Distinguished Solution Architect - IBM Software Solutions

At CDW, we make it happen, together. Trust, connection, and commitment are at the heart of how we work together to deliver for our customers. It’s why we’re coworkers, not just employees. Coworkers who genuinely believe in supporting our customers and one another. We collectively forge our path forward with a level of commitment that speaks to who we are and where we’re headed. We’re proud to share our story and Make Amazing Happen at CDW.

The Distinguished Solution Architect – (DSA) is a field-based technical pre-sales role that focuses on developing comprehensive security solutions for CDW customers. This role involves providing consultative guidance, supporting partner product sales, scoping service offerings, and fostering strategic relationships to drive business growth.  In this role you will be working with customers, delivery, and internal sales teams to develop and maintain strategic relationships and be a trusted advisor to grow our Hybrid Infrastructure services business.

What you will do:

• Develop appropriate assessment and service solutions for CDW customers, including architecture, optimizations, technology health checks, deployment services, and advisory services.

• Collaborate with customers, delivery teams, and internal sales to offer consultative guidance, plan sales strategy, and author statements of work (SOWs).

• Analyze technical and competitive considerations, defining actions to meet customer expectations in the sales cycle by engaging customer in visioning exercises that map programmatically aligned solutions to Customer's desired journey.

• Maintain strategic relationships with Customers, Internal Sales & Delivery management, acting as a trusted advisor to drive business growth.

• Maintain top partner certifications, sales presentation training and certifications.  Top industry elite certifications, advanced education. Minimum of 5 certifications for top partners as discussed with leader.

• Understanding Unique industries and verticals in territory and how they do business.  Trusted relationships with all the sellers.  Establish partner relationships in field of expertise. Known by the industry as an Expert in their field. Ambassadors for the Security brand and able to operate at Sr level or better for all security practices.

• Seek, attend, and drive customer engagement at company approved events and conferences (virtual and in-person).  Engage with partners to create customer engagement events.  Attend industry leader conferences and drive customer attendance. Design content for practice to be used internally (within team, sales, or leadership), or in speaking engagements at industry conferences. 

• Act as a subject matter expert in multiple families of products and solutions.

• Drive outreach initiatives, technical enablement projects, coaching, and mentoring for other SAs, Solution Executives, and Field Sellers.

• Identifies proactive opportunities to educate coworkers and customers regarding technology needs and industry trends.

What we expect of you:

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.

Minimum of ten years in technical, pre-sales, or post-sale delivery role.

Motivated, self-starting, and able to independently perform high quality work with minimal guidance.

Industry knowledge and domain expertise: A DSA should possess domain expertise. They should understand industry-specific challenges, regulations, and best practices. They should have a deep understanding of the architecture, products, technologies, and solutions offered by the company. This knowledge enables them to provide tailored recommendations and position the company's solutions effectively within the industry landscape.  Areas of Expertise specific to this role includes:

• IBM Software: Automation Platform | Data/AI Platform

• IBM Power

• Mainframe

• Storage

• Mainframe Storage

• Hyper Converge Infrastructure (HCI)

• Cloud Environment

• Enterprise Networking (Campus)

• Datacenter Networking

Team collaboration and leadership: Collaboration with cross-functional teams, including sales and delivery, is crucial in this role. A DSA should be able to work effectively in a team, lead technical discussions, and influence decision-making. They may also provide guidance and mentorship to junior team members.

Customer-focused approach: A DSA must have a customer-centric mindset and be able to understand and articulate customer needs effectively. They should possess excellent communication and presentation skills to engage with customers, gather requirements, and explain technical concepts in a clear and concise manner. Building re