SUMMARY

The primary role of this position is solutions design for enterprise data center projects.  The Solutions Architect provides expertise in the areas of requirement gathering, design, configuration, and services scoping, relative to enterprise data centers and organizational campus computing environments.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Learn and understand customer’s business drivers, challenges, objectives, and how solutions can provide value to them.
• Provide technical support to assist in the design and architecture of company products, services, and solutions.
• Conduct and/or participate in demonstrations, customer evaluations, and ROI analyses.
• Deliver technical presentations and respond to technical questions during sales calls. Provide technical content for bids and sales proposals.
• Provide direct sales support in the areas of customer environment information gathering, requirements collection, performance evaluation, and complex configuration planning.
• Develop, design, and recommend technology infrastructure solutions including Storage Area Network configurations, NAS, Fibre Channel/Ethernet fabrics, data center network design, server virtualization, data protection, and other hardware and software products.
• Stay current on and maintain an in-depth knowledge of operating systems, hardware systems, peripheral products, conversion techniques, and performance analysis and tuning methods of all company offerings.
• Establish and cultivate ongoing business relationships with customers to facilitate additional business.
• Document configuration information in Salesforce.com. Maintain close relationships with strategic manufacturers and vendors, including attending product update events whether virtual or in-person.

CORE COMPETENCIES                                                                                

• Analytical – Synthesizes complex or diverse information; Collects and researches data; Uses intuition and experience to complement data
  
• Problem Solving - Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; Develops alternative solutions; Works well in group problem-solving situations.
• Technical Skills – Strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; Shares expertise with others.
• Oral Communication – Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; Listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Demonstrates group presentation skills.
• Teamwork – Balances team and individual responsibilities; Puts success of team above own interests; Supports everyone’s efforts to succeed.
• Written Communication – Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Presents numerical data effectively.
• Business Acumen – Understands business implications of decisions; Displays orientation to profitability; Demonstrates knowledge of market and competition.
• Cost Consciousness – Contributes to profits and revenue; Conserves organizational resources.
• Ethics – Treats people with respect; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and ethically.
• Dependability – Takes responsibility for own actions; Keeps commitments; Completes tasks on time or notifies appropriate person with an alternate plan.
• Initiative – Takes independent actions and calculated risks; Looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; Asks for and offers help when needed.
• Planning/Organizing – Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives.
• Quality – Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; Applies feedback to improve performance.
• Quantity – Meets productivity standards.
• Safety and Security – Observes safety and security procedures.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED

• Bachelor’s degree (Computer Science or Information Technology) from a four-year college or university; or one to two years’ related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ten or more years working with enterprise data center technology infrastructure solutions, including five or more years selling, maintaining, or installing enterprise infrastructure hardware and software systems.
• Five or more years of enterprise storage systems experience (SAN, NAS, Hierarchical storage systems, RAID, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI).
• Four or more years of experience with server virtualization (VMware required; Hyper-V, preferred in addition).
• Four or more years of experience with data center network solution design or implementation/management.
• Three or more years of experience with data protection, and replication technology experience, including backup/restore technologies. Extensive experience with at least two server operating systems (Windows Server, Linux, etc.), including the latest versions.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES PREFERRED

• Dell Storage, HCI, Server, Network, and Data Protection experience is preferred
• Industry certifications:  Dell Design, Dell Information Storage and Management (ISM), EMCTA, VCP and/or VCAP preferred
• Network security (Firewalls, IDS/IPS, Access Control/Management, etc.) design, configuration, installation, and maintenance a plus
• Wireless network design/implementation a plus
• Desktop virtualization experience a plus
• Microsoft applications (Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server) experience a plus

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Requires 50% travel for customer visits, training, and meetings.