Data Architect vs. Data Engineer

A data engineer seeks to make raw data usable for other colleagues, such as business analysts, so they may implement the information into company decisions. Data engineers have duties like gathering data sets that line up with business goals and needs, creating algorithms to transform data into valuable information, and creating, testing, and maintaining database architectures.

Here are the key differences between a data architect and a data engineer:

• A data architect designs the blueprints for a company's data framework

• A data engineer implements a data architect's blueprint

• A data architect provides technical expertise and guides data teams in terms of realizing business requirements

• Data engineers ensure data is readily available, secure, and accessible to stakeholders, data scientists, and data analysts

• Data architects have technical skills in data models, integration, and design

• Data engineers have technical skills related to programming and software engineering

• On average data architects have higher salaries than data engineers