Thursday, March 13, 2008

Technology Architect

I think the firetrucks should line up and get ready for the next step in my career, "Technology Architect."

This is in case I catch on fire from all the extra considerations and information that I must formulate when I generate a solution architecture.

As many of you know, I work for BearingPoint. Since my departure for Military Duty in October 2006 and now, the company has undertaken a big initiative to provide a career-track framework for employees that match what the employees expect. I know this is a foreign idea in business and perhaps one that could cause problems, however, it provides BearingPoint members with the capability to switch career tracks.

The company split career tracks three different ways: Management, Business and Technology.

Well, fast forward shall we? Now, it is March 2008. In the first quarter of each calendar year, the company runs an HR process that requires employees to sit down with management and declare goals, rewards, etc. So, if you set agreed upon goals and achieve the goals, then you will be compensated. This is how they generate a carrot and a stick

I'm a pretty flexible person, so when I sat down with my performance manager and he told me that he saw my best fit with the company as a Technology Architect, I agreed to make the jump. Prior to this, I was a "MANAGER."

When I returned from Afghanistan and started working, I discovered that the practice I worked for in Commercial Services was undergoing a significant change that included the departure of my MD.

For those of you who know exactly who I worked for, I want to say this: He left under his own power and was not ousted like many of the other MDs who were forced out.

Nevertheless, this left me feeling vulnerable, so I made the jump over to Public Services.

There is no difference in actual work between what I did in Commercial Services and what I do now for Public Services. However, with the career track definitions, a manager is required to manage people, projects and events. An architect delivers solutions.

I am really doing the same things but in a different light. For one, I am being asked to work on proposals as well as projects. Secondly, I am using Enterprise Architecture tools to generate models. In other words, I am doing actual architect work.

I like it.

Hopefully, one of my next projects will wrap around webMethods new stack of 7.x goodies so I can describe a solution.

Bye for now!

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