A solution architect’s daily role on a customer project will vary greatly with the size, approach, and phase of the project. This unit explores some of the common project activities that a solution architect will either be responsible for or, at a minimum, participate in.
The discussion here will be without regard to a specific implementation methodology.
Presales
The primary activity of presales is supporting the sales team on landing the project. Occasionally, the solution architect is dedicated to presales activities. In other cases, solution architects are only pulled in as needed. With presales, the focus is on the minimal effort that is required to land the project while ensuring that the sales team does not oversell what you can deliver. Activities during this phase of the engagement can primarily be categorized as follows:
- Request for Proposal (RFP) responses – Handling tough technical questions that the sales team could not complete and reviewing other’s responses to ensure that they are feasible and aligned with the level of effort estimated.
- Introductory customer meetings – Typically, along with the account team, the solution architect can participate as a technical resource to help field questions on possible solutions or outcomes. For the solution architect, this situation is a great opportunity to learn about the customer’s current environment, needs, and their desired outcomes. Later in this learning path, you will explore techniques to prepare for these meetings and how to make the most of the encounter.
- Proof of concepts /demos – While the solution architect might not be the one building the POC/demo, they are often indispensable in helping to envision and craft what the POC or demo will highlight. Solution architects are expected to have a deep awareness of the different pre-built applications and available integrations that can be combined to highlight a proposed solution. They should also help the team decide what parts of a proposed solution are worth building out to highlight the proposed approach.
- Solution envisioning – While this might be part of a customer meeting, it can also happen independently to generate ideas on how to approach a customer’s problem. Often, the presales stage of a project will be high-level, but it can also be done later in the project during each of the sprints in a more detailed exercise. Solution envisioning is simply considering the customer’s needs and then developing those needs into a concept of a proposed solution.
A key skill for a solution architect in this phase of a project is the ability to communicate with all levels of a customer’s organization. Often, solution architects translate technical topics into a more business focused discussion.
Solution architects must also be skilled at answering questions in a way that is accurate but does not create two more questions for every one answered.
While solution architects are not required to be an expert on product licensing, they should have a grasp of the implications of licensing for their proposed solutions. In some cases, they might be required to architect within the license constraints for what a customer has purchased or is willing to purchase.
In this phase, a skilled solution architect can spot opportunities that the rest of the sales team might have missed and then highlight these opportunities to the team to allow upsell of services. Alternatively, solution architects can suggest different approaches that might better address a requirement or need.
supply chain
