Career Details
Career Details
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Career Details

15-1299.08 - Computer Systems Engineers/Architects


Design and develop solutions to complex applications problems, system administration issues, or network concerns. Perform systems management and integration functions.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
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Forecasted Employment
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Change in Employment
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Change in Employment %
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Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Communicate with staff or clients to understand specific system requirements.
  • Provide advice on project costs, design concepts, or design changes.
  • Document design specifications, installation instructions, and other system-related information.
  • Verify stability, interoperability, portability, security, or scalability of system architecture.
  • Collaborate with engineers or software developers to select appropriate design solutions or ensure the compatibility of system components.
  • Evaluate current or emerging technologies to consider factors such as cost, portability, compatibility, or usability.
  • Provide technical guidance or support for the development or troubleshooting of systems.
  • Identify system data, hardware, or software components required to meet user needs.
  • Provide customers or installation teams guidelines for implementing secure systems.
  • Monitor system operation to detect potential problems.
  • Direct the analysis, development, and operation of complete computer systems.
  • Investigate system component suitability for specified purposes, and make recommendations regarding component use.
  • Perform ongoing hardware and software maintenance operations, including installing or upgrading hardware or software.
  • Configure servers to meet functional specifications.
  • Develop or approve project plans, schedules, or budgets.
  • Define and analyze objectives, scope, issues, or organizational impact of information systems.
  • Develop system engineering, software engineering, system integration, or distributed system architectures.
  • Design and conduct hardware or software tests.
  • Establish functional or system standards to address operational requirements, quality requirements, and design constraints.
  • Evaluate existing systems to determine effectiveness, and suggest changes to meet organizational requirements.
  • Research, test, or verify proper functioning of software patches and fixes.
  • Communicate project information through presentations, technical reports, or white papers.
  • Complete models and simulations, using manual or automated tools, to analyze or predict system performance under different operating conditions.
  • Direct the installation of operating systems, network or application software, or computer or network hardware.
  • Train system users in system operation or maintenance.
  • Perform security analyses of developed or packaged software components.
  • Develop application-specific software.
  • Develop efficient and effective system controllers.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 95%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 80%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 English Language
  • 79%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Mathematics
  • 77%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Design
  • 69%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Telecommunications
  • 66%
    Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
 Administration and Management
  • 64%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 62%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Education and Training
  • 57%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Communications and Media
  • 54%
    Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
 Production and Processing
  • 51%
    Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Computers
  • Blade servers
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Mainframe computers
  • Personal computers
  • Tablet computers
  • Web servers
 Network service equipment
  • Computer network routers
  • Lightweight directory access protocol LDAP servers
 System Cards
  • Graphics display cards
 Media storage devices
  • Mass storage devices
 Electrical cable and accessories
  • Multi-conductor cables
  • Radio frequency cables
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Business function specific software
  • 37signals Basecamp
  • Ansible softwareHOT
  • ConfluenceHOT
  • Google AdWordsHOT
  • Human resource management software HRMS
  • Marketo Marketing AutomationHOT
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
  • Microsoft ProjectHOT
  • Microsoft SharePointHOT
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio ManagementHOT
  • Oracle TaleoHOT
  • Slack
 Content authoring and editing software
  • 3M Post-it App
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Creative CloudHOT
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Fireworks
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Flash
  • Adobe Systems Adobe FrameMaker
  • Adobe Systems Adobe PhotoshopHOT
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft VisioHOT
  • Trimble SketchUp ProHOT
 Content management software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe AcrobatHOT
  • Apache Subversion SVNHOT
  • Atlassian JIRAHOT
  • Dropbox
  • GitHOT
 Development software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe ActionScript
  • Adobe Systems Adobe AIR
  • Adobe Systems Adobe Flex
  • Advanced business application programming ABAPHOT
  • AJAXHOT
  • Altia Design
  • Aonix Software Through Pictures
  • Apache AntHOT
  • Apache GroovyHOT
  • Apache KafkaHOT
  • Apache Maven
  • Apache StrutsHOT
  • Apache TomcatHOT
  • Atlassian BambooHOT
  • Backbone.jsHOT
  • Borland VisiBroker
  • BroadVision software
  • C
  • C#HOT
  • C++HOT
  • Cascading Style Sheets CSSHOT
  • Chef
  • Common business oriented language COBOLHOT
  • DjangoHOT
  • DrupalHOT
  • Dynamic hypertext markup language DHTML
  • Eclipse IDEHOT
  • Enterprise JavaBeans
  • Ext JS
  • Extensible HyperText Markup Language XHTML
  • Extensible markup language XMLHOT
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • GoHOT
  • Google AngularJSHOT
  • Grails
  • Groovy
  • Hewlett Packard LoadRunner
  • Hypertext markup language HTMLHOT
  • IBM ILOG
  • IBM InfoSphere DataStage
  • IBM Rational Application Developer
  • IBM Rational Build Forge
  • IBM Rational ClearCase
  • IBM Rational Rose
  • IBM WebSphereHOT
  • Integrated development environment IDE softwareHOT
  • IONA Orbix
  • JavaScriptHOT
  • JavaScript Object Notation JSONHOT
  • jQueryHOT
  • JUnitHOT
  • Jupyter Notebook
  • LAMP Stack
  • Microsoft .NET FrameworkHOT
  • Microsoft Active Server Pages ASPHOT
  • Microsoft ActiveX
  • Microsoft ASP.NETHOT
  • Microsoft ASP.NET Core MVCHOT
  • Microsoft AzureHOT
  • Microsoft PowerShellHOT
  • Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services SSISHOT
  • Microsoft Visual BasicHOT
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBAHOT
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScriptHOT
  • Microsoft Visual StudioHOT
  • National Instruments LabVIEWHOT
  • Node.jsHOT
  • Objective CHOT
  • Oracle Fusion MiddlewareHOT
  • Oracle JavaHOT
  • Oracle Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition J2EE
  • Oracle JavaServer Pages JSPHOT
  • Perforce Helix software
  • PHP: Hypertext PreprocessorHOT
  • Practical extraction and reporting language PerlHOT
  • PuppetHOT
  • PythonHOT
  • RHOT
  • ReactHOT
  • RubyHOT
  • Ruby on RailsHOT
  • Salesforce VisualforceHOT
  • ScalaHOT
  • SeleniumHOT
  • Smalltalk
  • Spring
  • Spring FrameworkHOT
  • SwiftHOT
  • ToadSoft Toad
  • Unified modeling language UMLHOT
  • Verilog
  • VMWareHOT
 Data management and query software
  • Amazon DynamoDBHOT
  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2HOT
  • Amazon RedshiftHOT
  • Amazon Web Services AWS softwareHOT
  • Apache CassandraHOT
  • Apache HadoopHOT
  • Apache HiveHOT
  • Apache HTTP ServerHOT
  • Apache PigHOT
  • Apache SolrHOT
  • Apache SparkHOT
  • BEA Tuxedo
  • CA Erwin Data Modeler
  • Customer information control system CICS
  • Data entry softwareHOT
  • DBTools Software DBManager Professional
  • ElasticsearchHOT
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Google AnalyticsHOT
  • Hibernate ORM
  • IBM Cognos ImpromptuHOT
  • IBM DB2
  • IBM Infosphere Information Server
  • LexisNexis
  • Microsoft AccessHOT
  • Microsoft Internet Information Service IIS
  • Microsoft SQL ServerHOT
  • Microsoft SQL Server Reporting ServicesHOT
  • MicroStrategyHOT
  • MongoDBHOT
  • MySQLHOT
  • NoSQLHOT
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise EditionHOT
  • Oracle Eloqua
  • Oracle JDBCHOT
  • Oracle PL/SQLHOT
  • Oracle softwareHOT
  • PostgreSQLHOT
  • Qlik Tech QlikViewHOT
  • Relational database management softwareHOT
  • Salesforce softwareHOT
  • SAP Crystal ReportsHOT
  • Structured query language SQLHOT
  • TableauHOT
  • Teradata DatabaseHOT
  • Transact-SQLHOT
  • xQuery
 Networking software
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service S3HOT
  • Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationHOT
  • CitrixHOT
  • IBM Domino
  • Local area network LAN software
  • Storage area network SAN software
  • Symark PowerBroker
  • Wide area network WAN software
 Operating environment software
  • Apple macOSHOT
  • BashHOT
  • Cisco IOS
  • Hewlett Packard HP-UX
  • IBM AIX
  • Job control language JCL
  • KornShell
  • LinuxHOT
  • Microsoft WindowsHOT
  • Microsoft Windows ServerHOT
  • Oracle SolarisHOT
  • Red Hat Enterprise LinuxHOT
  • Shell scriptHOT
  • Ubuntu
  • UNIXHOT
  • UNIX ShellHOT
 Industry specific software
  • Autodesk AutoCADHOT
  • Autodesk RevitHOT
  • Bentley MicroStationHOT
  • Computer aided design and drafting CADD softwareHOT
  • Dassault Systemes CATIAHOT
  • Dassault Systemes SOLIDWORKSHOT
  • Epic SystemsHOT
  • IBM SPSS StatisticsHOT
  • MEDITECH softwareHOT
  • MinitabHOT
  • PTC Creo ParametricHOT
  • SASHOT
  • StataCorp Stata
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA softwareHOT
  • The MathWorks MATLABHOT
 Information exchange software
  • Blink
  • Cisco Systems Webex
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
  • Geographic information system GIS softwareHOT
  • IBM Lotus SameTime
  • IBM NotesHOT
  • Microsoft ExchangeHOT
 Finance accounting and enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Clarity Systems IBM ClarityHOT
  • Delphi Technology
  • Microsoft DynamicsHOT
  • Microsoft Dynamics GPHOT
  • NetSuite ERPHOT
  • Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
  • Oracle Fusion ApplicationsHOT
  • Oracle HyperionHOT
  • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOneHOT
  • Oracle PeopleSoftHOT
  • SAPHOT
  • SAP Business ObjectsHOT
 Network applications software
  • DockerHOT
  • Eko
  • GitHubHOT
  • Microsoft Active Directory
  • Oracle WebLogic ServerHOT
  • Red Hat OpenShiftHOT
  • Red Hat WildFlyHOT
  • Skype
  • Spring BootHOT
  • VMWare ESX Server
  • Web browser software
 Security and protection software
  • Firewall software
  • Intrusion detection system IDS
  • McAfee
  • SymantecHOT
  • Virtual private networking VPN softwareHOT
 System management software
  • IBM Power Systems software
  • Splunk EnterpriseHOT
 Network management software
  • NagiosHOT
  • Network intrusion prevention systems NIPS
  • Snort
  • Voice over internet protocol VoiP system softwareHOT
  • WiresharkHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
FastForward at Virginia's Community Colleges is a short-term training program for high-demand industries, like healthcare, information technology, and skilled trades and infrastructure, helping Virginians get the jobs and salaries they need. Our goal is to get you trained, help you earn your certification, and get you into a career that can support you and your family. Explore the latest training program offerings by visiting FastForward
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific certifications are listed for this career
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Appalachian College of Pharmacy
Averett University
Blue Ridge Community College
Bluefield University
Bridgewater College
Brightpoint Community College
Central Virginia Community College
Christopher Newport University
Danville Community College
Eastern Mennonite University
Eastern Shore Community College
Emory & Henry University
Ferrum College
George Mason University
George Washington University College of Professional Studies
Germanna Community College
J Sargeant Reynolds Community College
James Madison University
Laurel Ridge Community College
Longwood University
Marymount University
Mountain Empire Community College
Mountain Gateway Community College
New River Community College
Norfolk State University
Northern Virginia Community College
Old Dominion University
Patrick & Henry Community College
Paul D. Camp Community College
Piedmont Virginia Community College
Radford University
Randolph College
Randolph-Macon College
Rappahannock Community College
Regent University
Richard Bland College
Roanoke College
Shenandoah University
Southside Virginia Community College
Southwest Virginia Community College
The University of Virginia's College at Wise
Tidewater Community College
University of Lynchburg
University of Mary Washington
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Highlands Community College
Virginia Peninsula Community College
Virginia Western Community College
William & Mary
Wytheville Community College