How to Hire a Software Architecture Consultant?

Nowadays, there is a growing demand for a highly experienced software architecture consultant, both among start-ups and well-established organizations. In this article, we go into detail about what software architecture is and its types, how a technology & software architect consultant can help businesses of any scale, and how to choose the right expert for your company. 

Understanding Software Architecture Specifics

Software architecture can be defined as the process of utilizing both technical requirements and operational goals with the aim to create a solution that will ensure the quality performance of the organization, its maintainability, and security. 

As highlighted by Philippe Kruchten, software architecture requires not only software building knowledge but understanding the problem domain. Selecting the correct environment and infrastructure builds the foundation, then layered with software components and additional services interconnected. 

Reviewing the Most Used Types of Software Architecture

Many types of software architecture would be relevant for particular companies and particular business requirements. Let’s take a look at the most used types:

• Object-oriented. This option is one of the widely used, with the application being broken down to separate responsibilities and the system being a collection of objects. The software built with this type is highly scalable, robust, easily maintainable, and associated with shorter development costs and time.

• Domain-driven. Also known as Domain Driven Design (DDD), is another popular architecture for enterprise applications based on the principles of object-oriented analysis and design, concentrating on the domain model instead of the technology. 

• Service-oriented. It is a collection of modular services that communicate with each other and create a plug-n-play environment, which allows for many time-to-market advantages and business agility.

• Microservices. Being the evolution of the service-oriented option with different implementations, a microservices architecture consists of tiny self-contained, autonomous services that encapsulate a specific business capability, thus allowing for easier implementation, adjustment, and maintenance.

• Client-server. It is also known as two-tier architecture, with some services run on the server and called by the client, convenient for small and monolithic solutions. However, it would be difficult to evolve such a structure to a three-tier or a peer-to-peer one.

• Aspect-oriented. It focuses on fixing the modularity issues to enhance the existing design of the structure instead of completely replacing it by making the code more modular and manageable.

• Onion. The domain entities are at the innermost layer and are not dependent on the outer layer, but the outer layer can depend on its layers.

• Component-based. This type divides the app into modular and reusable components that encapsulate a specific functionality.

• Event-driven. This option usually involves working with the events created and processed between different software components and includes at least three decoupled players (producer, pipeline, and consumer). Useful for highly scalable and distributed software.

Consultant Software Architect: Software Consultant Vs. Software Architect 

Although a software architect and a software architect consultant may sound similar, there are some crucial differences between these two job positions. Let’s take a look at the information summarized in the table below:

A software architect consultant is more of an independent advisor working with management and stakeholders, who can help the company align its tech strategy and software architecture with the business needs to ensure the best possible performance, delivery, and collaboration of all the structures within the company. These experts typically work as part of IT consultancy service, which provides businesses with insights and guidance on aligning their technology strategies with operational goals.

A software developer consultant may not know some tech specifics inherent to a particular organization, but they think globally and see a big picture that should be implemented, based on their excessive knowledge and experience in the field, according to Forbes.

A software architect is usually an in-house expert responsible for implementing the consultant’s architectural solution. The software architect may work in pairs with the consulting expert, adopt the best industry practices and global approaches, learn and discuss the ways and means to implement the agreed solution. On the other hand, a software architect may take care of the software architecture implementation/fine-tuning solely by themselves after receiving recommendations/guidelines from the consultant.

Although the software architect can develop proper software architecture for a company, and these experts are in high demand these days, according to the HR Technologist, there are many benefits of opting for software architecture consulting services to bring your processes to the next level.

Let’s take a look at some statistics associated with the job position of the software architecture consultant:  

Benefits of Hiring Technology Software Architect Consultant

A software architecture consultant is an independent industry expert that assists small to large-scale organizations with technical decisions on choosing the right architectural type, components, additional services, security approaches, performance optimization, and more. 

Usually, companies tend to hire a software consultant when they aim for one or all of the following benefits:

Fresh look. An independent software architecture advisor can have an unbiased look at the company’s needs and goals, suggest a more relevant option than the existing one, or guide on creating the right app architecture from scratch if needed. 

Best practices. Consultants are usually more informed about best practices, industry standards, and viable solutions than software architects that work on one project only.

Advanced knowledge. Thanks to the many years of experience in the specific field and the ability to work with various businesses in different locations, a software architect advisor possesses advanced knowledge of architectural mapping and implementation.

Cost-effective solution. In many cases, it is much more beneficial to hire a consultant senior developer for a short period and get the company’s needs reviewed and the software architecture implementation plan created than having such a highly experienced specialist in-house besides the software architect themselves.

Useful Architectural Consultant Resume Example to Consider

If you are looking for a Senior-level expert and need to define the architectural consultant responsibilities and expertise needed for your project, look at an architectural consultant resume sample below that will help you create an ideal candidate profile.

When choosing the architecture consulting expert to work with, it’s also crucial to pay attention not only to the tech expertise of the candidate but also their soft skills:

• A professional-level consultant should have exceptional listening and analytical skills. The experienced consultant should be able not only to listen to the company’s requirements but also to hear the business’s actual needs to come up with the most suitable solution.

• Top-notch communication skills are also a must because a consulting expert should be able to communicate to the management the reasoning behind the architectural solution and organize the work of the technical department to achieve the desired result.

• Thinking outside the box is also important for a software architect consultant since this trait helps to come up with the most relevant structure and technology that will require optimal resources and result in the optimal budget. 

IT Architecture Consulting Costs in Various Countries

Now, let’s take a look at the software process consultant hourly rates in different countries. The hourly rates are based on Glassdoor, SalaryExpert, and Payscale stats, as well as on our Recruiting Team research over several local job portals:

• The US – $65/hour;
• The UK – £36/hour ($50/hour);
• Germany –  €42/hour ($50/hour);
• Switzerland – CHF 69/hour ($73/hour);
• Ukraine – $32/hour*.

*Rates are provided by the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team over local job boards

As you can see, given the same level of knowledge and expertise, a Ukrainian architect consulting expert charges 2-3 times less than the American or Swiss software engineer consultant. That’s why more and more businesses tend to recruit remote software architects, which comes as a cost-effective solution.

Mobilunity as Your Reliable Consulting Software Architect Services Provider

If you are looking for a reliable tech consulting firm to hire a software consultant, it’s worth considering working with Mobilunity. Mobilunity is a well-known software development outsourcing and outstaffing company operating in the global IT market for more than 10 years. Dozens of companies all over the world rely their IT solutions on Mobilunity professionals and stress out our dedicated approach and high-class IT consulting services.

Should you need a Senior developer consultant or a dedicated team for your project, get in touch with the Mobilunity tech consulting firm and find the IT resources fully matching your business needs.

Looking for a first-class software architecture consultant? Get in touch with Mobilunity, and let us find the right expert for your business!

Written by:

Anastasia Stefanuk

Market Researcher

Disclaimer: All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.