Software Architects
What does it take to become a software solution architect?
Software solution architects are the second and third level technical support staff. They are not the first person to answer the phone when you have forgotten your password, rather they are the experts who troubleshoot whether the software error is in the database (and correct the data) or a browser error.
A software architects commonly writes the scripts that first level technical support follow. Generally these are flow charts that technicians use in troubleshooting customers issues. One employee may be a an expert in one or half a dozen software languages, but not in everything that the company uses.
The advantage of being a software solutions architects are numerous and include: highly demanded career, high pay rate, and career stability since software releases and new software systems come out all the time. Every new Internet Explorer and Java release, can affect the software systems I support. Old bugs are resolved and new ones appear.
In order to become a software architect one must engage in a mix of education and training. A bachelors degree in computer science or software engineering is required. In my case, I have an engineering degree and extensive expertise in the software I support. Training is also the largest factor. There are literally thousands of software packages.
The ever changing software world can burden software architects, as it is hard to stay up to date with all the new releases. Thus it is important that the architect continues at least some education. Most of this can be done online, while it is not unusual to have a one day class as well from time to time.
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