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What are the best practices for documenting solution architecture?

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As a sales engineer, you need to document the solution architecture that you propose to your prospects and customers. This is not only a way to communicate your technical expertise and value proposition, but also a tool to align expectations, mitigate risks, and facilitate collaboration. However, documenting solution architecture can be challenging, especially when you have to deal with complex, dynamic, and customized solutions. In this article, we will share some best practices for documenting solution architecture that can help you create clear, consistent, and compelling documents that support your sales process.

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1 Define the purpose and scope

Before you start documenting your solution architecture, you need to define the purpose and scope of your document. What are the goals and objectives of your document? Who are the intended audience and stakeholders? What are the key questions and pain points that your document should address? How much detail and technicality do you need to include? By answering these questions, you can set the direction and scope of your document, and avoid unnecessary or irrelevant information that can confuse or overwhelm your readers.

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Ben Scott, M.S.

Systems Engineer | Adjunct Professor | Ohio Cyber Reservist | Experienced Critical Infrastructure & OT/ICS Cybersecurity Architect | Championing a More Cyber Secure Ohio | Fortifying Ohio’s Critical Infrastructure
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Begin with defining the document's purpose and scope. Define goals, audience, and scope for clear, focused architecture docs. Determine the goals, target audience, and key questions it needs to address. Tailor the level of detail and technicality to the stakeholders' needs, ensuring clarity and relevance. This approach helps avoid overwhelming readers with unnecessary information and focuses on providing clear, concise, and useful content that effectively communicates the architecture's key aspects, decisions, and rationales. This creates a valuable resource that enhances understanding and guides implementation.

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Toby J. Daniel

Sales Engineering Leader/Trusted-Advisor/Results Driven/Customer Advocate/U.S. Army Veteran
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Accompany the visual diagrams with detailed descriptions of each component, including its purpose, functionality, and interactions with other components. Clearly explain the relationships, dependencies, and interfaces between different parts of the architecture. Use a combination of text, tables, and diagrams to provide comprehensive and easily digestible information. Lastly, make sure to clearly document the non-functional requirements of the solution architecture, such as performance, scalability, security, availability, and maintainability. Specify the specific requirements and any design considerations or strategies implemented to meet those requirements.

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2 Use a standard template and format

For consistency and clarity, you should use a standard template and format for your solution architecture documents. This can help organize your information, follow a logical flow, and follow best practices. You can create your own template or use an existing one, such as the 4+1 architectural view model, the solution concept diagram, or the solution overview document. A typical template and format should include a cover page with the document title, date, author, and version; a table of contents with the main sections and sub-sections; an executive summary with the key points and benefits of your solution; a solution overview with the high-level description and diagram of your solution; a solution detail with the in-depth explanation and illustration of your solution components, features, functions, and interactions; a solution validation with the evidence and criteria that demonstrate how your solution meets the requirements and expectations of your customer; a solution risks and assumptions with the potential issues and uncertainties that may affect your solution, and how you plan to address or mitigate them; as well as a glossary with the definitions of acronyms and technical terms used in your document.

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Max Beckers

Solutions Architect bei PAYONE GmbH, FinTech, Payments, Speaker, Blogposts schreiben, OpenSource, Familie, Kochen
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A template i use is arc42. For me really helpful to have a good structure for the architecture documentation. There are of course a lot of great templates.

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3 Use clear and concise language

When writing your solution architecture document, you should use clear and concise language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose. You should avoid jargon, slang, or vague terms that may confuse or mislead your readers. You should also use active voice, simple sentences, and bullet points to make your document easy to read and understand. You should also use consistent terminology, spelling, grammar, and punctuation throughout your document, and proofread and edit your document before you share it.

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4 Use visuals and examples

One of the best ways to document your solution architecture is to use visuals and examples that can illustrate your solution more effectively than words. You should use diagrams, charts, graphs, tables, screenshots, or mockups that can show your solution structure, components, features, functions, and interactions. You should also use examples, scenarios, or use cases that can show how your solution works in real-life situations, and how it solves the problems or meets the needs of your customer. You should also use captions, labels, legends, or annotations to explain your visuals and examples, and make sure they are relevant, accurate, and consistent with your text.

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5 Get feedback and approval

Finally, you should get feedback and approval from your internal and external stakeholders before you finalize and deliver your solution architecture document. You should seek feedback from your sales team, your technical team, your management, and your customer to ensure that your document is complete, correct, and convincing. You should also seek approval from the decision-makers and influencers who have the authority and influence to approve or reject your solution. By getting feedback and approval, you can improve your document quality, avoid misunderstandings or conflicts, and increase your chances of winning the deal.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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What are the best practices for documenting solution architecture?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define the purpose and scope

2 Use a standard template and format

3 Use clear and concise language

4 Use visuals and examples

5 Get feedback and approval

6 Here’s what else to consider

Sales Engineering

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What are the best practices for documenting solution architecture?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Define the purpose and scope

2 Use a standard template and format

3 Use clear and concise language

4 Use visuals and examples

5 Get feedback and approval

6 Here’s what else to consider

Sales Engineering

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