SharePoint Architect looks very good word but what exactly skills needed to be real Architect?
You can be a speciallist concerning a special system/platform or system architect, platform architect or solution architect, but there is not really something called SharePoint architect and most things talked in the community and referred as architecture is plain design not architecture.
Architects work with structures (information, logical, physical etc), system/platform patterns, principles, culture and focus mainly on none-functional requirements. The quality of the functional and none requirements, working process, delivery model, what tests to perform and what to test, development team is correct, be the link between the business and it. General focus should be based on the requirements having the most impact when it comes to risk and cost.
If the architect helps out building an application on the platform he is responsible that the platform comply to platforms principles/rules/guidelines if he is responsible for creating the platform he is responsible to create the platform principles/rules/guidelines and that these comply to IT strategy etc. 25% is about the solution. 25 % is communicating the solution or helping others (project manager) to communicate the solution. 50 % of an architect work is to handle all politics in all aspects… 😉
Specific product configuration and implementation can be designed by the architect but usually he got all the stuff above in his mind so he trust the senior IT pro/developers with this knowledge or develop this with them. There is ofc. many interpretations of what an architect do and there is currently an inflation in the word architect, but the above description is how the organisations that tries to formalise and standardise the IT community define architecture role. i.e. IASA.org, open group etc.
