yea if you want to be an architect then you will need to have paid your dues in the sys admin/network engineer/security, etc. streets for a few years. Do you REALLY want to be an architect or are you just trying to figure out a way to get 6 figures? what do you REALLY want to do is the first question. if the money is all you're really after, there's easier ways to do it for someone with your background. You might be better off at one of the management firms like accenture/deloitte. as I was leaving my previous job, the customer brought deloitte in to help better manage the project because it was a massive rollout and our company was too small to handle everything. these deloitte guys weren't super technical or hands-on but could understand just enough from us the engineers/architects to be able to communicate it to the stakeholders. this might be your lane. and i'm sure all those guys were doing 120/130k minimum
Accenture cats get paid and dont do shyt.. One dude at my job getting 200k for 6 months
