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Reviewed by:
Ashraf Fouad
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Book
Review

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Disclaimer
• “Solutions Architect’s Handbook – Second Edition” Copyright © 2022 Packt Publishing.
• The intention of this book review is to provide:
1. Objective feedback for potential readers.
2. Constructive feedback for the authors.
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Solutions Architect’s Handbook (2nd Edition)
• Packt Publishing
• ISBN: 978-1-80181-661-8
• Second Edition: 17-Jan-2022
• 588 pages
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Topics Covered
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1- The meaning of Solution Architecture
2- Solution Architects in an Organization
3- Attributes of the Solution Architecture
4- Principles of Solution Architecture Design
5- Cloud Migration and Hybrid Cloud Architecture Design
6- Solution Architecture Design Patterns
7- Performance Considerations
8- Security Considerations
9- Architectural Reliability Considerations
10- Operational Excellence Considerations
11- Cost Considerations
12- DevOps and Solution Architecture Framework
13- Data Engineering for Solution Architecture
14- Machine Learning Architecture
15- The Internet of Things Architecture
16- Quantum Computing
17- Rearchitecting Legacy Systems
18- Solution Architecture Document
19- Learning Soft Skills to Become a Better Solution Architect
Essential for Solution Architect Usually Delegated Specific Needs

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Solution Architect / T-Shaped skill profile
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Breadth of
essential skills
Depth of Expertise
Principles
Security
Patterns
NFR
Operations
• The book is doing a great job in
covering the essential skills of a
solution architect.
• It should not be compared to
other books specialized in one
dimension/skill (Scalability, Data,
… etc).

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What I liked in 2nd Edition?(1/2)
• Striking the right balance in a book to provide useful information in breadth in
such complex topic is hard but it was achieved in this book (Example: NFR,
Patterns, Security).
• IMO, essential chapters (1 – 11 & 17 - 19) can be considered de facto-standard for
any solution architect.
• Simple English for non-native English speaker.
• Colored diagrams that is simple to understand:
• Majority: Block, AWS.
• Some layered, value stream, Venn, Screen shots.
• Numbering is used for long interaction diagrams (Example: Machine Learning).
• Simplest diagram: Figure 7.3: Concurrency vs parallelism.
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What I liked in 2nd Edition?(2/2)
• Linking the solution architecture with Agile, DevOps, DevSecOps, operational
excellency is great.
• Ready takeaways:
• Comparison (Data Types, Migration strategy, REST vs SOAP, Memcached vs Redis, …).
• Process (Cloud migration steps).
• Decision tree (Cloud migration path for legacy system modernization).
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What I would like to see in next edition?
• As a complimentary addons; if the book is associated with links to ready
templates / examples in some areas it would be great (Example: Chapter 5: Cloud
migration and Hybrid Cloud Architecture Design). Also, if shared on collaboration
platform so everyone may contribute it will be beneficial for the solution
architecture committee.
• Chapter 7: Performance consideration:
• Data Storage systems: Information may be converted to comparison table or decision tree
between object, file, & block storage.
• Choosing a DB: Adding a decision tree.
• Chapter 18: IT procurement documentation for a solution architect needs
enrichment. I have already previous video “Why IT professionals should be
interested in APMP certification?” mentioning in slide 5 that an architect is one of
the target audience of this certification for proposal management.
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Recommendations
• Rating:
• Recommended to:
• Anyone targeting solution architect role (On-premise, or cloud).
• Existing solution architect that need to cover other unknown areas to their field for becoming
a better solution architect.
• It can’t be compared to a cloud certification like “AWS Certified Solutions
Architect Associate”, but if you are planning to take the certification to move to
this role, I prefer to read this book before studying for the certification to
understand more about the role.
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References
[1] Ops 4.0—The Human Factor: A class size of 1, McKinsey, Operation Blog, 19-July-2021.
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Thanks
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