Solutions Architect
A client needs their new online store to sync orders with an old inventory system that only exports nightly files. How would you design that?
What the interviewer is looking for
- This question tests cloud & integration architecture. Designs scalable, resilient systems and integrations using queues, APIs, events and managed services appropriately.
- Strong answers: Integration layer or queue, handling stale stock and overselling, file processing with validation and retries, monitoring, and a path to more real-time integration.
- Likely follow-up: What would you tell the business about the risks of the nightly delay?
Another way it may be asked: The new website takes orders all day, but the warehouse system only shares data once a night. How do you connect them?
A structure to follow: Answer, explain, example, limits
- Step 1
Answer
Give your direct answer in the first sentence so the interviewer knows where you are going.
- Step 2
Explain
Say how it works or why you would do it that way, in plain words before jargon.
- Step 3
Example
Anchor it in something you have actually done or seen, with the detail that shows hands-on experience.
- Step 4
Limits
Say when your approach would not be the right one. It shows judgement.
This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.
Common slips
- Reciting a definition without showing you have applied it.
- Using terms you cannot explain if asked a level deeper.
- Claiming experience beyond what you can discuss in detail.
How to practise it
Say the answer in 90 seconds, then answer the follow-up as if it were a new question.
Related questions
- A customer wants a system that handles sudden spikes of ten times normal traffic and stays available across regions. How would you approach the design?
- A customer says they want to modernise their system. What questions would you ask before suggesting anything?
- What is the difference between a monolith and microservices, and when would you advise a client to stay with a monolith?
- How would you explain what an API is to a business stakeholder with no technical background?
- How do you bring security and compliance requirements, like data privacy rules, into a design from the start rather than at the end?