Solutions Architecture Services - outsourcing company Boosty Labs

Solution Architecture Key Tasks

Project Requirements Clarification

Most often, project requirements clarification happens at the stage of presale or discovery. Architects help to make a commercial proposal to the customer. Sometimes, if necessary, this is supplemented by advising the customer on technical issues or a technical audit of existing solutions.

Technology Research and Prototyping

Usually, at the start of a project, an architect may not be aware of some of the nuances of applying the necessary technologies, so it becomes necessary to study and understand the possibilities and limitations of certain solutions in more depth. To do this, he develops prototypes – small parts of the system that are needed in order to make sure that the ideas that the architect comes up with really work.

End Product Architecture

Having formed a technical solution, the solution architect presents it to the customer and coordinates all the details. At this stage, the architect prepares a description of the high-level architecture or some of its parts that are under development.

General context (Helicopter View)

In most projects, each team works on a different part of the solution, and for large systems, there must be someone who understands the big picture of the architecture, general principles, and conventions. The main task of the architect is to see the overall context and correctly coordinate the work of various technical areas.

Solution Architecture Advantages

Correct Selection

If SA is involved in the development, you can be completely sure that the new software product will solve key business problems. This means that at the end of development, the company gets not just a working application, but a product that will lead to scaling.

Effective Communication

The business owner and the programmer are people from different planets. While the former talks about cutting costs, the latter worries about specific engineering challenges. The solution architect acts as a translator. He has both industry and technical experience, so he understands what the business owner wants and how to properly present it to the developer (and vice versa).

Resource Management

There are no projects without limits. Budget, deadlines, technology – everything needs to be managed. To do this, you need to allocate a lot of time, as well as have relevant experience. A solution architect is able to see the big picture, but always pays attention to the details. This is how he selects the best options for solving problems in order to optimally allocate resources.

Risk Reduction

The responsibilities of a solution architect are focused on the gradual and reliable completion of the project. By observing the development of a software product, he can identify problems that were overlooked by other project participants and find a solution for them.

Solution Architecture is a component of the software product architecture. The latter is divided into three components:

business architecture (known as Enterprise Architecture among developers);
Solution Architecture;
technological architecture.

In business architecture, the main focus is building an ecosystem and solving top-level strategic problems (combining key requirements, analyzing data flows, etc.). Business architecture leads to an understanding of what technical means are needed to support a software product.

Solution architecture is an intermediate component between business processes and technological solutions. It includes the search for technical solutions for various tasks, a description of the structure and behavior of the software, the definition of functions and stages for each solution.

Technological architecture includes engineering problems. In other words, it is the hardware component of the software product. It describes system software, firmware standards, control systems, etc.

Solution architecture services nclude choosing frameworks for work, monitoring the development of a software product, and resolving disputes among developers.

Why is solution architecture so important?

The speed of software product development depends on the actions of the solution architect, and this is the most important thing. Why? The faster the task is completed, the less money will be spent. In addition, it is the solution architect who is responsible for ensuring that all requirements are met during development. He must also study the limitations of the project in order to analyze feasible alternatives and reduce risks.

One of the most important tasks of a solution architect is meeting stakeholder requirements. Typically, a product has a range of such contributors, including both technical and non-technical people. The goal of SA is to ensure that all their requirements are taken into account and implemented. Stakeholders should be regularly informed about product development processes, costs, and budgeting. It is these tasks that are assigned to the solution architect.

An integral part of development is the choice of technology stack. The solution architect is required to participate in this procedure. The main goal in this case is to find which stack will be most suitable for a particular project.

Among other things, the responsibilities of a solution architect include:

conducting a system assessment;
analysis of the technological environment;
defining the scope of cooperation;
defining a procedure and process to ensure solution delivery;
creation of a solution prototype;
adherence to strategic guidelines;
development control;
collaboration with project management teams.

Solution architecture is at the heart of any IT project. By deliberately implementing a solution architecture, a company creates a structure that integrates the technology, resources, and skills of a team with specific business goals.