What is Data Architect?

The buzz around data is picking momentum and it is something that organizations deal with every day as we enter in the era of big data. The demand for skilled data architects is intensifying and you can expect to grow in next 10 years. As per Forbes, 52% of global businesses invest in data architecture and analytics to obtain crucial business information that allows them to transform their projects, while 71% of the companies believe in the importance of data architecture and analytics and their active role in future. 

 Who is a Data Architect?

A data architect is a specialist serving as the vital link between business and technology. They are responsible to plan and design next-generation big data systems and managing large-scale development and deployment of data architecture applications.

What does a Data Architect do?

A data architect addresses data problems and needs. Data architects manage data structures at the design, creation, supervision, administration and implementation levels. They are responsible for managing the complete lifecycle of the Hadoop solution, encompassing the design of technical architecture, testing, requirement analysis and platform selection. They take care of the entire information architecture in a company and carry out the related processes, such as how the data will be stored once it enters the company's servers.

Data Architect Job Responsibilities

The role of a data architect is technical, but he/she should have skills that define data structures and data integration practices for operational uses or business intelligence. The common job responsibilities of a data architect includes -  

1. Manage data structures, including creation, supervision, management and implementation.
2. Articulatethe  advantages and disadvantages of various technologies and platforms.
3. Help project management in the design and governance of implementing projects of any kind
4. Organize data at organizational as well as micro levels
5. Create standards of conduct for data management to maintain quality
6. Design large relational databases that support business applications
7. Develop database architecture strategies
8. Lead the team in infrastructure setup phases
9. Work with huge volumes of data to drive business intelligence
10. Uncover information, propose data-driven strategies and analyze data
11. Make connections, data flows and ETL processes between the different datasets
12. Manage data governance to ensure system scalability, security and performance

Skills required to become a Data Architect  

A data architect should have a sound knowledge of trending data science and related technologies and an idea of integrating them into processes to solve data-related problems. In addition, they also require soft skills to communicate between the different elements of an organization. Some common skill requisites to succeed as a data architect include –

Technical Skills

1. Knowledge of Big Data architectures like Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Kafka, Sqoop, etc. Working knowledge of deep learning frameworks like TensorFlow or Keras
2. Experience in design, deployment and management of Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud: ADLS, Databricks, Cosmos DB, S3, EMR, RDS, Redshift, among others
3. Proficiency with Python and basic Python libraries for machine learning such as Scikit-learn and pandas
4. Competency with databases and Smart Data (SQL Server, MySQL, Apache)
5. Proficiency with OpenCV and Linux
6. Ability to select hardware to run an ML model
7. Programming languages like XML, Javascript or ETL frameworks
8. Knowledge of ML Programming Languages such as C/C++, R, Python, and SQL databases
9. Experience working with statistical methods and packages
10. Expertise in Application Programming Interfaces (API)
11. Knowledge of data warehousing and business intelligence
12. Knowledge of database design, data mining, cleaning and munging, and data visualization

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Soft Skills

1. An attention to detail
2. Analytical and problem-solving ability
3. Effective communication to explain complex technical ideas and methods
4. Creative thinking to adapt new approaches to data architecture
5. Industry knowledge

What are the advantages of becoming a Data Architect?  

Many organizations from different domains are recognizing the potential of big data and Hadoop and are opening numerous job opportunities for the Big Data and Hadoop practitioners who have certifications to prove their mettle. A certification course confirms that an aspirant has a knowledge of the most recent big data and Hadoop highlights and is helpful to help the candidate reach newer heights in career. Reasons why you should take a career as a Data Architect are -

1. Gain an edge over other experts in the same domain
2. With 2.3 trillion gigabytes of data generated every day, the market is geared to grow
3. Extensive employment opportunities available, as the industry is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26% till 2025
4. More jobs are anticipated by 2030, for role like reactive queries, research work, data engineering and data infrastructure, machine learning, full stack data science, and many others
5. Get an opportunity to work with the best names of the industry, such as Oracle, JP Morgan, Accenture, Adobe, Infosys and Cognizant

What do recruiters want in a Data Architect candidate?

Recruiters look for qualified candidates who can analyze client operations, maintain databases by determining structural requirements and install database systems by developing flowcharts. They look for the people with skills in business analytics, data modelling and big data.  

Top Recruiters Who Hire Data Architects

Nowadays, the big data field is hot, and this can't change in the coming years. Many renowned firms like Amazon, IBM, Google and Oracle are hiring data architects with skills and talents in data warehousing solutions, data modelling and system development. 

Who Can Become a Data Architect?

Fresher

To become a Data Architect, one should have hands-on experience in big data technologies. If you don’t have 3-10 years of experience in the IT domain, gain extensive skills in analytics platforms, management, modelling and RDBMS systems. 

Non-Experienced Professionals

You can still build a career as a Data Architect, whether professional or outside the field. Take a Data Architect certification to impart an in-depth knowledge in big data technologies like Hadoop, Spark, Impala, and more. 

Experienced Professionals

You got to have advanced analytical skills to become a data architect. Your years of experience of information management and application design will increase your chance to work in multiple industries. Apart from this, you must be strong with data processing and solving new and old problems. 

What is the Eligibility Criteria for a Data Architect Profile?

To become a data architect, you should have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or any related domain. The main aspect of your employment application will be experience of at least 5 years in performance management, network management or application architecture.