service-oriented architecture, object-oriented programming concepts, enterprise service business systems, data management and data quality tools, Agile development and systems development life cycle methodologies, and programming languages such as HTML, Java, C#, C++, XML, .NET, and ColdFusion.