Solution Architect
The name says what the job is. A solution architect starts from the real need, designs a coherent answer — infrastructure, cloud, data, operations, security — and makes sure it remains viable once delivered.
01 — Services
Whether you need to choose a solution, procure it by the rules or sell it, the question is the same: which answer will hold up over time, technically and economically?
An outside architect's view to make informed decisions before committing budget.
Municipalities, public social welfare centres, inter-municipal bodies and public agencies: support for contracting authorities on IT, telecoms, cloud and AI projects.
Turning a technology into an offering you can sell, deliver and defend in front of the client.
02 — Legacy & modernity
More than twenty years running, integrating and selling critical systems, from long-established platforms to hybrid clouds. Since 2024, agentic AI has changed the game: what seemed frozen can be documented, rewritten, connected and automated — as long as a human remains accountable at every step.
A
AI-assisted reverse documentation of applications and infrastructure: RPG or COBOL code, scripts, configurations, business rules.
B
Rewrite, migrate or wrap: keep what works, replace what holds you back, without a big bang.
C
Agent chains to deploy, operate and report: speed, restart capability and traceability, from infrastructure to applications.
D
Connect data from existing systems (ERP, CRM, mailboxes) to make decisions before everything is merged: merger, consolidation or transition.
Run a programme, not a project
Compared scenarios, business plan, skills and hiring plan, governance and milestones: I initiated and led a modernisation programme for critical legacy environments within an IT integrator, through to executive approval.
03 — Public sector
A public IT project is often won or lost in the tender specifications. Solark helps contracting authorities express the right need, choose the appropriate procedure under Belgian public procurement rules and compare bids on solid grounds — then stays at their side during implementation. Step by step or end to end.
01
Analysis of the current situation, departmental needs and budget or grant constraints.
02
Tender specifications: technical requirements, selection and award criteria, bill of quantities.
03
Choice of procedure, bidder questions, negotiation, bid evaluation and award recommendation.
04
Coordination and monitoring of contractors during installation, through to acceptance.
Example assignment
Project supported by the Walloon Region (“Tax on Pylons” call for projects): fibre-optic links between municipal sites, replacement of physical servers with a cloud solution and a move to IP telephony.
Both sides of the table
Since 2010, I have helped draft or respond to dozens of public tender specifications: hospitals, municipalities, public agencies.
I know what makes bids comparable and what derails a tender. I put this bidder's experience at the service of contracting authorities.
04 — Innovation
As co-founder of an Innovation & Technology Office within a Belgian-Luxembourg IT group, I designed the governance model that guides every new solution from idea to market launch. It is a method I can put in place for you.
Journey of a new solution
Having helped launch the first AI initiatives of an IT group, I work with executives and IT decision-makers, from SMEs to the public sector, to turn AI into concrete, deployable use cases.
05 — Expertise
Infrastructure and data centre solution architecture
Private, hybrid and sovereign cloud
Generative and agentic AI, on-premises or in a trusted cloud
Legacy environment modernisation: IBM i, mainframe, business applications
Innovation governance and processes
Managed services and agent-automated operations
Connectivity, fibre and IP telephony
Public procurement for ICT
The solution follows usage, constraints and budget — never a preference for a product.
Backup, continuity, security and running costs are part of the architecture, not an add-on at the end of the project.
Every step produces a document you can review, challenge and reuse without me.
Guardrails designed upfront and accountable decisions: automation can go far, responsibility stays human.
06 — Career
Systems engineer, presales, manager, business developer, then solution architect and innovation programme lead: my career has been built at the junction between vendors, integrators and clients, between sales and technical teams, between Belgium and Luxembourg.
More than ten years of managing presales and back-office teams taught me that a good solution also depends on the people who carry it.
Today
Innovation & Technology Program Lead — co-founder of an Innovation & Technology Office, AI-driven legacy modernisation programme, AI applied to business.
2024
IBM Think, Boston: a first look at AI agent orchestration — a turning point. Helped launch the first AI initiatives of an IT group.
2022
First assignment supporting a contracting authority, from assessment to installation follow-up.
2016
Founded Solark SRL. Business Development Manager Hybrid Cloud, then Data & AI, in Belgium and Luxembourg; solution management and managed-service offerings.
2010
Presales infrastructure architect at a Belgian IT integrator, then Presales Manager: built and led the presales and back-office team.
2009
Presales project manager at a business software vendor.
2003
Systems engineer (servers, virtualisation, IBM i, collaboration platforms), consulting assignments in Belgium and Luxembourg, then sales.
07 — Contact
Write to me directly: every request gets a personal reply. Based in Rhode-Saint-Genèse, just south of Brussels; working across Belgium and Luxembourg, on site or remotely.
