Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say that job titles shouldn't include the word 'architect' unless they are actually an architect?

296 replies

itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 11:38

Hi all, so my partner is an architect, It takes years to become an architect and you have to be registered on the RIBA (royal institute of British architects) to call yourself an architect.

I have noticed an increasing number of jobs using the job title 'architect' that has nothing to do with architecture.. for example, "solution Architect" which is 'responsible for evaluating an organisations business needs and determining how IT can support those needs leveraging software" so .. not an architect.

Other job titles are "software architect", "senior enterprise solution architect manufacturing", "web solutions architect", "HR solutions architect", "finance and accounting digital architect", "analytics implementation architect", "deputy food architect", "platform architect" ... the list goes on

Isn't Architect a protected title? IMO job titles should actually mean something, and all of the above mean absolutely nothing?

OP posts:
Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 13:34

@Phos

You seem to believe that becoming an architect in IT doesn't require significant amounts of education, training and experience. It does.

Down off your high horse now.

No I understand lots of jobs take a long time to be fully qualified, I just don't think that someone that works in IT is an architect. Saying that thought looking on the arb website they say "we take a common sense approach to the use of 'architect' that isn't connected to building and design, for example with 'software architect' or 'systems architect' which are increasingly used by the computer and IT industry. So whilst I still do think that the term architect in these job roles is used to sound fancy I am prepared to say that ..IABU
OP posts:
Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 13:35

@Queenoftheflumps02

Years ago, I worked for a very large software house and Solution Architect was just becoming a term used in IT. The company ran a job advert in The Sunday Times for Solution Architects and received a letter from RIBA threatening legal action if the term was used in this way again.

Legal advice was duly sought and came back, that because the role was described as Solutions Architect it was legally acceptable and that "architect" was only protected if used in isolation.

Thank you this is really informative and interesting!
OP posts:
Marvellousmadness · 25/03/2022 13:35

Yikes....

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 25/03/2022 13:35

@jeaux90

How would you describe someone who designs technology and data centres then for example? Including all the physical requirements, servers, software, cabling, build guides etc?

Because that is the job of a Solution Architect.

No it isn't. And yes it is. I have worked with solution architects who wouldn't know a cat 5e cable from a network switch.

These job titles in IT are pretty meaningless actually.

eldora · 25/03/2022 13:41

Get your own career instead of riding the coattails of your husband’s by protecting his job title.

Wheniruletheworld · 25/03/2022 13:43

I am the architect of my own destiny (RIBAoTOD registered)

Zilla1 · 25/03/2022 13:44

'someone that works in IT is an architect' -

Most aren't but a systems architect who designs a system and the components that can securely and robustly manage the data processes and volumes for example for a £bn health information system that operates in real time with millions of transactions and interfaces with dozens of other systems then contributes to the specification, building/coding and integration of the hardware and software to ensure it meets the requirements has an architectural role that is more demanding than many building building architects working on for example domestic extensions. In my experience as an outsider so an IS expert can describe the above better than me, some systems architects will deploy as much expertise as a named star architect who will have a team of technical support to make sure what he envisioned could be built and stay up.

BitOutOfPractice · 25/03/2022 13:44

"why don't interior designers call themselves interior architects then?"

Because they are two different jobs. Interior designer. Interior Architect. That's why.

OakPine · 25/03/2022 13:45

Just because you don’t understand the job title doesn’t mean it isn’t valid.
Why are you bothered about your husband’s job title anyway!

BitOutOfPractice · 25/03/2022 13:45

Any anyway, you should be more pissed off by wanky job titles like "Marketing Guru" or "Sales Juggernaut"

LizzoBennett · 25/03/2022 13:46

My DH is an architect and I find it odd too OP. It doesn't 'bother' me but it does make me laugh a little. Not quite the same league as stupid job titles like 'Social Media Ninga' on LinkedIn but I do think sectors such as IT have adopted architect into their titles to make them sound more sexy and interesting. It's not a criticism, I work in PR and I'm very used to being a little creative with language.

SeasonFinale · 25/03/2022 13:47

Actually anyone who works in law can be called a lawyer - not just solicitors or barristers. The term lawyer would cover paralegals, legal assistants and licensed conveyancers as well as legal clerks.

In those instances if someone working in a law firm called themselves a lawyer you may well think you are getting a solicitor. With a solutions architect or a washing machine engineer you do at least know what you are getting.

SpaceyCake · 25/03/2022 13:49

@FASDE1517

Ted Moseby, sex architect.
😂😂 I had completely forgotten about that!
eldora · 25/03/2022 13:50

@LizzoBennett

My DH is an architect and I find it odd too OP. It doesn't 'bother' me but it does make me laugh a little. Not quite the same league as stupid job titles like 'Social Media Ninga' on LinkedIn but I do think sectors such as IT have adopted architect into their titles to make them sound more sexy and interesting. It's not a criticism, I work in PR and I'm very used to being a little creative with language.
It does make me laugh that you're so superior about your husband's job title but can't even spell ninja.
Nnique · 25/03/2022 13:52

@LizzoBennett

My DH is an architect and I find it odd too OP. It doesn't 'bother' me but it does make me laugh a little. Not quite the same league as stupid job titles like 'Social Media Ninga' on LinkedIn but I do think sectors such as IT have adopted architect into their titles to make them sound more sexy and interesting. It's not a criticism, I work in PR and I'm very used to being a little creative with language.
No. It’s not because it’s sexy and interesting.

It’s because it’s a term that makes perfect sense in context of the type of work being planned and executed.

LizzoBennett · 25/03/2022 13:52

@eldora I'm not superior about my husband's title. I just said it made me laugh? Calm down.

We're all human.

wincarwoo · 25/03/2022 13:53

Quite a lot of ignorance about the IT industry here

LizzoBennett · 25/03/2022 13:56

@Nnique It just is in the realms of 'rug doctor' and other examples in this thread to me. I've got a friend that is a 'solutions architect' and he has a good sense of humour about it! I'm not saying 'rug doctor' doesn't describe what they do - people get it. I just think that the IT sector has chosen to use architect in their titles because it describes what they do in a cooler way.

Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 13:58

@BitOutOfPractice

"why don't interior designers call themselves interior architects then?"

Because they are two different jobs. Interior designer. Interior Architect. That's why.

Yeah I already said that in a previous post ta
OP posts:
Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 14:00

[quote LizzoBennett]@Nnique It just is in the realms of 'rug doctor' and other examples in this thread to me. I've got a friend that is a 'solutions architect' and he has a good sense of humour about it! I'm not saying 'rug doctor' doesn't describe what they do - people get it. I just think that the IT sector has chosen to use architect in their titles because it describes what they do in a cooler way.[/quote]
I agree with you, and there seems to be a lot of people on this thread who have got very defensive for some reason

OP posts:
Nnique · 25/03/2022 14:01

You clearly don’t understand the first thing about it.

It is extremely complex, extremely challenging, and takes just as much skill and aptitude as designing/planning and building a physical building. Arguably more as the building blocks aren’t necessarily as straightforward. And it’s not helped by everybody thinking it’s just pressing a button or bashing a keyboard and everything needing to be done TODAY because some numpty somewhere thinks it’s just a bit of magic that people do without a whole lot of very specialised work.

Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 14:01

@Nnique does it though? Someone further down the thread said they thought their friends husband who was a solutions architect was an architect.. most people don't know what a solutions architect is and if they heard the word architect they would assume they were an .. architect

OP posts:
Original poster
itssunnyyay · 25/03/2022 14:02

@Nnique

You clearly don’t understand the first thing about it.

It is extremely complex, extremely challenging, and takes just as much skill and aptitude as designing/planning and building a physical building. Arguably more as the building blocks aren’t necessarily as straightforward. And it’s not helped by everybody thinking it’s just pressing a button or bashing a keyboard and everything needing to be done TODAY because some numpty somewhere thinks it’s just a bit of magic that people do without a whole lot of very specialised work.

Okay, your job is extremely complex and important and superior
OP posts:
Nnique · 25/03/2022 14:03

It’s not defensiveness - I’ve no personal skin in this game whatsoever.

I just find stupidity and ignorance extremely tedious and taxing.

Monkeybutt1 · 25/03/2022 14:03

"These job titles in IT are pretty meaningless actually."

As someone who works in IT and my DH does too, we both know what the different architects in IT are and the important role they play.

Solutions Architect, Software Architect and Enterprise Architect are all very meaningful jobs. I think you underestimate what they do and how much we as a society rely on IT.