Who is an IT architect and how promising is this profession

The need for IT architects continues to grow, especially as businesses move online. We tell you what such specialists do, how to get this sought-after profession and achieve success in it.

Who is an IT architect and what does he do?

An IT architect (also called a system or functional architect, software architect, Software Architect) is a developer with extensive experience in implementing commercial projects who knows how to lay the architecture of a complex IT system, turning the necessary software characteristics into a structured solution in accordance with technical requirements and business objectives of the client.

One of the main objectives the work of an IT architect is to reduce development costs by selecting competent solutions, tools and templates at the stage of preparing a project concept.

Of course, not all projects require the involvement of such specialists. Sometimes it is enough to use ready-made solutions or templates to implement them. But when it comes to high-load, large and complex projects, the participation of IT architects will be required.

As a rule, their attract, when:

• customer requirements are difficult to meet with standard solutions;
• the solution should be universal, flexible and scalable;
• the project is large and a microservice architecture may be required;
• it is necessary to store and process large amounts of data;
• a project with high requirements for Highload.

В tasks of an IT architect includes:

• elaboration of the concept of an IT system in order to ensure its flexibility, scalability, load and security;
• risk analysis taking into account the long-term development perspective;
• development of an architectural concept;
• project implementation control – architectural supervision of the development progress at certain points;
• code audit.

How popular is the profession of an IT architect?

In the past few years, the popularity of the profession of IT architect has been growing. This is due, first of all, to the increase in business requirements for IT solutions and the demand for complex information and intelligent systems. With the transition of companies to online, this specialty is becoming even more in demand both in business and in large state corporations.

If ten years ago, most business needs could be easily covered with a set of standard solutions, today these requirements are becoming more and more specific. This includes a large number of integrations with external systems, the use of cloud solutions, the need to use noSQL solutions, Big Data, the use of artificial intelligence, etc.

In early October, the draft professional standard “Software Architect” was submitted for discussion. This suggests that the need for the development of this profession has been confirmed at the state level.

How to become an IT architect

In our country, universities today do not train specialists of this profile. To become an IT architect, you need to get a basic technical education and then build a career in the IT field from scratch. It is important for young employees to be proactive and look for new challenges that will help them grow.

You can get good experience and learn a lot directly in an IT company on commercial projects lasting at least one year. Solving problems on such projects under the supervision of senior colleagues, young employees gain experience that is “assimilated” faster.

Very often, IT architects grow up with this kind of collaboration and collaboration on projects. As a rule, experienced backend, frontend, web developers and system administrators come to this profession. It’s good if at the start of a career there is an opportunity to participate in complex projects as an IT architect assistant. This helps to enter the profession much faster and understand how exactly what is written in books is implemented in practice.

Hard skills, which are indispensable in the work of an IT architect

Basic education is usually not enough. In order for an IT architect to successfully fulfill the tasks assigned to him, he must have a good outlook and knowledge of modern technologies, as well as have experience working on complex commercial projects for at least five years.

An IT architect must know the standards and methods for developing, modifying software products and be able to:

• design the architecture of loaded systems;
• create horizontally scalable applications;
• strike a balance between development cost and solution flexibility to quickly implement future requirements;
• choose and justify the choice of technologies, the optimal technical solution in accordance with product and business development plans;
• control the implementation: laying the framework of the system and exercising architectural supervision;
• work out and make a decision on adapting the product to new business requirements, even if they were not fully known at the beginning of the design process;
• develop a data storage structure.

With regard to these requirements, it is enough to start by studying theoretical questions from books (for example, Software Architecture in Practice and Designing Software Architectures: A Practical Approach), articles, videos, and other open sources. And only then begin to apply these methods in practice. Further, in order to broaden one’s horizons and professional knowledge, one will need to study documentation, follow information sources (primarily in English), which contain data on the most advanced technologies.

Soft skills necessary for success in this profession

In addition to theoretical knowledge and experience, a specialist must be able to correctly express his thoughts, communicate with a client in the language of business, present the results of work and justify the proposed solutions.

In general, an IT architect needs to develop the following soft skills:

• sociability,
• teamwork skills,
• critical and systems thinking,
• abstract and innovative thinking, the ability to go beyond the framework and patterns;
• self-motivation, desire for continuous development, readiness to independently master the necessary skills and teach others;
• purposefulness
• time management skills,
• a responsibility,
• making decisions,
• stress resistance.

What prospects does this profession open for specialists?

Some believe that an IT architect is the last step in the horizontal growth of a specialist, he has nowhere to go further and it’s time to stop. But it’s not. Starting to master a certain area in more detail and professionally, you gradually come to an understanding of new tasks and issues. This entails the need to study this area even deeper, and the process becomes endless.

The experience and skills gained in this profession will allow specialists to subsequently rise to the technical director (CTO) or director of digital transformation (CDTO). Since the work of an IT architect implies a combination of technical and managerial competencies, as well as a complex of hard and soft skills that can help build a career and become a CTO or CDTO in the future.

How to know if you want to be an IT architect

It is worth retraining as an IT architect if:

• you have become “cramped” in the direction of development where you are currently working, and you want to develop further;
• you want to expand your horizons, load your brain with technically complex but interesting tasks;
• you want to make decisions and take responsibility for them, participate in the discussion of the project life cycle.

In addition, you must have an irresistible desire to work in the IT field, the ability to quickly learn and assimilate huge amounts of information.

And the checklist we have proposed will help determine whether you meet the requirements that companies place on IT architects at this stage, and understand what you need to pull up to move into this profession.

Requirements for IT architects of commercial projects: checklist

Candidates for the position of an architect in IT companies usually have the following requirements:

• At least five years of experience in the IT field.
• Experience in commercial project design and architecture development.
• Experience in writing technical documentation, preparing presentations and defending them to the customer.
• The presence of a certificate of an architect and in the relevant direction / stack (desirable).
• Understanding the basics of network and web technologies (RESTful, HTTP, TCP/IP).
• Knowledge of the basic principles of testing (various types of testing, practical experience).
• Knowledge of standards and methodologies for the development and modification of software products
• Experience in designing the architecture of loaded systems.
• Knowledge and experience with basic design patterns.
• Basic knowledge of containerization (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.).
• Understanding the overall software development process.
• Ability to strike a balance between development cost and solution flexibility to quickly implement future requirements.
• Ability to choose and justify the choice of technologies.
• Ability to control implementation: lay the framework of the system and conduct architectural supervision.
• The ability to work through and make a decision to adapt the product to new business requirements, even if they were not fully known at the beginning of the design process.

This list may vary slightly depending on the specifics of the projects, but in general it shows the general level of requirements for a specialist.