Landing page IconsLanding page IconsLanding page Icons

Hire the Top 7% of Vetted Agencies for Solution Architects

Engage vendors to complete a project or augment an existing team. The process is free, simple and you'll be reviewing proposals in 72 hours

EMPOWERING THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM

Why Founders, CEOs and CTOs love Pangea.ai


Talent quality

Rigorous vetting to select top 7%

Speed

Hire, or augment a team in 72h

Flexibility

Scale up and down, on-demand

Nestle Logo

"Our engagement with Pangea.ai has significantly helped us improve the delivery quality of our innovations."

Pete Becker

Innovation Product Management Lead

iHeartRadio Logo

"We worked with the Pangea.ai team to identify a mobile engineering partner to help with our iHeartRadio for auto roadmap."

Tom Drapeau

VP Engineering

Carry1st Logo

"Working with Pangea.ai was great. They made sense out of a complicated and fragmented market and we were able to find a good fit for our needs."

Cordel Robbin-Coker

Co-Founder and CEO

Deutsche Fintech Solutions Logo

"Pangea.ai helped us with their very clear and structured selection process to find our perfect partners for our product in just a few steps."

Reiner Neusser

CEO

Finto Logo

"Pangea.ai connected us to various experts around the world."

Ayne Santiago

Senior Lead Software Engineer

Pando Logo

"The team at Pangea.ai helped us meet and engage with a high quality shortlist enabling us to spend our time building a relationship."

Phillip Mundy

Founder

Bandit Logo

"Pangea.ai is a wonderful partner for any early stage startups like us who are eager for top engineers to accelerate our product roadmap."

Jeff Hu

Founding Engineer

String Logo

"Pangea.ai offers a fantastic service for high growth businesses such as ourselves. Their expertise saved us a significant amount of time and risk."

Paul Skidmore

Product Lead

PayMaya Logo

"Working with Pangea.ai was an awesome and pleasant experience. We got exactly what we wanted and more."

Javy Olives

Enterprise Product Head

Raymond Spoljaric

"The Pangea.ai team is professional and effective. Pangea's offering of top talent delivers."

Raymond Spoljaric

CEO

Guide to hiring great Solution Architects vendors


Unlock the power of a solutions architect for your business. Learn about the skills, benefits, and key considerations when hiring a Solutions Architect.

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN US BEFORE

Fast Company Logo
TechCrunch Logo
Hackernoon Logo
Entrepreneur Logo
Business Insider Icon
MIT Logo
TED Logo
Forbes Icon
Fast Company Logo
TechCrunch Logo
Hackernoon Logo
Entrepreneur Logo
Business Insider Icon
MIT Logo
TED Logo
Forbes Icon

HOW IT WORKS

We match you to the right team.

Not all agencies are right for all jobs.

Define Your Needs

Input your project requirements, team needs, or desired skillsets to kick-start your search.

Matching Choice
Matching Choice Step 1

FAQs

To select the top percentile of Solution Architects agencies, our proprietary due diligence consists of a rigorous 5-step process: pre-qualification, organizational mapping, client reviews, team health assessment, and acceptance. Only the top 7% of agencies complete the process successfully. Once accepted, ongoing efforts to ensure continued excellence and standing within the community begin. This is achieved by consistently demonstrating excellence in their work and continued commitment to due diligence efforts by Pangea.ai.

Once you share your requirements, the brief is shared with our community of 150+ agencies (without any personal identifiable information). Said agencies have 48 hours to apply to your brief, and you can access each brief on our platform. Using a combination of AI and human expertise, our system matches and connects you with the 3 most suitable Solution Architects agencies from the application pool. As a result, we can always guarantee delivery within 72 hours—ensuring the most efficient process for connecting with the right agencies for any requirements.

When matching fully-managed agency teams, we prioritize their expertise in the following order: 

  1. Product Domain: What is being built? 
  2. Industry: What industry is it being built in? 
  3. Services: What are the services required? 
  4. Roles: What is the ideal team structure? 
  5. Tech Stack: What technology is required? 

When matching for a specific agency role, we prioritize talent expertise in the following order: 

  1. Roles: Who is being hired? 
  2. Tech Stack: Which technology is required for the role? 
  3. Product Domain: Is domain know-how required for the role? 
  4. Industry: Is industry know-how required for the role? 
  5. Services: Does the role have to provide any services? 

Additionally, we consider rates and location preference, budget indication, kick-off timeline, and other relevant factors to curate the best-match agencies for both engagement models.

Countries such as Uruguay, Brazil, Poland, Crotia, Portugal, Poland, and similar are home to high-quality talent clusters in software development. The vetted agency community at Pangea.ai reflects said notion, with our agency partners being located in Latin America and Europe. The rates depend on location, country, skills, and seniority required, but the average hourly rate is between €40-80 which is an average daily rate of €320-640.

Pangea.ai is a free service for businesses as we are compensated an annual membership fee for continuous due diligence by the agency partners and a % of their sales and marketing spend. 

Hire Solutions Architect: Skill Set, Benefits & Considerations


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Who is a Solutions Architect?


What does a Solutions Architect do?


The Skill Set: What Makes a Great Solutions Architect?




Final Thoughts


FAQs:


Share on


As the maestro of business technology, a Solutions Architect plays a pivotal role in aligning technology with business goals to maximize value and ensure smooth operation.

With their unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen, they provide much more than just an IT fix. They bridge the gap between complex technology infrastructures and business needs, designing efficient systems and solutions that propel businesses toward their goals.

In this blog post, we will delve into the role of a Solutions Architect, how they can benefit your business, share real-world case studies, and finally guide you on what to consider when hiring one. 

Who is a Solutions Architect?

Ever thought of who’s the mastermind behind designing the right technology solutions to drive your business forward?

A Solutions Architect is like the captain steering the ship of technology in a business. They are the ones who sketch out and manage comprehensive information technology solutions that seamlessly align with your business goals. 

Think of a complicated puzzle; a Solutions Architect is the one who fits all the pieces together to form a complete, efficient, and effective picture.

What does a Solutions Architect do?

A Solutions Architect is thinking and interpreting the business needs.

As the technical wizard in your team, they wears many hats. Here are some of their key responsibilities:

  • Interpreting Business Needs: They're the translators who decode business requirements into tangible IT solutions, making sure they sync with your company's strategic aspirations. For example, if you want to speed up your delivery time; they will find the right technology solution to make this happen.
  • Managing Risk: Got potential tech issues that could hamper your operations? They are on it, monitoring systems for possible problems and ensuring all parts of the tech solution are in harmony.
  • Driving Decision-Making: Want to implement new technology or upgrade existing systems? They will help steer these decisions based on their in-depth understanding of your business needs and technology landscape.

The Skill Set: What Makes a Great Solutions Architect?

A Solutions Architect possesses a wide range of technical skills and knowledge, often gained through years of experience in the IT field. Their expertise typically includes:

  • Software Development: They understand different software development methodologies, such as Agile or DevOps, and programming languages, which are necessary for creating and implementing effective software solutions.
  • Systems Engineering: They should be able to design and maintain complex IT systems, including databases, networks, and cloud-based systems.
  • Cloud Technologies: Knowledge of cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS)Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform is crucial as many businesses are migrating their operations to the cloud. They should understand cloud computing concepts like SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, and serverless computing.
  • Networking: Understanding of network design and operations, including routers, switches, firewalls, and other networking hardware. They should also be familiar with protocols and standards such as TCP/IP, HTTP, SSL, FTP, and DNS.
  • Security: Security is a significant concern for any IT system. Therefore, they should have knowledge about encryption techniques, security protocols, and threat detection and mitigation strategies.
  • Data Modeling: Knowledge of data modeling, data warehousing, and both SQL and NoSQL databases is important for effectively storing and managing data.
  • Emerging Technologies: A Solutions Architect should stay abreast of emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain, and how they can be leveraged to benefit the business.
  • Enterprise Architecture Frameworks: Understanding frameworks like TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) can help in designing and implementing enterprise-level IT systems.
  • Communication and Leadership Skills: They're the bridge between technical and non-technical teams, so excellent communication and leadership skills are a must. They explain complicated tech terms as easily as ordering a cup of coffee.
  • Problem-Solving Prowess: When tech issues strike, they're the problem-solvers who bring peace back to your IT landscape.
  • Strategic Thinking: They're the fortune-tellers of technology, anticipating how a system’s design will impact your business today and tomorrow.

How a Solutions Architect Can Empower Your Business

In an era where technology acts as the backbone of any organization, having a Solutions Architect on board brings in a suite of compelling benefits. Let's delve into how they can be a game-changer for your business.

1. Streamlined IT-Business Alignment

At the intersection of business strategy and technology, they stand as a powerful ally. They play a vital role in ensuring that your IT capabilities align perfectly with your business objectives. 

For instance, if your goal is to boost customer engagement, they could design a state-of-the-art CRM system that allows for better tracking of customer preferences and personalized communication.

2. Enhanced Efficiency of IT Solutions

Through their vast technical expertise, they are equipped to overhaul your IT operations, making them more efficient and effective. They're proficient in designing systems that optimize resource use, reduce redundancy, and improve overall productivity. 

A well-designed IT solution could mean faster data processing, easier information retrieval, and more efficient task management across your organization.

3. Proactive Risk Management

They excel at spotting potential threats in your IT landscape before they escalate into significant issues. 

By routinely evaluating systems for vulnerabilities and ensuring all software and hardware are up-to-date, they contribute to maintaining the robustness and security of your IT infrastructure. Essentially, they are your business's first line of defense against technology risks.

4. Future-Proof IT Systems

A key value proposition of a Solutions Architect is their ability to ensure the scalability and adaptability of your IT systems. As your business grows and evolves, so too will your technology needs. They designs systems with flexibility in mind, ensuring they can accommodate changing business requirements and emerging technology trends.

For instance, they could build a data storage solution that can easily be scaled up as your data volumes grow.

Key Considerations When Hiring a Solutions Architect

The next step is hiring the right person for this pivotal role. But what should you look for when screening candidates? Here are some key factors to consider:

A group of people are discussing about hiring a Solutions Architect for their business to solve several issues.

1. Depth of Technical Expertise

Technical prowess is non-negotiable. Look for someone with a broad and deep understanding of various technologies, architectures, and frameworks

They should be familiar with cloud computing, networking, databases, and software development methodologies, among other things. Their knowledge should be extensive enough to propose and implement the best technology solutions for your unique business needs.

2. Industry Experience

Real-world experience counts for a lot in a Solutions Architect role. Someone who has worked in your industry before will have a better understanding of its specific challenges and needs. 

They'll be familiar with industry-specific software and systems and will know how to navigate regulatory and compliance requirements. Their experience would allow them to hit the ground running, providing effective solutions from day one.

3. Strong Communication Skills

This role requires excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts in simple, easy-to-understand language. They must communicate effectively with everyone, from the C-suite to entry-level employees.

4. Problem-Solving Ability

In the world of technology, issues can arise unexpectedly. When they do, your Solutions Architect needs to be a swift and effective problem-solver. They should have a proven track record of diagnosing and resolving tech-related problems, ideally under pressure.

Final Thoughts

A Solutions Architect isn't just another cog in your corporate machine - they are a strategic asset. Their unique blend of technical expertise, industry experience, communication, and problem-solving skills can provide your business with a competitive edge in a technology-driven marketplace.

So, if you're looking to leverage technology to fuel your business growth and stay ahead of the curve, investing in a talented expert could be your next game-changing move. Wondering where to find one? Just tell us what you need and we will find you the perfect fit for your business.

FAQs:

Q1. What are solutions architect skills?

A Solutions Architect requires a combination of technical and non-technical skills. On the technical side, they need to be well-versed in various IT disciplines, including cloud computing, networking, databases, and software development. They also need to be familiar with various technology architectures and frameworks.

On the non-technical side, a Solutions Architect needs strong communication skills to effectively liaise between technical and non-technical stakeholders. They also require excellent problem-solving skills to address any tech-related issues that arise. Additionally, leadership abilities and strategic thinking are crucial, given their role in guiding technology decisions and anticipating future technology needs.

Q2. What does a solutions architect do?

They are responsible for designing and managing comprehensive IT solutions that align with a company's business objectives. Their role includes translating business requirements into technical solutions, managing risk within the IT landscape, and ensuring that IT systems are scalable and adaptable to accommodate future business growth and evolving technology trends.

Q3. What is the next level after solution architect?

The career progression after the role of a Solutions Architect can vary depending on the organization and its structure. However, a common next step could be a role as an Enterprise Architect. While a Solutions Architect typically focuses on specific IT projects or systems, an Enterprise Architect takes a broader view, designing and overseeing the entire technology strategy and infrastructure for a business. Other potential roles could include senior or lead architect roles, IT Director, or even Chief Technology Officer (CTO), depending on the individual's experience and skill set.

Getting started is easy

Join hundreds of Founders, CEOs and CTOs using Pangea.ai every day to find and hire their perfect software partner. Start reviewing shortlisted agencies from our community today.

Have a question? Schedule a call

Getting startedGetting startedGetting started
astronaut