Architects, a dwindling breed

As India moves up the value chain in the global IT arena, the role of software architects will be crucial in designing complex applications.

The country has around 1.2 million software developers, next only to the US which has over 2 million. Of this, only 650,000 are estimated to be professional developers, while the rest are student developers and hobbyists.

According to an internal estimate by Microsoft Corporation, there are about 35,000 software architects in India, which is a mere 2.5 per cent of the total number of software developers in the country. However, industry estimates indicate there should be at least one software architect in a team of five software developers.

"During the early stages of designing a product, the role of an architect is crucial. Because, this is a time when the development work has not started and you really have to think about architecture. I have seen teams where the ratio between the architects and developers ranges from 1:1 to 1:5. It all depends on the kind of product you are building," explains Tarun Gulati, general manager, Developer Platform, Microsoft Corporation.

Traditionally it takes at least 10-12 years for a software developer to build architectural skills. However, after reaching this time, most people in the IT industry prefer to switch their career to non-technical positions in pursuit of growth, fearing the lack of adequate growth opportunities in the technical field, reasons Sunil Dutt Jha, CEO of iCMG, a US-headquartered software architecture firm.

Of the 90 architects so far certified by Microsoft worldwide under the Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) programme, just eight are from India. Gulati says, "Traditionally people think that the only way of growing career, is by taking up management responsibilities.

At Microsoft, we have a completely different career path for our technical people. One can become even a super senior person in the company, without ever having managed anybody." This is like rewarding someone for his technical caliber that he has build up in the area, he added.

According to industry sources, to develop a team of 4-5 architects in India is around Rs 2-3 crore depending upon the experience. This shortage really affects the functioning of the start-ups and captive development centres.

"When a key architect quits in the middle of project in a small firm or captive centre of 100-200 people, they face difficulties in finishing the project on time. But, this is not much of a problem in a large organisation like ours," says Govindrajan V R, chief technology officer, Aztecsoft.

Looking at the importance of architects in a development team, many a software company in India has started independent architecture service divisions.

Microsoft, which a year ago, had started an initiative under its Aspiring Software Architect Programme (ASAP), intends to train at least 5,000 software developers in India this year.