My Journey as Solutions Architect in 2023

January 2024

Hey guys !!!

This is my first post in this Blog. I´ll share information about career and technology. I hope you enjoy it !!!

In this post I talk a little about my journey as a Solutions Architect (SA) in 2023. This is my story, but I believe it is very similar for many professionals who work with Cloud and Technology.
Being a Solutions Architect at a large Cloud company for me was very challenging, because most of my career I worked on the client side. My previous experience before Cloud Computing was based on Data Center infrastructure at financial institutions. This contributed to my participation in the team focused on Financial Services at AWS.

Career

How it all began ...

After an intense internal training process and approval of all requirements, it is time to work together with the client representing the company in the account team, generally formed by the Architect, Account Manager and a Technical Manager. Within the team, SA's main challenge is to help customers with all technical needs, architectures and innovation projects. The focus is on supporting future demands, but also helping in a consultive manner with production problems that require an architectural review and optimization.

Cloud Challenges

What were the first steps like...

SA's initial expectation is to know which clients to act on. In my case, I was assigned to clients in the South of Brazil, a new experience as I had worked most of time in several financial institutions focused on São Paulo. Traveling to visit clients was a new challenge. I was able to meet new people and cultures, in addition to developing communication with regional customers. The Team was without an architect for a period of time, so they faced several demands and challenges. Despite the moment, I was well received by the team.

What did I do during the year...

The team's reception was peaceful, despite the difficulties and challenges. The dedicated team serves the customer directly and eventually receives support from several other professionals, such as Product Specialists, Business, Innovation and even service teams that work with a focus on products. All support from experts came with the evolution of the projects.
The architect's focus is to work a lot with technical aspects, but it requires a lot of communication, something that is very challenging for me and I am always trying to improve.
In summary, some activities I performed during the period:

• I introduced myself to the client;
• I met the main leaders and their collaborators;
• I identified challenges, demands, projects and problems;
• I supported several projects throughout the year;
• I participated in events with customers;
• I started engagement for future plans;
• I carried out questionnaires and presented dedicated work plans for each client.

Technically there were many challenges:
I worked with a managed Database Service that is evolving;
I worked with teams of specialists in Agro Business and Observability projects;
I helped to train and share technical knowledge in Cloud;
I carried out workshops and practical laboratories;
Developed laboratories to demonstrate scenarios and architectures for clients;
Supported the reproduction of problems to help identify errors and possible solutions;
I helped in several Data Analytics scenarios;
I tested a series of services that run in the cloud;
I obtained Associate and Professional certifications.

Lessons learned

What I've learned ..

I did my best to gain customer trust and help with their needs. I missed some opportunities due to lack of technical knowledge or communication skills, but they served as a lesson. I gave presentations that need to be improved. Not everything works out, but the important thing is to improve and evolve!!!

How I had fun, invented and learned...
A company that has several leadership principles provides opportunities for employees to work with customers and also dedicate part of their time to internal activities and career development. We have the possibility to choose a topic for specialization, develop internal projects, lead initiatives and improve communication and writing skills. The year was very busy, despite all this, I managed to work on the account team and internally in a light and fun way. With responsibility and commitment everything works out.
We go through stressful times, but we also have fun times. I can say that I managed to balance these aspects well. There are many fun and funny stories to tell.

Corporate challenges...

Like every company, we have pressure for goals and results for the year. I was able to deliver the objectives established for internal clients and projects. The environment with the accounts team was very calm, with experienced professionals who understand each person's personality and reach agreements in a friendly way. The team of architects is made up of several professionals with diverse experiences. I interacted with several of them throughout the year for different demands and challenges.
The demand for achieving goals will always exist, sometimes it is exhausting, but it is part of our work. Like every large company, we have good things that need to be maintained and things that need to be improved. It's part of the game.
I can say that the year had ups and downs, good and bad moments, but the result was certainly very positive.

Very happy to be able to say that the year was much of what I imagined would happen if I joined this great company.
I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! I hope you have a 2024 full of challenges and achievements!

Hugs,

LYM - January 2024