The phrase Solution Architecture can mean many different things to many different people, with the entire matter being further complicated by Solution Architects themselves defining the role differently depending on the project they’re working on at the time or the company/sector they work within.

You see, there is no, one ‘official’ industry definition of what Solution Architecture is… but when has that ever stopped us?

So today we’re going to take a crack at defining what Solution Architecture is anyway…

At cloudThing we define Solution Architecture as scoping out and documenting the ‘architecture’ of a system, delivered in such a way as to provide a solution to a specific problem (or set of problems).

Said solution can encompass the entire system or just its specific parts. 

Our Solution Architects use a set of guiding principles that shape our solution design and the decision-making processes in our Digital Transformation programmes, informing our Enterprise Architecture, development policies and governance as a means to help realise common programme benefits.

We try to keep our architecture principles as high-level definitions of fundamental values.

Those principles then enable us to clearly articulate our high-level approach and efficiently deliver high-quality solutions for internal product development and customer projects alike.

The principles also direct some of our key organisational strategies, whilst being simple, consistent, flexible, enduring and useful.

The idea being they should never hinder progress but instead, support it by directing decision making and resources.

We also review these solution principles annually to ensure they remain relevant with current best-practices and our customers strategic goals.

To put that in a way that makes sense; cloudThing’s Solution Architects will be involved with your project from the initial brief right through to the final releases and sign off of the project; considering along the way multiple viewpoints including business, information and technical.

They’ll work closely with all the key stakeholders involved in the project to scope out the brief and then translate that into a detailed solution vision.

That means they’ll be involved in the solution ideation, the solution design and the solution implementation.

• Solution Ideation: Our Solution Architects will look beyond the initial brief to put the project into a wider business context for the end solution and then define the vison and requirements needed for that solution to become a reality.
• Solution Design: During the solution design process the Solution Architect will formulate and elaborate on potential options which may or may not include initial prototype developments. They’ll then select the optimal solution for success and finalise a roadmap for the chosen solution.
• Solution Implementation: During the implementation process the Solution Architect will maintain communication with all the project stakeholders and guide the implementation team to ensure the original vision is maintained.

A new project your organisation wants to implement or a problem it may be having wont ever sit in isolation.

Understanding your business architecture and putting the project into a wider context is what cloudThings Solution Architects do.

Using these processes they gain a deeper understanding of how your business works, understanding the why’s and wherefores of what you need and then use that understanding to make sure all the necessary processes and actions happen to make sure the desired end goal is reached.

All project or product design and delivery activity benefit significantly from collaboratively creating and agreeing to operate using a set of shared foundational beliefs… cloudThing just happen to have codified and named there’s.

Solution Architecture is vital in minimising the number of steps in a project that need to be changed, fixed or created.

Ultimately this deeper understanding of your business results in less work during the design and implementation of the project allowing our clients to make efficiency savings from the offset.