Research indicates that companies fail to produce the required customized software solution in more than 30 percent of the cases. Similarly, it was also noted that 50 percent of the projects were not deployed at their deadlines and their budget was also exceeded. Surprisingly, only about 15 percent of the projects were found to be deployed on time according to the client requirements while also maintaining the budget constraints.

Making a university coding project or a home-based fun coding desktop application is easy, but in the competitive IT industry, the entire project lifecycle has to be managed effectively to save losses. A single project can cater to the demands of hundreds and thousands of users and on such a scale, the margin for error is limited. In order to deliver the best solution for projects, solution architecture is important

What Is Solution Architecture?

Solution architecture can be seen as an architecture where all the processes, roles, and documentation are integrated in such a way that all the issues and requirements of a project can be fulfilled through specific applications of the architecture.

Solution architecture can also be a document that contains the guidelines and best practices to address a certain problem. Solution architecture can be made in such a way that it fits the context of a business, like the type of data that a business will generate or process. Solution architecture also provides technological recommendations. For example, what types of technological stacks will be needed by an application.

To summarize, solution architecture entails the structure, properties, and behavior of the solution for all the stakeholders that are involved. Like a construction’s architecture, it consists of a view from an architectural view of a certain solution and consists of the specifications of the project.

While developing a solution architecture, it must be noted that each problem can have more than a single approach for a solution and thus multiple distinct solutions can be created for the same problem. Each of these solutions must also have a few drawbacks and limitations. Thus, solution architecture is mainly associated with ascertaining the optimal solution for a problem.

The Role of Solution Architect

Due to the importance of solution architecture, it has created a designation known as a solution architect. A solution architect is an experienced and knowledgeable individual who decides a strategy for a venture. Solution architects are equipped with both the technical and business side of the problem while they also carry the responsibility to select the best techniques and tools through which the problem needs can be addressed in the most efficient way.

Whether an organization has to compare the different limitations of the solution or they need architectural viewpoints for the project, the burden ultimately falls on the shoulders of the solution architecture who has to utilize years of experience to supervise the project.

Why Is Solution Architecture Needed?

 

Meeting the Requirements

A project consists of multiple stakeholders including the project team, investors, customers, etc. Hence, a project requires to be seen from a business context as well as from the context of the IT team. Thus, it is imperative that the non-IT stakeholders of the project are briefed about the development and the process of the project. Similarly, continuous communication should be established with them so all the project’s current affairs are known by the non-IT stakeholders.

Obviously, here the role of solution architect emerges as a necessary cog in the project’s lifecycle. As a result, all the stakeholders and management are always informed about the project and, therefore, the project’s development and deployment is quickened with enhanced communication because of solution architecture.

The Right Technology

Twitter was initially developed with Ruby on Rails. However, as the social media platform gained traction, its servers were unable to address the massive influx of the incoming requests. As a result, Twitter was moved to other technology platforms and the company just managed to evade a disaster.

However, not every company is lucky to avert such issues. Solution architecture provides a technological viewpoint through which the best tools and technology platforms can be chosen. Solution architecture will help to compare different tools, their benefits, and costs that would go on from the start of the project to its completion. This is also the phase where a tool will be analyzed with respect to security and speed for deployment.

Customer Satisfaction

Sometimes, clients reject software after finding it to be completely different from their expectations. Through the solution architecture, solution architects can converse with customers and clients and provide insights about the project details. Whether it is a document like SRS (Software Requirement Specification) or it is any other relevant documentation, clients can be eased about the functionalities, processes, and other key information pertaining to the project.

Demonstrations for application’s solution architecture to the clients can help the clients understand the project with the developer’s view and can help to limit misunderstandings. As a result, clients are easily integrated into the project’s lifecycle from the start and thus their input helps to finish the project without any major hiccups.

Working with the Limitations

One of the most essential features of the solution architecture is its management of the limitations of the project. These limitations include the following and have to be managed by the solution architecture.

• Technology — Technology can be the ecosystem used by the company whether it uses an enterprise ecosystem like Spring or if it uses the .NET stack.
• Scope — Scope entails all the objectives, deliverables, functionalities, and deadlines of the project.
• Quality —Quality is the quality assurance and quality control that has to go through the entire project lifecycle.
• Risk —Risk is any unexpected problem or issue that may arise in the future.
• Schedule — Schedule contains the relevant time and dates for the completion of tasks.
• Cost —Cost contains the complete expenditure incurred by the project.
• Resources — Resources means the staffing and allocation of the resources for a project.