Technical Architect - Enterprise Networkingat CDW Careers

• Work with Services Readiness Management and the Enterprise Networking Practice to create and maintain a strategic vision for the Enterprise Networking services portfolio at CDW.
  • Provide thought leadership in building services offerings around Next-Generation Campus Networking architectures involving software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), campus fabrics, network function virtualization (NFV), zero-touch deployment (ZTD), cloud/controller management, network assessment, Branch-in-a-box, performance monitoring, etc.
  • Provide direction to the CDW engineering community to help them adopt and master relevant and productive new technologies.
  • Provide strategic guidance to the CDW Solution Architect community on what new technologies are “ready for prime-time” for our customers.
• Determine potential tools, applications, and/or CDW intellectual property (i.e., scripts) that would create competitive advantages for all of CDW’s services teams
• Develop roadmaps and business cases to foster further investment and growth into CDW’s Enterprise Networking services portfolio

Challenges for this new TA role will include addressing our significant opportunities enabling our national teams, coordinating technical services plans across the services units and the solution architect teams, and supporting new technologies. We will ask this new architect to think beyond Professional Services – the role will address managed solutions as well, and have access to the capabilities of our configuration centers and partner network to leverage in our complete network lifecycle service solutions. This is an exciting opportunity for significant growth of CDW’s network service capabilities.

Key Areas of Responsibility

RESPONSIBILITY FOR DELIGHTING CUSTOMERS - The CDW Engagement Methodology and the CDW Operations Framework define the standards to deliver projects and managed services that will delight our customers. Here are the roles that Technical Architects play in the Methodology and Framework:

• Product Definition – collaborate with Product/Service Development Managers and solution sales teams to identify and validate new Advanced Technology service solution opportunities, build standard operating procedures for solution implementation and support, help to validate economic viability of solutions and to help to build customer value propositions
• Sales – provide deep and broad technical support to Solutions Specialists, review system designs and participate in bid assurance, as required by customers
• Planning – participate in kickoff meetings, build solution implementation roadmaps, collaborate with Project Manager and Managing Consultant or Senior Engineer to ensure successful execution of project plans, as required by customers
• Design – create and / or evaluate technical designs for customer systems, develop test plans, build proof of concepts and participate in design reviews to ensure alignment with customer’s business requirements
• Implementation – lead first-to-market advanced technology pilots and engagements to help establish CDW as the first choice provider of Advanced Technology solutions, conduct technology envisioning sessions, perform technology readiness assessments, health checks, and project milestone reviews and deliver technical training as required by customers. Technical Architects may also be called upon to resolve mission – critical customer issues
• Closure – participate in post-project debrief sessions, archive intellectual property and transfer knowledge to Engineers and Managed Services and Practice teams
• Operations –take practice business plans and create technical roadmaps and strategies for implementation and operations, drive updates to CDW's Operations Framework and establish cross-technology designs and plans. Creation of tools is also part of the role.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR BUILDING EMPLOYER OF CHOICE REPUTATION - Technical Architects are charged with accelerating the technical development of Engineers. Here are the practices that Technical Architects apply to grow the best and brightest technical professionals

• Coaching and Development – collaborate with Product Managers, Professional Services Managers and Managing Consultants to build staff and training plans for new effective implementation of Advanced Technology Solutions, provide troubleshooting support for CDW Engineers and on-the-job mentoring for to - be Technical Architects, as required by Engineers
• Knowledge Sharing and Training – work with Product Managers, Professional Services Managers, Managing Consultants and Training Managers to develop training curriculum for new Advanced Technology solutions. Deliver or facilitate technical training to Engineers, contribute, lead or own internal online discussion groups and virtual team meetings.
• Technology Labs – lead the build-out of engineering labs. This includes driving procurement strategies, vendor early-field trials (EFT’s), and lab documentation and administration.
• Intellectual Property Development – build standard operating procedures for solution implementation and support, author technical white papers, construct tools and processes to reduce the cost of delivering projects, create a standard Engineer toolkit, build virtual labs for internal, hands-on training, implement and deliver customer training and present at vendor partner conferences.

ACCOUNTABILITY - Technical Architects are ultimately accountable for:

• Billing work on projects, individually and through other Engineers
• Working with product management to manage profitable, lifecycle storage solution offerings.
• Selling work on projects, individually and through other Engineers and Solutions Specialists
• Developing and implementing intellectual property, for the benefit of other Engineers
• Significant involvement in and leadership of managed/hosted/shared network designs and plans
• Product Management and Development　Labs – Architecture, budgeting, procurement and implementation with the goal of maintaining product currency within the PM and Development labs.