I’ve been in the it business for 28 years and have worked as a software architect for over a decade. back when I started my career, there was a saying: to become an architect, you need to work 5 years as a junior developer, 5 years as a mid-senior, and another 5 as a senior and only after that you might gain enough knowledge and be ready for this job. and I went through this process one step at a time, with patience and by embracing a growth mindset.

I’ve spent my last 7 years in Accesa as a Solution Architect, thriving in an environment that allows me to express my creativity and develop efficient technical solutions to our clients’ challenges. I even led the Software Architecture Office for 2 years, working with my colleagues to build those solutions that drive value to businesses.

As a Solution Architect, I act as a bridge between the technical aspects of a project and the business objectives. This is not an easy job, but understanding and simplifying complex things defines me and is deeply rooted in my DNA. Translating business objectives into technical requirements calls for an in-depth understanding of business goals and strategies. Usually, requirements do not always align perfectly with technical feasibility, which brings more challenges.

Being up to date with everything new in the business sector and technology trends is mandatory. however, the modern way is not always the best way when it comes to software architecture. instead, efficiency and finding the best technical solution suitable for our problem is key.

Software architecture is not only about design; before reaching that phase, you need to come up with arguments for why solution A is better than B.

As software architects, we’re offering multiple solutions rather than one, as a problem can be solved in many ways, helping the client to choose the best viable solution that fits within their business.

That’s why my best day at work is when we win a pre-sales project with the argument “it provides the best solution”.

Through my work, I’m significantly impacting pre-sales projects in several ways by providing them with solution design, technical expertise, risk mitigation, customisation and competitive solutions.

my team trusts me and appreciates my work, which is the most important thing for me. and i do the same.

I looked up to the client partners who are struggling to get all the information requested by us, the architects, and my colleagues from pre-sales who can transform the very vague requirements from our clients into something you can “catch” on. I love to work with my direct manager, who is a very skilled communicator. And last but not least, I truly appreciate the work of our CTO, who can hold his jungle of engineers in one place.

As a closing note for the IT professionals, my advice would be learn to analyse and synthesise, test your ideas. If your ideas fail, don’t worry; persevere, try, and try again until you come up with a proper solution. Being a software engineer is more about finding a solution to a problem and less about writing code. Now, in the IT industry, you have a lot of opportunities, but you choose to be on the good side and develop software that brings meaningful impact and helps humanity to progress.

Stay true to your values and find your tribe as I found mine.