Pre-Sales Solution Architect – Inputs

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In previous posts, I introduced the role of the Pre-Sales Solution Architect and covered the key skills and responsibilities that come with it. In this post, let’s dive into what inputs a Pre-Sales SA needs to do their job effectively. In a future post, we’ll explore what outputs or deliverables you can expect from them.

A Pre-Sales SA relies heavily on insights from both the sales team and the client. However, direct access to the client isn’t always guaranteed. For example, when responding to a formal bid or Request for Proposal (RFP), or when the sales team is preparing a proactive proposal they want to keep confidential until presentation time. In these cases, you depend on the sales team to provide as much context as possible about the client and the opportunity.

Sometimes, there’s already a team on the ground—people actively working with the client—who can offer valuable insights into the current environment, pain points, roadmap, and goals. Their perspective may differ from that of the account or sales team, so it’s important to connect with them when possible.

Here are some of the key inputs a Pre-Sales SA may need when starting work on an opportunity:

• Client Background: What does the client do? What’s their business model? What’s their current situation? What are their buyer values?
• Opportunity Context: What’s driving this opportunity? Why now? What’s the budget and timeline? Are there any constraints?
• Competitive Landscape: Is this a sole-source opportunity, or are other vendors involved? Who are the competitors? What do we know about them? Is the client satisfied with their current provider?
• Current Environment: Have they already implemented ServiceNow? Which applications are in use? What integrations exist? How many instances are deployed?

Understanding the inputs is just as critical as delivering the right solution. The quality of the information you receive will shape the direction and success of your proposal. As part of this blog series on the Pre-Sales Solution Architect role, we’ll continue exploring how these inputs translate into meaningful outputs and deliverables. Stay tuned for the next post, where we’ll break down what great pre-sales architecture looks like in action.