Senior-level Certification: IT Architect Credentials Can Open Career Doors

Date: Feb 23, 2011

Entry- and mid-level certifications are all well and good for IT professionasl in the first half of their working lives. But what about more senior professionals, who may not necessarily want to transition from individual contributor to management roles, but who still want opportunities to grow and advance their careers? IT Architect certifications may be just the ticket for those interested in and able to articulate big-picture views of technology planning and adoption.

As a discipline and an arena for employment, IT has matured considerably in the last 30 years. Today, the focus on skills and knowledge tends to move away from straight technology and into detailed issues related to infrastructure design, deployment, and management—particularly as IT professionals gain seniority and job experience (not to mention the occasional gray hair). As IT’s role has evolved inside most organizations, it has changed from a purely tactical cost center to a focus for strategic investment. In today’s IT world, organizations continually seek out ways to establish competitive advantages, and often look to information technology to help define and develop such advantages, and then to refine and maintain them.

As IT has matured and grown, job roles related to IT have done likewise. One such role that offers particular promise to talented, knowledgeable individuals in the second half of their careers is that of IT Architect. An IT architect is someone who not only understands most of the important aspects of information technology from the standpoints of acquisition, deployment, implementation, and use, but also understands how strategic investments in IT can help organizations meet their goals, boost productivity and profitability, and let them fulfill their missions more effectively and efficiently. The IT Architect is a person who brings technology savvy together with a deep understanding of and appreciation for business concerns, and can use that unique perspective to assess and guide IT investments according to their ROI and in light of the opportunities they can create.

Let’s take a look at trends in the IT Architect certification space, including salary potential, training opportunities, job search tips, and conclude with a quick look at leading relevant programs and certifications that cater to this job role.

Salary

According to job and salary sites like Indeed.com and Dice.com, salaries for IT Architect (or similar technology architect positions in IT) continue to grow. For 2010, the average salary across all IT architect positions was in the $80-90,000 range, but a significant percentage of such positions (nearly 30 percent) pays salaries over $100,000, some in the over-$160,000 range. Various IT Architect credentials can bring pay boosts with them; our research shows that for positions that require or desire specific certifications, pay runs about 15-20% higher than other similar positions that do not mention certification directly.

Training

Without exception, all of the IT architect certification credentials are backed up by comprehensive application and preparation guidelines and instructions, and usually involve a somewhat lengthy (3 months) to very lengthy (1 year or longer) application, testing, and vetting process. That’s because architect curricula cater to more senior IT professionals, and they usually involve substantial documentation of prior work experience, references from current and prior employers, detailed and voluminous application documents, and usually a substantial project of some kind that culminates in a lengthy written report and oral defense as well as one or more outright examinations. Many IT architect programs require candidates to attend several weeks of expensive classroom training, often to the tune of $20,000 in training fees or more. Because of the outlays involved, and the time and energy required to earn such credentials, most candidates rely on support (financial and otherwise) from their employers to earn them. This speaks of the need for a cordial, long-term, and highly supportive relationship between employer and any employee who might seek to earn such credentials.

Job Search

When looking for an IT architect position, simply searching on “IT architect” isn’t enough to lead you to all of the good positions, nor to all of the good opportunities in this dynamic and fast-growing area. If you’re seeking a specific kind of architect position, include that information as well. If you are interested only in higher-paying jobs, be sure to included a salary cut-off below which you don’t wish to go (this will winnow the options down very quickly and effectively). A quick review of relevant job titles in this range shows entries such as Senior IT Systems Architect, Senior Principal IT Architect, Solution Architect IT, plus numerous mentions of various platforms such as Oracle, SharePoint, Virtualization, VoIP, and Information Security. The more specific you can make your search, the better the resulting hits will be. If you get stuck, read some job descriptions to help you compile a usable lexicon of search terms. Once you find something that interests you, you can use it to find more things like it, as well as start digging into its particulars.

The Programs

Unlike many other senior level IT credentials, not all IT Architect certifications are vendor-specific. In fact, a leading sponsor of vendor-specific credentials in this area—namely, Microsoft—realized the need for industry-wide and vendor-neutral certs in this space and is a major sponsor and underwriter of IASA, an association for IT architects of all stripes. Other key vendor-neutral players include the Open Group’s IT Architect Certification (ITAC) program, the Institute for Enterprise Architecture Developments (IFEAD), and the Federated Enterprise Architecture Certification Institute (FEAC). Even Carnegie-Mellon University’s esteemed Software Engineering Institute (SEI) offers an SEI Software Architecture Professional Certificate as well. Of all of these offerings, the SEI and ITAC offerings have been around longest, and probably enjoy the biggest name-recognition and industry following, though all of these appear legitimate and at least worthy of investigation.

Beyond the vendor-neutral realm, where acquiring a cert will bring general credibility, it is often necessary to venture into the vendor-specific realm to acquire credentials for a specific platform, operating system, or vendor-related knowledge to tackle some or all of a IT Architect’s job role requirements. Here’s a short list of the leading vendor-specific IT architect programs, in alphabetical order by sponsor:

Brocade Certified Architect for FICON: of all the items in this list, this is the only architect-labeled credential to also be described as “intermediate level;” all the other items in this list are labeled advanced, and most of them represent the pinnacle of the various certification programs or ladders to which they belong. Candidates have two recommended courses to consider and a single exam to take for this credential.
Check Point Certified Master Architect: Like many other high-end certs, this one involves extensive experience and preparation, plus both a written and a demanding lab exam. Candidates must hold CCSA, CCSE, and CCSE+ certifications to qualify for this program, and should have 5 or more years’ experience working with Check Point products.
Cisco Certified Architect: Described as “the highest level of accreditation achievable within the Cisco Career Certification program,” candidates must first earn a CCDE (Cisco Certified Design Engineer, which itself takes the CCIE as a pre-requisite). A lengthy application (including original content that candidates must develop) and a demanding board exam are required to earn this credential.
Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA) for Virtualization: Candidates must first earn the Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) for Virtualization before they can enter this program. Next, they must earn (and document) extensive hands-on experience in the field, pass a detailed and demanding architecting exam, and file a complete application.
Microsoft Certified Architect: Candidates generally have ten or more years of IT experience, and five or more years of specific IT architecture experience as well. A Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) credential is also a pre-requisite for this program. Candidates often take six months to a year to prepare the required program documentation, which includes a work history, an architectural solution case study, and an explanation of how skills and work experience apply to each of all seven of Microsoft’s architect competencies.
Oracle Certified Master, Java EE 5 Enterprise Architect: Candidates must take and pass two exams and submit a lengthy essay that documents a complex and demanding development project crafted to meet a detailed assignment/specification document. Candidates who hold the Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA) certification may also take advantage of an upgrade path to this credential by taking a single exam.
Red Hat Certified Architect: Red Hat’s senior-most Linux credential focuses on deployment and management of numerous systems in large enterprise environments. To qualify for this program, candidates must first earn the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) credential, then take and pass 5 expertise exams (each of which is associated with a 3-5 day class that costs from $3,000 to $5,000 to take; candidates do not have to take these classes, but they are “strongly recommended”).
SAP Certified Professional Enterprise Architect: Candidates must take and pass a single exam to qualify for this credential, and complete several assigned projects as well. Any of the following SAP certifications may serve as a pre-requisite to qualify for this one: SAP Certified Application Associate—Business Process Expert, SAP Certified Associate Enterprise Architect, or SAP Certified Associate Technology Architect. It is the capstone of the SAP consultant certification program, and in ultra-high demand.

Generally, the IT Architect role—and the certifications that go with it—appeal to technical experts who don’t shy away from demanding requirements and pre-requisites as they seek to add skills and knowledge to their already distinguished careers. None of these certs is for the faint of heart, or for those not prepared to devote a year or more of their lives (and spare time) to their pursuits. But the rewards can be great, and many of the more specialized credentials routinely lead to salaries in excess of $150,000 per year, and serious responsibilities and high visibility to go along with them.