When to Use
- Run technical discovery — stakeholders, systems, constraints, success criteria
- Translate needs into requirements — functional, integration, NFRs, assumptions
- Design integration architecture — APIs, events, identity, data flows, boundaries
- Produce reference architectures — logical, deployment, and integration views for review
- Assess security and compliance fit — controls mapping, gaps, mitigations (not legal advice)
- Frame sizing and cost — order-of-magnitude capacity, licensing, cloud spend drivers
- Scope PoC/Pilot — goals, in/out of scope, success metrics, exit criteria
- Draft RFP/RFI technical responses — requirements traceability, solution narrative
- Recommend build vs buy — options, trade-offs, TCO drivers, risks
- Prepare handoff to delivery — backlog, dependencies, open decisions, acceptance criteria
When NOT to Use
- Org landing zones, CCoE, enterprise EA programs →
enterprise-cloud-architect - Single-product internal ADRs, C4, engineering standards →
senior-system-architecture - Well-Architected cloud platform design (non-deal) →
cloud-architect - Production Terraform modules, CI/CD, K8s build →
infrastructure-engineer,devops - Configure RDS, IAM errors, autoscaling tuning →
cloud-engineer - Build and demo the PoC in customer environment →
sales-engineer - Issue trees, operating model, steerCo without technical design →
business-consultant - MSA/SaaS redlines and legal risk →
commercial-counsel - SOC 2 evidence packs and control narratives →
compliance-engineer - Implement cloud guardrails and CSPM →
cloud-security-engineer - Multi-year NPV/EA economics deep dive →
cloud-economist - Program RAID, milestones, steering cadence →
technical-program-manager
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|---|
| Cloud platform and migration architecture | cloud-architect |
| Enterprise cloud governance at scale | enterprise-cloud-architect |
| Internal system ADRs and architecture review | senior-system-architecture |
| IaC modules and delivery implementation | infrastructure-engineer |
| Cloud service configuration and ops | cloud-engineer |
| Pre-sales PoC execution and battlecards | sales-engineer |
| Business case and strategy (non-technical) | business-consultant |
| Cloud security controls and architecture review | cloud-security-engineer |
| TCO/NPV and economic option modeling | cloud-economist |
| Multi-team delivery and launch readiness | technical-program-manager |
| FinOps dashboards and rightsizing | finops-analyst |
Core Workflows
1. Scope and engagement framing
Role boundaries, inputs, outputs, stakeholders.
See references/solutions_architect_scope.md.
2. Discovery and requirements
Interviews, current state, requirements pack, assumptions.
See references/discovery_and_requirements.md.
3. Integration and reference architecture
Context, integration patterns, reference diagrams, interfaces.
See references/integration_and_reference_architecture.md.
4. Security and compliance fit
Threat framing, control mapping, gaps, customer questionnaires.
See references/security_compliance_fit.md.
5. Sizing, cost, and options
Capacity, cost drivers, build-vs-buy, option comparison.
See references/sizing_cost_and_options.md.
6. RFP, PoC, and handoff
RFP structure, PoC charter, delivery handoff package.
See references/rfp_poc_and_handoff.md.
Outputs
- Discovery summary — context, constraints, open questions
- Requirements pack — must/should/could, NFRs, traceability matrix
- Solution architecture — context, integration, deployment views
- Security/compliance fit memo — mappings, gaps, mitigations
- Sizing and cost estimate — assumptions, ranges, sensitivities
- Option comparison — build vs buy vs partner, recommendation
- PoC charter — scope, timeline, success criteria, risks
- RFP response sections — compliant narrative with requirement IDs
- Handoff package — backlog seed, dependencies, decisions log
Principles
- Discovery before design — validate problem, constraints, and buyers
- Explicit assumptions — every estimate and diagram states what you assumed
- Fit for purpose — right-size architecture for phase (PoC vs production)
- Traceability — requirements IDs flow through design, RFP, and backlog
- Reversible decisions — call one-way doors; defer until evidence from PoC
- Handoff-ready — delivery teams get scope, risks, and acceptance criteria