Main Responsibilities of a Business Solutions Architect at Avanade

My main responsibilities involve driving and closing opportunities or projects within the company I work for. Avanade is a subsidiary of Accenture, which is a large consulting firm with multiple divisions, industries, and significant client relationships within the Fortune 500.

Avanade specifically focuses on the Microsoft aspect of Accenture. We work on software and project implementations for Microsoft-related tools and technologies. My area of focus is business applications.

At a high level, my role is to engage with clients who present a problem and need a solution using a specific technology. I then drive that opportunity from beginning to end, working with my offering lead, who manages the profit and loss for that area. I also shape solutions by meeting with clients, understanding their needs, and building custom solutions within a realistic timeframe.

This requires using pricing tools and collaborating closely with the client to understand the scope of work. We also identify driving factors or potential risks at the client's site to mitigate any issues that may arise.

Additionally, I globally manage our supply chain accelerator. I have extensive experience in supply chain, having served as a supply chain lead for the firm for almost seven years. When I speak with clients, our conversations often touch upon their supply chain operations.

We discuss aspects like inventory management, warehouse operations, and their third-party logistics presence in different countries. We undertake many global rollouts.

As a consultant, I’ve had the opportunity to travel extensively. Travel was a significant part of my role, often structured as an eight-to-five commitment Monday through Thursday. I've visited countries worldwide for these projects, typically in a lead capacity.

Sometimes, I join projects in a governance role as the solution architect, ensuring the project stays on track and adheres to the defined plan.

Many people view consulting as an initial career step, moving on to work for end customers after gaining experience. However, I haven't reached that point yet because I enjoy talking to people from diverse industries.

For example, today I spoke with someone in agriculture who develops chemical solutions for farms. The day before, I consulted for a kitchenware manufacturer. Despite their different business models, they share commonalities.

All companies have finance departments, supply chains, and need to deliver products to their markets, whether serving business-to-business or business-to-consumer customers. These are my primary responsibilities. I enjoy the variety, as every day is different. We also gain insight into how companies make significant purchasing decisions for large projects.