What is a Software Architect?
The term Software Architect has become a fashionable job title to have within the development teams. A lot of the time the title is quite wooly and could be more accurately described as senior developer or code guru.

Highly structured frameworks and processes have defined this term. An example it the Rational Unified Process (RUP). Thus "The Software Architect has overall responsibility for driving the major technical decisions, which are expressed as software architecture."

The rationale for such decisions is also required. There is an implicit duty on the Architect to ensure that the decisions made are actually carried out in practice.

Who is a Software Architect?
Due to the "big picture" viewpoints from which a software architect approaches his job, he has to have a good grasp of the technological issues involved in the project. Thus they tend to be experienced developers who have worked on multiple platforms and technologies.

When does a Software Architect do her job?The major workload for the archictect is in the early stages of development. Here is where the large technology decisions are made. Fat/thin? SQL Server or Oracle?

How does a Software Architect do her job?Typical activities of the architect are to identify and document architecturally significant aspects of the system. "Significant aspects" include major requirements, design, implementation, deployment views.