Solutions Architect's Handbook: Kick-start your career as a solutions architect by learning architecture design principles and strategies 2nd ed. Edition

AWS Solutions Architects (SA) are deeply technical. They know how to use technology to help businesses solve complex business problems ranging from legacy systems modernization, data engineering to turn data into actionable insights, and adopting cutting-edge technologies like machine learning and quantum computing. This book allows that zoomed-out view to see the big picture through a set of intelligently curated chapters and sections. And in each chapter zooms in to uncover the nitty-gritty details of the craft of solution architecture.The book really scores if you are an aspiring architect - the authors have dedicated the first four chapters to lay a solid foundation of solution architecture. The chapter on soft skills is the absolute icing on the cake - only an insider can provide such insights on how to succeed as an AWS SA. Just follow along, and over a weekend, if you are a fast reader, you'll become a better SA.The chapters on designing high-performance, reliable, cost-efficient, secure, and efficient operating systems for today's businesses are like gold dust. Any SA worth its salt should know these like the back of their hand.I liked the chapter on quantum computing, but it left me asking for more because it's such an engaging topic. As the technology and its mainstream adoption evolve, we'll get a deeper understanding hopefully in the next edition.This is a great book, and I would like to congratulate both the authors for writing what could be a timeless classic. I am not a fast reader, but I could read cover-to-cover in a couple of weekends. I sincerely hope this adds value to anyone who wants to learn the ropes and be a better SA.

The book walks you through the patterns and strategies that will help you prepare for a role as a Solutions Architect. The 2nd edition of Solutions architect’s handbook added new chapters on emerging technology such as AI, Machine Learning, IoT, Quantum computing while expanding on new topics like blockchain and various big data design patterns including data mesh, lake house, data lake, streaming data with the reference architecture. Each chapter refreshed, keeping the latest industry trend such as the cloud in mind with new topics like defining multi-cloud strategy approach, cloud-native architecture, Cloud DevOps and mainframe modernization, etc. The key takeaway for me, to grow as a solution architect, you need to have the breadth and depth of technology and soft skills to work at all levels of the organization, from engineer to C-level. You also need to have the strong business acumen to drive ROI while defining overall enterprise IT strategy. Solution architect has a critical role in accelerating enterprise digital journey by helping them upgrade to a more efficient tech stack and introducing emerging technology to help them stay ahead of the competition. I will recommend this book to anyone looking to embark on a solution architect role.

This book attempts to cover what is a very broad topic, that of solutions architecture, in a way that is concise enough to cover the basics - but in enough depth to still be useful.Realistically some of the areas will be of less value over time (e.g. any specifics around AWS), but there are many areas of this book that are extremely valuable regardless of anything in technology as time passes. In fact, some of the most useful parts are those that are technology agnostic, or not related to technology at all.The section relating to soft skills may be one of those most high value sections, yet overlooked by many at the end - but in reality, the hardest skill to develop.If you are looking for a cookbook to resolve some issue, this is not it - and that is good. This book, if read carefully, is hugely valuable and speaks to methodologies that should prove useful as the industry evolves - as long as this type of role continues to exist. It explains approaches and ways of thinking that are the long term value prospect here.

From the beginning, this book paints broad, understandable swaths of information that inform the reader about the nature of solution architecture and its nuances. As a practicing solutions architect, I found that this book has a wealth of information for those not only looking for adding brushstrokes of information to their own field of knowledge, but it also provides a considerable amount of detail on other fields such as machine learning and IoT.With easily relatable language, the picture created in this book is not only accessible but detailed, and the comprehensive explanation of various cross-sections of solutions architecture is a very powerful aspect that I cannot underscore enough, because there are nuances to this field that are often overlooked or lost by the casual practitioner. This book is holistic in its approach to the various methodologies for solutions architecture, and it makes a point to use multiple vectors to approach problems faced in the field.The author takes care to guide the reader through the journey of solution architecture, and I found this book insightful and not only worth the read, but worth a place on the bookshelf.