Avoid this BIG mistake as a new Solutions Architect!

[@WisdomofHal]

As an SA, I came from a Software Engineering background. I have an absolute love/hate relationship with being an SA. Some days I miss coding and other days I’m so happy I don’t have to dig into sloppy codebases. In my day to day I couldn’t imagine not having a technical background. I’m highly customer facing, but all the questions I field are highly technical. If I didn’t have a background in software, i think I’d have a hard time comprehending many of the architectural components. I build architectures and whiteboard on the spot to solution ideas. I’ll start my day with 2-3 calls and by the afternoon 3 more calls have been tacked on to my schedule. This means I’m dealing with 6-10 different customers facing dozens of different problems, dozens of different components and hundreds of different moving pieces. This alone ensures you need ti know a lot. But you will NOT know everything so you need to also be resourceful. Software engineering is a different type of hard from Solutions Architect. I find SA roles more demanding, but SWE more complex. They’re both demanding and complex.

[@TheB1nary]

This is why I prefer the MS route -- they recognise that lots of us actually have years of experience implementing compute and infrastructure on premises, and so the 104 and 800 and 801 exams give those people cloud certifications that endorse those skills. On the way, you can pick up many of the bits you need that are specific to cloud. I also know programmers who are struggling with cloud because they don't have that understanding of infrastructure, servers, and IAM (such as AD) they need. It is a strange world at the moment!

[@openupthecloud]

Yeah, I definitely see a lot sysadmin, IT, data centre etc folks going the Microsoft route exactly for that reason ! Thanks for stopping by !

[@tptoodle]

agree, and always look for an organization who are looking for a tranditional solutions architect rather than a product/technology specific, else it should be classed as a technical architects rather than solutions arch.

[@kingogovor6118]

Great video Lou. It’s always great to listen to you. You clear my all my confusion with this series.

[@openupthecloud]

🚀🚀🚀 - that's great news! Any other questions you have, drop them here, I'll see if we can cover in a future video! See you around, Kin! :)

[@jitu028]

Thanks for putting Cloud leaders thoughts together, it's very helpful.

[@openupthecloud]

You're very welcome !

[@joelisaac007]

I don´t want to skip code, but I´m learning it, it takes more time than learn the AWS services and console

[@openupthecloud]

Stick to it, be patient with yourself, and it will come 🙏

[@brownsense1]

I want to be a cloud engineer. I have no technical background. I'm 44. Worked 20 years in a different industry. Currently enrolled in a AWS re/start bootcamp. Want to learn Python as well.

[@mufcirfan3280]

Try to build knowledge in Kubernetes , Docker , Terraform ,AWS services , azure services

[@EssLoco]

Concise with the information! looking forward to the next video

[@openupthecloud]

Glad you liked it !

[@festus-obi]

The truth that does not get put out there as much as the shiny pieces. Nice one again - keep it coming

[@openupthecloud]

Doing my best to share a diverse range of. stories and experiences ! There's nuance in a lot of the advice, glad we can use a longer format where we can dig into some of those ! Any other questions you're curious about, I can do my best to dig into it !

[@coachmw83]

I don’t recall you interviewing me for this video intro, and yet you clearly wrote this about me.

[@profitpurpose]

most of the time i wont make it to screening if i say as an architect i dont code

[@kat7973]

This video was really insightful. What’s the name of the video Lou references at the beginning?

[@openupthecloud]

Glad you found it useful, Kat! Doing my best to get honest advice from seasoned professionals out there, to help you out on your cloud journey! If there are other topics you'd like to see covered, or you think are missing in the cloud community, let me know! I can see who I can get in for an interview, and hopefully get all the answers you need. Oh, and the video is this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y17RqmeAeJupm6M I also updated the description with it, thanks for the reminder! See you around, Kat !

[@kat7973]

@@openupthecloud thank you Lou!!!

[@johnbrown4200]

Hits a couple key points- there is no single definition or scope for Solution Architect… it’s more of a category. Companies do a poor job with titles and job descriptions. I think it touches on a key point- what do you mean “code”? There are different levels of that, and not all require the same (traditional) dev skills. In cloud this growth comes from the collision of Dev and Ops people into DevOos in cloud. But I think they missed something too. People tend to value their own experience as better than alternatives… so the Dev guy says “that skill is super valuable” and it was for his path. That doesn’t exclude the value in other paths though. I agreed with all the speakers here to a large extent- but it wasn’t clear if any were “non-coders” so they can’t speak about those roles and positions from personal experience. We’re supposed to say we value diversity right? Solution Architect is not an entry-level role for non-technical people- no boot camp or certification program prepares or provides sufficient knowledge and skill. It is certainly not a safe harbor for low skill non-technically minded people to grab a large paycheck.

[@nusz_]

As always Great Video Lou ❤️✋

[@openupthecloud]

Glad you liked it !

[@KenSherman]

3:31 Were you referring to #GoCloudArchitects on the left among others?🤨

[@openupthecloud]

Not specifically, though I have seen him mention similar opinions around how technical an architect should go/be. Before publishing this video I did reach out, but he declined the offer: twitter.com/GoCloudCareers/status/1611556229347696640

[@er.aditipandey]

Great content!

[@openupthecloud]

Aditi!! Thank you for saying and dropping by, have a great week! :)

[@architectingme]

Which layer of SA role would be suitable for database administrator?

[@openupthecloud]

That's hard to say. SA roles will come in a lot of shapes and sizes with different specialities and areas of focus. If there are SA roles that are database leaning, for data companies or on data products, there might be a greater overlap of your existing knowledge. I'm not sure there's a more direct answer to your question that I can give, though.

[@MorphologicalGeek]

Data Architecture is a career path you could take. In preparation for this you'd want to have experience designing data structures, and ideally of various types (e.g. OLTP and OLAP) that solved different problems, perhaps using different technology / products / types of products. You'd also want to have an some understanding of various data things: data architecture theory such Inmon and Kimball; concepts like master data management; emerging "cool" stuff like data lakes; implications for data management in terms of cloud vs on-premise.

[@GarciaDorelion]

Great video Lou!

[@openupthecloud]

Thanks for stopping by - also great name !

[@GarciaDorelion]

@@openupthecloud lol thanks. It's Garcia. I don't know why I chose that name

[@RabbitJnr]

Thank you, this info is gold.

[@openupthecloud]

Glad you found it useful !

[@SY27196]

Customer facing SA may be not have to code . But this is limited to AWS jobs only These days companies are looking for cloud arvhitect or technical architect Who need to implement projects SA is losing shine as cloud becomes more popular

[@openupthecloud]

Agree the more customer facing SA roles are more likely to not code or be as technical as a technical or cloud architect. I do kinda wish they called those types of SA's consultants or something, as I think that would have avoided the confusion...

[@AdamPippert]

That role used to be called ‘pre-sales engineer’ or ‘sales engineer’, but the industry moved towards ‘solution architect’ in general around 6 or 7 years ago. The pre-sales engineer/architect is still very relevant at companies that sell more traditional IT infrastructure, and you might be surprised at how much cloud knowledge some of those architects have. Not everyone in that type of role is a legacy dinosaur.

[@SY27196]

@@AdamPippert thanks for info. Apart from SA I have seen cloud company have roles like implementation architect who oversee the customer project they are more hands-on than SA

[@AdamPippert]

@@SY27196 yeah, implementation architects are a post-sales role, and sometimes fall in consulting groups within traditional IT vendors.

[@dazzy999]

What's that OUTC system website you showed when you talked about the projects? Is it some paid course? Can't find it on your site

[@GarciaDorelion]

It's an open source cloud centered community. You can join anytime.

[@dazzy999]

@@GarciaDorelion Thanks. Is there a link? Couldn't find anything

[@openupthecloud]

​@@dazzy999 What is it? I have a LOT of coaching conversations with people getting into cloud, but I'm not so hot on documenting the advice. Of course my KZbin has a lot of similar type of content and advice, but you have to dig through all the videos. I'm trying to turn all my "get into cloud" and career advice into a linear set of steps. It's not like other guides like learntocloud.guide/ as it's not so much focussed on tech, but more the "mindset" of approaching landing a job in cloud. It's literally the exact process when I'm coaching someone that I mentally use... I just need to make sure this documentation repository is good enough for a beginner to understand! Here is is: URL: openupthecloud.com/system GitHub: github.com/openupthecloud/system

[@dazzy999]

@@openupthecloud Great. Thanks a lot

[@yashdutt8224]

Great Video! 👍

[@openupthecloud]

Thanks, Yash !!!

[@charlita25]

This has actually discouraged 😞 me. But I will keep going since I have paid for the bootcamp 🖥🤦🏾‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

[@left_right_rooster]

SA role in microsoft business applications is virtually inseperable from development.

[@GBlunted]

It's not confidence they lack - it's 'competence'. And it's people like Mike from channels like "Go Cloud Architect"

[@openupthecloud]

Competence is key, that's very true !

[@gandres_07]

You don’t like Mike??

[@johnbrown4200]

People without degrees are not competent? So competence isn’t a personal trait, it was found in a book or lecture? So everyone with a degree should be competent then, they just had to read or hear the right words. I think in general people have a tendency to over-value their own personal path based on what they sacrificed to achieve it. Other paths didn’t sacrifice “like I did” so they can’t reach the same destinations. This leads to claiming the other paths have NO value. I paid for my degree in money sweat and tears, I won’t hear anyone say it doesn’t provide value! But it’s a narrow viewpoint.

[@openupthecloud]

Hey friends! 👋What did you think? Surprised? Not surprised? Do you feel validated? More confused? Let me know your thoughts in the comments-any questions, drop them and hopefully I can cover them in future ! Be sure to check out the last video on Solutions Architecture where we talked about the evolution of the role into more of a customer-facing role for entry-level: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y17RqmeAeJupm6M you might find the answers / video surprising, too.

[@liquidcode1704]

Wait.. people want to avoid coding? lol, I'm literally aspiring to move into the cloud so I can use code to manage infrastructure rather than some silly goose's business CRUD rules hahaha

[@openupthecloud]

Yeah, it's one of the main reasons I see people look into cloud. Honestly, this story is incredibly common: 1. Go on Instagram / TikTok 2. See an influencer or advert for "6 figure tech jobs" 3. Google about tech jobs, and find out there's coding involved 4. Google non-coding tech jobs, where someone mentions cloud 5. Start running around the cloud industry looking for the "non coding" cloud jobs The problem with this logic, is that there's no definitive thing such as "coding" it's just logic + technical skills. And it's a spectrum. Some roles do LOTS of coding, some do a little bit of what could be considered "coding" and others just work with the people that do the coding + technical work. But even for the folks that don't do any technical work... it really helps to understand what's going on. Literally anyone can learn a little sprinkling of coding + technical skills. I felt the same when I started out, I thought I didn't have what it takes, but if you give it enough time, it comes. People shouldn't be so afraid. They're "in their head" worrying and fantasizing rather than getting over the fear by just dipping in a little bit, and realising it's not as scary as it sounds over time as you learn, little by little. No-one was born knowing how to drive a car, we all learned. You literally use every limb of your body. It sounds crazy. Yet everyone can do it, does it every day and it's no big deal. But when you start out, it's scary, you're self-conscious, you think everyone is watching. Coding is the same. But you get over it. I wrote an article about the types of coding cloud engineers do (want to make into a video at some point). openupthecloud.com/cloud-engineers-code/ For others watching, I compiled a list of roles here: openupthecloud.github.io/system/roles/