WHAT DOES AN APPLICATION ARCHITECT DO?
The Application Architect focuses on creating sustainable and innovative solutions, including training materials for end-users and ensuring architectural integrity in cloud infrastructure and systems software. This role involves advanced technical expertise in application development, setting quality standards, and continuously updating procedures and tools to stay aligned with industry trends. They also prioritize system security and privacy in accordance with organizational policies, providing leadership in incident resolution and service maintenance.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Application Architect
1. Applications Architect Duties
- API Design & AWS Architecture: Design resource-based APIs and solution architecture in the AWS cloud.
- Code Review & POC Development: Review development team code and develop proofs of concept as needed.
- Team Mentorship: Mentor the development team for continuous improvement.
- Architectural Story Review: Review stories from an architectural standpoint.
- Client Collaboration: Collaborate with client architects to maintain a unified solution vision.
- Technology Workshops: Prepare learning workshops on various technologies for the development team.
- SDLC Integration: Work with System Engineers/Architects, Technical Managers, DBAs, and other SDLC participants.
- Infrastructure-based Design: Design software based on available infrastructure.
- Application Design Guidance: Provide direction on application design using the state's available infrastructure.
- MITA Maturity Support: Provide support for MITA Maturity improvements in design under MandO and enhancement scopes.
- Solution Optimization: Provide solutions that optimize funding and maintainability while ensuring effective outcomes for workers and clients.
2. Applications Architect Details
- Architectural Strategy: Work with architect peers to derive the future state of application solutions architecture.
- Guiding Frameworks: Define the requirements, principles, and models that guide application solutions decisions for the company.
- Market Awareness: Understand application platforms trends and their practical application.
- Digital Innovation Support: Support business and ICT in the digital innovation process.
- Migration Planning: Define high-level migration plans to bridge the gap between current and future states, aligning with IT budgeting or capital planning processes.
- Current State Analysis: Lead the analysis of the current application environment to identify critical deficiencies and recommend improvements.
- Trend Impact Analysis: Lead the analysis of application industry and market trends to assess potential impacts on the company and its ICT architecture.
- Governance Design: Design governance, assurance, and standards activities to ensure application architecture compliance.
- Project Participation: Participate in ICT project executions, focusing on reviewing and approving application design decisions.
- Platform Transformation Leadership: Lead application platforms upgrade and/or transformation projects.
- Platform Evaluation Oversight: Oversee and facilitate the research, evaluation, and selection of application platforms.
- Documentation Management: Create and maintain relevant application architecture documentation.
3. Applications Architect Responsibilities
- Architectural Oversight: Provides architectural and development oversight to cross-departmental technology projects involving custom-built internal web applications, external SaaS solutions, and integrations.
- Technology Research: Researches and selects the best technology and tools to meet business needs and guides their implementation.
- Relationship Building: Focuses on establishing relationships and sharing technical knowledge with key stakeholders and technical partners.
- Best Practices Leadership: Leads the adoption of best practices in CI/CD, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, and automation to enable high-quality, scalable software deployment and operations.
- Automation Framework Design: Designs frameworks to enhance automation in the development of department projects.
- Standards Documentation: Defines and documents coding standards based on industry best practices for Software Engineers.
- Agile Participation: Participates in Scrum events such as backlog refinement, sprint planning, and daily scrums.
- Code Review: Performs code reviews with other developers to ensure adherence to standards and best practices.
- Strategic Input: Provides input on strategic initiatives as they relate to various business areas and supporting technologies.
- Methodology Maintenance: Maintains current project development methods, standards, processes, and trends.
- Development Strategy: Works with the IT Director on setting development standards and future goals for the organization.
4. Applications Architect Job Summary
- .NET Development: Develop high-quality Consumer Software applications in .NET, including production support and full life-cycle development.
- Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot and analyze bugs/issues with existing product code, reporting issues such as poor performance and bad data.
- Code Validation: Establish and validate constructed code against unit test criteria, ensuring high-quality solutions.
- Solution Delivery: Deliver high-quality solutions to internal/external clients, aligning technical solutions with business objectives.
- Team Leadership: Lead teams of developers through design and construction stages, sharing knowledge of key design aspects.
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor application performance and stability to ensure optimal operation.
- Web Application Development: Develop n-tier web-based applications using Microsoft .NET (ASP and C#) and SQL Server.
- Solution Implementation: Participate in planning, design, development, and implementation of information solutions to address business opportunities.
- Agile Scrum Mastery: Act as Scrum Master in the Agile development process, guiding teams through Agile methodologies.
- Requirements Interpretation: Review and interpret business requirements, developing detailed technical requirements for project implementation.
- Application Support: Provide application support to other team members, assisting with technical challenges and ensuring smooth operation.
5. Applications Architect Accountabilities
- Business Process Optimization: Provides guidance on leveraging technology to improve business process automation and optimize internal and external business operations.
- Mentoring: Provides support and mentoring to Software Engineers to enhance their problem-solving skills in logic, coding, and business processes.
- Career Advising: Advises Software Engineers on career path options and progression, highlighting strengths and areas for development.
- Interface Collaboration: Works with interface partners for MandO and architects updates as applicable to ensure seamless integration and functionality.
- UI/UX Optimization: Creates solutions that optimize UI and UX for workers and clients, considering both electronic and paper processes within the IEDSS solution.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensures compliance with CMS, FNS, SSA, and IRS requirements to maintain adherence to legal and regulatory standards.
- Requirements Analysis: Analyzes requirements to understand their impact on new or existing systems and to ensure alignment with business needs.
- Solution Development: Designs, codes, and tests system solutions based on requirement specifications to deliver functional and efficient outcomes.
- Issue Resolution: Analyzes system issues and designs, codes, and tests solutions to resolve identified problems, ensuring system reliability and performance.
- Documentation Maintenance: Maintains system documentation, both within the code and within technical design documents, to facilitate future development and analysis.
- Architectural Design: Provides architectural application and database design using modeling tools and documentation methods to ensure robust and scalable solutions.
6. Applications Architect Functions
- Component Architecture Management: Responsible for the architecture of reusable software components within the business channel, ensuring interoperability with other channels.
- Architecture Strategy: Defines the target state software architecture, ensuring alignment with product and enterprise goals, and ensures all new solutions conform to this architecture.
- Design Consultation: Consults throughout the design process and approves software component designs contributing to business channel development.
- Non-Functional Requirements: Creates and maintains a generic list of application non-functional requirements for all software components.
- Delivery Prioritization: Works with teams to establish delivery priorities and drives technical debt reduction for continuous improvement.
- Sprint Planning Influence: Directly influences team's planned work by reviewing candidate sprint work and inputting on priorities.
- SDLC Stakeholder: Acts as a key stakeholder in the Software Development Life Cycle, guiding development practices and improvements.
7. Application Architect Job Description
- Application Architecture: Accountable for the architecture of all components within assigned domains.
- Team Guidance: Guide multiple development teams and work streams simultaneously for successful project delivery.
- Technology Evaluation: Evaluate and implement solutions and technologies for team adoption.
- Stakeholder Communication: Assess and communicate status, issues, risks, and deliverables to stakeholders.
- Design Authority: Serve as the “go-to” team member in domains for application design and patterns.
- Hands-on Support: Assist teams with hands-on coding, including proof-of-concepts, code samples, and application infrastructure/frameworks.
- Process Management: Flag any process issues directly to the channel technical lead.
- Architectural Alignment: Align with other application architects across business channels for consistent software architecture.
- Code Review and Contribution: Actively contribute to and review code to ensure good software design patterns, adequate tests, and adherence to common development guides.
- Leadership and Communication: Display effective leadership, good communication skills, and a delivery/goal-oriented work ethic.
8. Applications Architect - Learning Technology Cloud Overview
- Cloud Solutions Leadership: Acts as a leader in introducing and managing the use of Cloud solutions for teaching and learning, engaging instructors in technical projects.
- Innovative Solution Development: Creates sustainable solutions with end-user training materials and documentation.
- Architectural Leadership in Cloud: Provides architectural leadership, focusing on development, configuration, and support for Cloud infrastructure, including platforms, operating systems, systems software, identity management, security, and privacy, and offers incident resolution related to cloud services.
- Service Maintenance: Maintains services in line with University standards and policies for system security and privacy.
- Advanced Application Development: Performs complex elements of application development, applying advanced technical expertise and judgment.
- Quality Assurance Policies: Establishes quality assurance and/or control policies following best practices.
- Procedure Improvement and Future Planning: Defines benchmarks and measures, improves current procedures, and develops models for future configurations.
- Tool and Software Evaluation: Evaluates and recommends testing tools, software packages, and training for team members, staying current with industry trends.
9. Applications Architect - Learning Technology Cloud Details and Accountabilities
- System Design Leadership: Takes a leadership role in coordinating overall system designs, covering technical, application, and procedural areas related to administrative systems.
- Strategic Analysis and Recommendations: Conducts analysis and provides recommendations to senior management on the direction and design of medium to large scale initiatives.
- Administrative Systems Expertise: Maintains in-depth knowledge of core administrative systems, vendor directions, industrial trends, and the overall environment.
- Standards and Methodologies Development: Determines and/or facilitates the development of standards and methodologies for team members in development and support deliverables.
- Solution Design: Designs solutions to resolve system-related business problems, meet user requirements, and streamline system workflows.
- System Scope and Strategy Formulation: Formulates and defines system scope and objectives, recommending strategies, potential solutions, or workarounds.
- System Issue Analysis: Monitors and analyzes system issues, providing recommendations for all supported infrastructure as part of regular operations.
- Technical Expertise and Mentoring: Provides advanced technical expertise and mentoring to the programming team and the broader organization.
- Emerging Trends Analysis: Analyzes new and emerging trends in application architecture, evaluates alternatives, and completes feasibility studies.
- Application Architecture Advice: Provides advice to senior management on application architecture advancements, making strategic methodology, development, and major expenditure recommendations.
10. Applications Architect - Learning Technology Cloud Tasks
- Cloud Architecture Design: Designs major aspects of the architecture of a cloud application, covering user interface, middleware, and infrastructure.
- Methodology Enhancement: Makes changes to methodologies, procedures, and the software development lifecycle to ensure continuous improvement.
- Design and Code Standardization: Performs design and code reviews to maintain uniform application design standards.
- Professional Presentation: Makes presentations at local, regional, national, and international conferences and workshops, as well as to partner institutions.
- Software Lifecycle Support: Supports the software development lifecycle, applying and following appropriate programming/development methodologies and best practices as instructed.
- Professional Knowledge Maintenance: Maintains appropriate professional designations and up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques and tools.
- Data Flow Analysis: Identifies information flows, analyzes data flow between systems to establish entity and functional relationships, and defines system-specific dependencies.
- Application Implementation Oversight: Oversees the implementation and maintenance of departmental and enterprise applications.
- System Analysis and Database Structuring: Leads the analysis and design of existing or proposed systems to structure and access databases.