Software Architect

There has been a movement in the development field within the past few years to solidify the separate profession of software architect, whose role is to work independently with clients to design software system architectures. In this situation, a separate organization would likely then implement the system, separately.

There are literally thousands of factors to consider when designing and coding software applications and solutions of any type. There must be a central person to provide overall direction for the teams working on multiple apps for multiple clients. The software architect, who is likely capable of guiding projects from concepts to solution, can fill this role.

The increase in use of the title and separate role for software architects that work independently with clients while designing software system architectures can be a valuable one depending on the skills and expertise of the software architect.

Software architecture is vital because of its affect on the performance, robustness, distributability, and maintainability of a system where individual components implement the functional system requirements. The software architect must be skilled and well-versed when it comes to technical aspects of the software but also be able to adjust and discuss these specifications with clients who are not so knowledgeable.

Clients most often have a good idea of the capabilities desired of new software systems based on their personal or organizational needs since they are closest to the actual users of the software.

Working directly with a reliable software architect allows clients to efficiently and effectively design software system architectures.

It may be difficult to establish such a position if clients are not aware of their existence to provide a larger market for the role. Many software companies may offer the services that a sole software architect working independently and directly with the client provides. In an organization as an additional position within the appropriate department, the role may be better suited.

Many organizations with well-established, reputable software system divisions have already made the decision to create the role of software architect to assist with communication between end-users and build teams. Developers are often bogged down with ad-hoc requests and to-do lists. The software architect is able to pull away and handle the forward-thinking, long-term major points of: this is how it works now, this is how it should be working and what do we do to get there.