requirements as put forth by stakeholders in the system (Top 10 Most, 2016). System
architects are generally involved in the first three phases of project management
Management Institute (PMI) (Esposito, 2015). They are responsible for the first two
phases, Project Conception and Initiation and Project Definition and Planning. In the
first phase they investigate multiple design alternatives, take into consideration the
Once this information is processed, phase two Project Definition and Planning
takes place. In this phase the System Architect, along with the Project Manager, will
present, to the stakeholders in the project, the design alternatives that take into
consideration cost and deployability. They also ensure that the cost restraints still
While still in phase two and once a design has been agreed upon, the System
Architect oversees the deployment of the system, answering to the Project Manager with
Webster 2
concerns of overages and shortages and with issues meeting the promised performance
specifications.
Once the system is deployed and in place, phase three Project Launch or
Execution begins. This is where the System Architect exits the project and where the
Project Manager and other professionals take over. In this phase, the system is turned
on for the first time and issues are resolved. It is in this phase that the Architect confirms
that the hardware and software meets the specifications put forth in phase one. Once this
is achieved, the System Architect leaves the project only to be consulted when further
deployment or use issues arise (Esposito, 2015) (System Architect: Career Overview,
2016).
System Architects are utilized by all industries in the private and public sectors.
Experts project a 15% increase in open positions annually. This increase is due to
constant upgrades in technology, increased usage of wireless networks and the need for
workers to computer systems that work well with these networks. The U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics categorizes System Architects under computer network architects, as the
term Architect is a professional title and is prohibited by title acts in several states.
These workers earned a mean annual wage of $100,710 in 2014. These wages varied
architect in very large corporations or, as in most cases, for companies who specialize in
parties.
Webster 3
The legacy providers in the enterprise deployment space are IBM and Dell. The
IBM Rational System Architecture division was acquired by UNICOM on December 31,
2015. (IBM Rational System Divestiture, 2016) This could be in response to Dells
attempted and on-going acquisition of EMC to further their dominance in the enterprise
space (Bass, 2015). Both UNICOM and Dell are very large in the space but have up-and-
comers who are challenging their dominance. These up-and-comers are not only
challenging their dominance in knowledge and capabilities, but also in their visions for
the future, in their ability to recruit new talent and in their ability to retain talent because
of their positive workplace environments (100 Best Companies to work for 2015,
(2016).
company to work for in the United States and with a value of $471.5 billion dollars as of
July, 2015. However, their system architect positions usually involve very large scale
educational, cloud based architecture and most of those are in generic, non-specific
Another participant in this field is Akamai. Akamai is one of the largest content
delivery network (CDN) providers in the world. Their cloud based CDN is one of the
largest distributed computing networks in the world. Reports have Akamai responsible
for between 15-30% of all web traffic. They are in the top 50 companies to work for in
the U.S. and have $1.94 billion in sales for 2014. Akamai specializes in global network
Ciscos number 2 reseller globally. They count 40 of the Fortune 100 companies as
customers as well as many contracts in the state and federal government space. They have
been a Fortune top 100 company to work for, for four years running. This year they
ranked #28 on that list. Also in 2015 WWT had $7.4 billion in sales (World Wide
Technology, 2015).
potential future employer. WWT has their headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Fortune
ranks them as the 28th best company to work for and the fifth best tech company on the
As stated above, WWT is Cisco Systems second best reseller. They are
recognized as the number 1 supplier of Cisco deployment solutions to the U.S. Federal
government and has been a Cisco Gold Partner since 2002. WWT was recognized as the
EMC Americas Solution Provider of the Year in 2015 and they are a F5 Platinum
Partner. Since collaborating with VMware in 2009, WWT has become one of their largest
With their headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, they are centralized to nearly all of
the United States but they have locations all over the world. Location sites include many
states in the U.S., England, the Netherlands, China, Japan, Singapore and Brazil. Added
to this and considered a perk of working for the company, many of WWTs employees
The company was founded in 1990 by Dave Stewart and Jim Kavanugh and
quickly became a leader in technology service. By 1996, they had opened their second
office in St. Louis and was named a Regional Commerce and Growth Association
(RCGA) Fast 50 company. The following year they were ranked as #45 top Federal Prime
Contractors. In 2000, they opened an office in Plano, Texas and spun off their
WWT re-acquired Telcobuy, merged back with WWT and formed the World Wide
Technology Holding Company WWTHC and both companies fall under that umbrella
to this day.
Between 2001 and 2015 WWT opens offices in Livermore, CA; Aberdeen, MD;
McLean, VA; Rancho Dominguez, CA; Tuscaloosa, AL; Reno, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Granite
City, IL; Earth City, MO; Greensboro, NC; Westchester, OH; Virginia Beach, VA;
Compton, CA; Nashville, TN; Austin, TX; Las Vegas, Nevada; Tempe, Arizona; Sumare,
Brazil; Tampa, FL; and the Asia-Pacific Headquarters and Singapore Technology Center
During the same time, they received many awards. These include:
Growth
Ranks on FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For List (multiple years)
Also in the last 10 years they have been awarded the following
government contracts; Voice over IP (VoIP) project for the State of Alaska, SEWP
Webster 7
2016).
WWT has not deviated much from their initial business plan to provide
during the last 25 years. They began with direct-connect solutions with large
server farms providing computing power. Since that time, they have innovated
with distributed computing, both local and cloud based virtualized machines.
They have moved from primarily the telecomm industry in the 1990s to
being involved in almost every technology space, public and private. Some of the
primary spaces they are in now include the Federal Government, education,
and utilities. However, CEO Jim Kavanaugh is quick to point out that WWT is not
a government contractor.
Youre talking about the AT&Ts and Verizons [sic], but also the Web 2.0
companies the Microsofts [sic] and Amazons, and also the Coxes and Comcasts
(2015).
WWT has created two technology research centers in St. Louis. The
Advanced Technology Center (ATC) and the Integration Technology Center (ITC).
The ATC is the WWT research center where they focus on their software solutions.
and employees. With it, weve helped our customers do amazing things. For
example, one major oil company was able to reduce the time it took to evaluate
The ITC is where the WWT System Architects lay out and build the system
they want to build. In this climate-controlled center, their engineers can bench-test
large enterprise grade systems. In this way they can reduce risk, cost and complexity
of their deployments.
added a little over 500 people this year. Were kind of running into the law of large
numbers now, but we have a plan at the high level, and weve been doing this for the
last 15 years. Every five years we want to double our top line and double our bottom
line. That requires about 15 to 17 percent compound annual growth every year to get
We see a lot of growth in the U.S. and we think weve just scratched the
And then globally, a little under 15 percent of our business is there. But were
not even scratching the surface with all the opportunity thats out there from a global
perspective.
They project a 23.1% annual growth in the field to 2019 with estimated spending to
reach $48.6 billion dollar per year (New IDC Forecast, 2015) (World Wide Buys
Asychrony, 2015)
2015 they were awarded with being ranked #53, 100 Best Workplaces for Women,
#7, Best Workplaces for Diversity (2015), #12, 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials
(2015) and #28, 100 Best Companies to work for by FORTUNE magazine (100
Best Companies, 2015). They are also an EPA Green Power Partner for the work in
Webster 10
Responsibility, 2016).
All these things make World Wide Technology my dream job. So, how do I
get there? What does it take to become a Systems Architect for World Wide
The plan was put into play in 1995 when I started in the I.T. field. I have
worked in the Media, Industrial and Education fields with over 20 years experience
(and counting). But that experience alone will not get me to where I want to go. I
will need at least secondary, if not post-graduate, education. I have a plan for that as
well.
achieve this degree in October in 2017. And this would be sufficient to achieve the
title of System Architect. But to work for a company like World Wide Technology
where the applicant pool is very large, you need to separate yourself from the crowd.
Even with 20 years of experience and a B.S. degree from a California State
So, in August 2018, I plan to attend CSUMB and attend the Management &
Information Technology M.S. program. I know that the program is currently on hold,
Carnegie Mellon Universitys School of Computer Science. They offer their Ph.D.
program online. And with their satellite campus at NASA/Ames Research center in
San Jose, CA, I can co-ordinate my research with a local advisor. Following my
plan, in 2022 with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University,
27 years experience in the field and a field with no sign of slowing I feel I can be a
wide-technology-28/
Barker, Jacob, (June 2015). World wide technology readies strategy for continued growth,
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/world-wide-technology-readies-strategy-for-
continued-growth/article_8ebe6139-9fc0-504c-9446-eac52d875f8a.html
Bass, Diana and Womack, Brian (October 2015). Dell to buy EMC in deal worth about $67
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-12/dell-to-acquire-emc-for-67-
billion-to-add-data-storage-devices
Bryant, T. (2015). World wide technology begins headquarters project. St. Louis Post-
http://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/ciscocapital/channel_partners/docs/Partner_Spot
light_WWT.pdf
Webster 13
Citrix names world wide technology gold partner of the Year. (2012). Defense & Aerospace
Week, 75.
us/history/
https://www2.wwt.com/corporate-social-responsibility/
phases-project-management
01.ibm.com/software/rational/rationalsystemarchitect-departure/
International Data Corporation (2015). New IDC forecast sees worldwide big data
technology and services market growing to $48.6 billion in 2019, driven by wide
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS40560115
Kulp, Patrick, and Moore, Heidi (2015, December). The 21 best companies to work for in
apparently-the-best-place-to-work-in-america-and-facebook-and-rei-arent-bad-
either/#u22B6s9hAqqN
Webster 14
Orrela, Kelli. (2015, March). 41 job titles in tech. Which one will be yours?, skillcrush,
Passary, Sumit (July 2015). Record surge: Google's market value up by $65 billion on
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/70001/20150720/record-surge-googles-market-
value-up-by-65-billion-on-friday.htm
Patnaik, Subrat (April 2015). Strong dollar hurts akamai's profit forecast, shares fall,
idUSKBN0NJ2IV20150428
System architect: career overview and requirement (2016). Study.com, Retrieved from
http://study.com/articles/System_Architect_Career_Overview_and_Requirements.ht
ml
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/slideshows/top-10-most-in-demand-it-job-titles-
04.html
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/World-Wide-Technology-Reviews-E9553.htm