As Information Technology (IT) has taken an increasingly central role in providing solutions to Business needs, the demand to improve the reliability & quality of these mission critical solutions has also increased.

This has led to a consolidation of the responsibility for solution design from artisan to the dedicated role of architect, mirroring a similar industrial evolution in the Construction Industry over the centuries.

However, irrespective of the recognised need for a design role, Solution Architecture is still largely poorly understood, undermining its value to technology-dependent organisations. This has a direct effect on business efficiency and, thus, the economy.

Those unfamiliar with Solution Architecture may be forgiven for regarding the discipline as too technical for ‘lay’ people to understand. This is a perception sometimes encouraged, unconsciously or otherwise, by the terms & presentation used by its practitioners.

The notion that Solution Architecture is too complicated for ‘the rest of us’ to comprehend is absurd since no one would suggest this about civil engineering architecture, itself a highly complex & technical profession.

Dispelling this lack of clarity is important for two reasons:

• If no one knows what you do, you can get away with anything; without a way to measure role effectiveness, organisations are exposed to exploitation by ‘cowboys’
• If no one understands the value of architecture, no one will buy it; without understanding value to the organisation, senior management cannot be expected to endorse architecture, leading to poor funding or constraints on the role preventing effectiveness, eventually manifesting in poor technology implementations

These are clearly bad for Business and the profession.

The objective of this article is to use the simplest terms to introduce readers unfamiliar with Solution Architecture to the profession by:

• Defining the role of Solution Architecture
• Identifying the attributes of a good architect
• Outlining the role of solution architects within the organisation