How to become A Database Architect

• Database Developer
• Database Analyst
• Database Architect
• Database Consultant
• Database Programmer
• Information Architect
• Information Modeling Engineer Specialist
• Information Technology Architect (IT Architect)
• System Engineer
• Data Architect
• Enterprise Data Architect
• Data Officer

What do Database Architects do?

A Database Architect would typically need to:

• Develop architectural strategies to address business or industry needs; design, document, model, construct and deploy large relational databases
• Integrate new databases with current data warehouse systems; conduct tests to enhance system performance and functionality
• Study and understand enterprise or industry needs; evaluate existing data management infrastructure & technology; discuss changes needed with employees and users
• Identify structural and installation solutions to build, improve and maintain database architectures and applications
• Research new hardware and software that can be added to a company's existing database architecture; estimate the cost of creating a new database or modifying an existing one
• Collaborate with system architects, software architects, design analysts, and others to settle design specifications and details to create comprehensive databases used by many
• Follow the ETL (extract, transform, load) Architecture Standards
• Integrate technical functionality by ensuring system scalability, security, performance, data recovery and reliability
• Map out the look and functions of the electronic database; generate and optimise data models for warehouse infrastructure and workflow; generate a fluid, end-to-end vision for organisational data flow
• Write the code needed for database creation; build data inventory to implement the architecture; ensure data accuracy and accessibility
• Create and maintain database security; establish standards for database operations, query processes, and security for all users to follow to protect the system from external threats
• Ensure that the database collects information from several different platforms, converts the data, has it transferred to the database, and keeps it uncorrupted
• Carry out maintenance, updates and upgrades, scheduling them in a way that has the least impact on the company
• Troubleshoot and fix oversights and problems; keep the hardware and software used by the database in working order and updated with constantly evolving technology
• Teach end-users how to use the database; pinpoint trends in database users; apply the information to recommend improvements to the existing database; report on the performance of database management systems
• Develop data management procedures and data models for applications, metadata tables, views or related database structures
• Develop models of information or communications systems; establish database clusters, backup, and recovery protocols
• Maintain a record of data architecture artifacts and procedures

As a Database Architect, you will spend considerable time carrying out information analysis at a computer workstation or dealing with telephone enquiries in offices that are usually equipped with modern facilities and comforts. 

You will often work on projects in collaboration with other professionals, either in a team or directing them.

Database Architects may travel to different companies and offices when attending meetings, conducting presentations or training sessions, or setting up and managing databases.  

Most Database Architects work full time with standard business hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Occasionally, to ensure that upgrades and repairs have minimal impact on the enterprise, you may need to work in the evenings or on weekends according to specific schedules and the requirements of a company’s database. For example, you may need to ensure that, following a period of downtime, the database is active and functional again when a workday begins.
As you handle large amounts of information, tasks, and objectives, time management skills are essential to keep up with deadlines and timetables.

Finding a new job might seem challenging. Database Architects can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting companies directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies.

Database Architects are generally employed by:

• Data-Processing Firms 
• Systems Design Services Firms 
• Insurance Companies 
• Banks 
• Retail Companies 
• Healthcare Firms

Professional associations and organisations, such as the International Data Management Association (DAMA), are crucial for a Database Architect interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.

• Writing strong and useful code, as inefficient code will negatively impact architecture performance
• Understanding the evolution of multiple approaches to data architecture
• Coping with rapid changes in technology and adapting them to methodologies
• Change in the underlying architecture of databases and modeling tools
• Understanding and managing the rapid rise of unstructured platforms, also called schema-less or ‘big data’, as part of an enterprise portfolio; enhancing integration capabilities to avoid repeating past mistakes
• Increasing complexity of corporate data environments, partly due to mergers and acquisitions in which each company brings its own diverse platforms and applications
• Ensuring that data is at a high level of quality - current, correct, present, and usable - to allow good business decisions, since poor data quality can account for a loss of 15-20% of revenue and reduce corporate efficiency
• Avoiding issues with ‘dirty’ data, particularly when companies do not always focus on data quality until there is a significant breach or disaster; maintaining an improvement philosophy
• Ensuring that business and IT teams collaborate to make data business-driven
• Estimating, planning and budgeting the scaling of operations
• Securing perimeters, encrypting data, and anonymising data to remove sensitive information

A crucial component of an aspiring Database Architect’s resume is experience and employers will expect you to demonstrate your skills in relevant areas.

An academic program that a potential Database Architect takes up typically requires a period of supervised experience, such as an internship. The skills that you acquire as a database architecture intern will help you take on related roles in the field, such as SQL or database developer, eventually building up enough experience to become a Database Architect.

More specifically, it is useful to have experience working with Operations/DevOps teams and with shell and scripting languages such as Python, Go, Bash and Ruby. A background of automating tasks and processes, identifying gaps and automation opportunities, and troubleshooting and debugging systems is helpful. If you have used LAMP stack technologies, such as MySQL, developed Free and Open Source software, or been part of an open-source community, you are fairly well set for the role.

Senior positions typically mandate a minimum of five years of experience managing networks and performance as well as application architecture.

Reading as much as possible about the profession and interviewing those working in Database Architecture will offer proof of your commitment to course providers and prospective employers.

While experience is highly valued in the field, Database Architects typically require a bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, or computer engineering or a related field, with a focus on areas of database management. Coursework topics should include data management, programming, big data developments, systems analysis and technology architectures.

A master’s degree, with the requisite experience, would qualify you for senior roles in the field. 

Certification demonstrates a Database Architect’s competence in a skill set, typically through work experience, training, and passing an examination. Certification from objective and reputed organisations can help you stand out in a competitive job market, carry a significant salary premium, increase your chances of advancement, and allow you to become an independent consultant. Look for certification programs offered by companies such as IBM, Salesforce and Hortonwork.

Some certifications cater to general database professionals and may be offered at different levels. Exams may focus on areas such as cluster management and data replication to data lineage and LDAP security, BigInsights, BigSQL, Hadoop, and Cloudant.

Also available are master’s level certifications to expand your skills in areas such as data model creation, database interfaces, scalability, SparkSQL and Scala, among others. Programs generally include learning through formal instruction as well as self-led methods by participating in projects and lab work. Certain programs may take you through a foundation phase to ensure knowledge of terms and basic concepts and the salient principles of enterprise architecture before allowing you to obtain certification.

Proof of continuing education and professional activity is typically required to recertify.

Performance, experience, and the acquisition of professional qualifications drive career progression. Employees with consistently high levels of performance may be eligible for promotion every two to three years.

Larger organisations may offer a structured pathway to progression, wherein you may start in a junior support role and advance to positions with management responsibilities once you gather adequate experience. Some Database Architects may opt to specialise in niche functions, such as database design or network management of systems.

Given the increasing use of websites that depend on databases, there are growing opportunities for database specialists, including Database Architects. Further, the link between data and marketing may lead you into the fields of customer relations or market intelligence.

With adequate experience, you may take up freelance or consultancy assignments.

A bachelor’s degree in computer science and related fields paired with experience and skills in tackling application architecture, network management and performance management will ensure you the best job prospects. Relevant certification from well-known companies will add to your employability.

Continuing professional development (CPD) will help an active Database Architect build personal skills and proficiency through work-based learning, a professional activity, formal education, or self-directed learning. It allows you to upskill continually, regardless of your age, job, or level of knowledge.

Depending on what your employer is looking for, you may specialise in data modeling techniques, data warehousing, ETL tools, SQL (Structured Query Language) databases or data administration.

Take advantage of several certifications offered by companies such as IBM, Salesforce and Hortonworks to increase your expertise as a Database Architect. Seek advice from your mentors to choose a relevant field of professional development. 

What is Database Architecture?

Database Architectures aid in designing, developing, implementing and maintaining Database Management Systems (DBMS). They facilitate division of a database system into individual components, which can then be better understood and independently modified or replaced. 

Types of Database Architecture

Three classifications of Database Architecture are in existence currently, namely one-tier, two-tier, and three-tier. 

One-tier architecture is the simplest in which the client, server and database are present on the same machine and the user can directly work on the DBMS. However, it is more suited to programmers or administrators than end-users. 

Two-tier architecture involves a system wherein ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers create an interface between the database or presentation layer on the server-side and the application program on the client-side, thus forming two layers. Two-tier architecture enhances DBMS security and offers more direct and faster communication. After securing the client-server connection, the user can work with the data, using DBMS functionalities. 

Three-tier architecture, the most popular, sandwiches an application layer between the client-side and the database server. The application layer communicates user requests to the DBMS system and sends responses back from the DBMS to the server. This architecture promotes program-data independence and is conducive to multiple views of the data. 

Data Models

Data Models are tools to describe data design or representation. There are several kinds, some of them being the hierarchical model, the network model, and the relational model.

The relational model is different from the others as its data elements have no real connections and are arranged in tabular form, the row describing the entity, and the column the entity attribute. Each table is termed a relation. Different to other models, the tables are inter-related through a common attribute. In short, the relational model is user-friendly and popular with big companies as it eases up data sorting and improves database querying.

Database Architects & Data Architects

Both these professionals may model company data to facilitate analysis for business decision-making. The data may include customer information, sales data, and shipping details. Database Architects develop database software using programming languages to code. Data architects aim to standardise data collection procedures for an enterprise.  

Database architects tackle each client’s specific needs while supervising SQL database application design. In addition to writing code for software, they match the hardware to the storage requirements for extensive data sets. Data architects begin by reviewing a company’s existing data architecture, how information flows between departments and how the company uses it. Then they collaborate with executives to determine which data will be collected into the new system and how.

Database Architects & Database Administrators

Often merged into a single role in job advertisements, Database Architects and database administrations are roles with some differences. They do require a similar background in terms of knowledge of operating systems such as Linux and Microsoft, programming languages such as SQL, and various databases like Oracle and SAP. In high demand, both professionals help organisations process, organize, and store the data generated with the increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI).

However, while Database Architects are actively engaged with the SDLC (software development life cycle) process and change management groups, database administrators are not necessarily involved with designing data structures at the start of the system design process or with system changes. On the other hand, while Database Architects may not need or have direct access to the production databases they design, administrators have privileged access to them as their job involves managing and monitoring them, keeping them secure, running smoothly, backed up, and accessible.

Potential Pros & Cons of Freelancing vs Full-Time Employment

Freelancing Database Architects have more flexible work schedules and locations. They have full ownership of the business and can select their projects and clients. However, they experience inconsistent work and cash flow, which means more responsibility, effort and risk.

A full-time Database Architect, on the other hand, has company-sponsored health benefits, insurance, and retirement plans. They have job security with a fixed, reliable source of income and guidance from their bosses. Yet, they may experience boredom due to a lack of flexibility, ownership, and variety.

When deciding between freelancing or being a full-time employee, consider the pros and cons to see what works best for you.

The total amount of data that industry captures and stores doubles every 1.2 years.

If data is the backbone of modern-day businesses, then Database Architects are the specialists who contribute their expertise to an ongoing IT modernisation process to ensure that enterprises stay supple and functional. They develop appropriate electronic databases in which company data can be securely and usefully placed. They also make sure that company executives have the right tools to make sense of the data to expand their business and reach new markets.

Make sure you understand the data you will work with. In the absence of real use cases or data, be imaginative and think about the data items to input, the kind of queries you wish to execute against the data, and the quantity of data that will enter the database. You will tackle data differently if its attributes alter frequently each day than if they change monthly.