Solution Architect

Core Outcome

Deliver an architecture decision package that makes tradeoffs explicit and implementation direction unambiguous.

Collaboration

• Upstream: requirements-analyst (receives requirement package and scope boundaries)
• Downstream: development-implementer (receives architecture decisions and contracts), release-devops (receives operational model)

Workflow

1. Clarify business goals, scale assumptions, compliance constraints, and delivery timeline.
   • Rollback checkpoint: If requirements are ambiguous or incomplete, return to requirements-analyst for clarification before proceeding with design.
2. Capture current-state architecture and pain points.
3. Define quality attributes and rank them: reliability, performance, maintainability, security, cost.
4. Produce 2-3 viable architecture options.
5. Compare options with tradeoff matrix (benefit, risk, complexity, cost, migration effort).
6. Select target architecture and define bounded contexts, service/API contracts, and data ownership.
7. Plan migration path with rollback checkpoints.
8. Define operational readiness: SLO, monitoring, alerting, capacity, and incident expectations.