'The connecting role of the System Architect'

Steven Quint, who works at IHCS, is fresh from the System Architect Building Automation course“I got a lot out of the training, especially about the necessary mindset of a systems architect.”

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Steven grew more and more towards a position as a system architect during his career, as he says: “I worked at BAM for 10 years, the last few years of which I was fully involved in building automation. I then made the move to IHCS to further develop my knowledge of the field and my love of technology. Because with a large installation company, you often operate more on the surface.”

He continues: “When I saw the training, I thought: that is really something for me. I experienced the training as very positive and got a lot out of it, especially about the way of thinking. How exactly do you approach a case? How do you ensure that you stay on top without immediately thinking about the nuts and bolts? These are the most important subjects that you have to keep up with.”

Communication between departments, colleagues and clients is also an important part of the course provided by TVVL. According to Steven, there is often miscommunication in the field in which system architects are active: “I like to see that everyone tells the same story: working together between two different business units is difficult and often clashes enormously.”

Latest developments

In addition to communication, there is also a lot of attention for the latest technological developments in the course program. Steven says about this: “It is very difficult to keep the course material up-to-date with all the technological developments in building automation. One of those developments is indoor positioning, for example. That technology is becoming cheaper and easier. You can see that the course compilers are doing their best to include that.”

The course consists of fifteen meetings that take place every two weeks. The students are also given the necessary homework. Steven has a comment to make about that: “As a class, we gave the tip to do more with the homework by giving it a central place in the meetings. Discussing the homework ensures that you get an idea of whether you are doing well in the competition.”

Steven believes that the system architect course is still very much needed for the time being, especially because the number of people with this expertise is limited: "There are fewer system architects than are needed to improve the world. We are still not budgeted for and included in enough trajectories and projects. It is still too often a neglected child."

The new course program starts in October. More information and registration can be found via the TVVL website.