Tech
What is a Technical Architect?
Define, design, and manage the evolution of the information system.
A technical architect is a professional specialized in designing and implementing software and technical architectures. Their primary role is to create efficient, innovative technology solutions that meet the needs of a company or a specific project.
Which companies hire for this role?
Any company that operates an information system (IS) and owns its technical infrastructure needs a technical architect on the team.
These positions are mostly found in consultancies and within the IT departments of large tech companies or industrial groups.
Why do companies need a Technical Architect?
Companies that want to build or evolve their technical infrastructure need the skills, knowledge, and especially the experience to make sound decisions. This allows them to meet their infrastructure needs and design an information system that is reliable, fast, and secure.
Just as a construction company needs an architect to design and draw up plans for its buildings, a tech company needs someone capable of designing and pricing its technical infrastructure.
What happens if the company can't hire this profile?
Generally speaking, the technical impact on the business is indirect. They don't directly create added value on the product or service sold by the company (unless that service is tied to infrastructure), but they design and evolve the entire information system the engineering team — and often all operational teams — relies on.
Who does the Technical Architect work with inside the company?
Technical leadership (CIO / CTO): the two work in close collaboration. Leadership shares upcoming projects and technical needs in advance so the technical foundation is ready for the teams at launch.
Systems & Network Administrator: the systems and/or network administrator role is essentially a specialization of technical architecture. Without reporting directly to the architect, the systems and network admin operationally implements the infrastructure designed by the technical architect.
Junior architects: depending on the size of the information system, the technical architect may manage a team of architects working alongside them, allowing certain tasks and responsibilities to be delegated.
What is their role on the team?
Their role on the team — or rather on the project — is to define, design, and manage the evolution of the information system. To do so, they evolve the information system architecture so that it meets the expectations and needs of the various users, both internal and external. They ensure the reliability and operational rollout of every new solution within the existing environment, evolving it as needed.
Their mission is to define the technical architecture of an information system and to ensure the consistency of its components. Whether software-related — operating systems, databases, and applications — or physical: hardware and networks.
What technical problems does the Technical Architect solve?
- Auditing the existing information system against the business need
- Defining the IT and hardware requirements of the IS
- Designing and implementing the information system architecture
- Evolving the infrastructure as needs change (internal or client projects)
- Maintaining the entire information system.
- Monitoring new innovations that can increase IS reliability or reduce its costs.
- Promoting the chosen technical architecture to teams working on projects