How do I Design Enterprise Strategy and Architecture: ADS to TSA

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Through hundreds of architecture design sessions, I have learned their importance in crafting winning solutions. This article walks you through how to hold a successful architecture design session (ADS) that puts your solution on the right path and lead you towards Target State Architecture (TSA).

During the session, capture everything on the whiteboard: the architecture itself, along with prioritized goals, pain points, and any “parking lot” items tabled for later discussion. As you develop the architecture, systematically address these pain points and check them off. By the end of the ADS, aim to resolve all pain points and goals within the proposed architecture. If there are any outstanding items, schedule a follow-up meeting to ensure everything is addressed comprehensively. Reserve the last 30 minutes of the ADS to discuss these follow-up items in detail.

Why should conduct an Architecture Design Session (ADS)?

The Benefits of ADS (Architectural Design Sessions)

• There are many advantages to carrying out an ADS. It does this by first bringing together a wide range of stakeholders within an organization, many of whom have never worked together before. Because new viewpoints are exchanged, this in-person or virtual connection creates a dynamic environment that inspires creative problem-solving. Furthermore, in order to guarantee that the project is in line with clearly stated business objectives, stakeholders possessing in-depth knowledge of the relevant use cases can offer comprehensive explanations of those particular use cases.
• ADS sessions are an effective way to separate concepts with a solid commercial base from just speculative endeavors, which is perhaps even more important. The goal of the project and its primary value proposition are made clearer by this cooperative process.
• ADS can assist in limiting resource allocation if the project is more experimental in nature, guaranteeing a more effective use of time and money.
• Moreover, ADS offers an organized framework for implementing the “think big, start small” strategy. Although creating a high-level architectural vision is crucial, the workshop also emphasizes the practical actions needed to hit first targets and produce positive results. For example, a phased method could be used in an architecture built to accommodate data input from multiple sources, starting with a few high-value sources for quicker implementation.
• For instance, during a twelve-person customer ADS, the customer team itself discovered issues that they had never encountered before and worked together to find solutions. This story emphasizes the need of involving customers and the effectiveness of encouraging candid communication within the client company.

It might be very beneficial to include your company’s partners and clients in the ADS. A fellow architect put it best when he said that the procedure is similar to “business therapy.

Before the ADS

Preparing

Set aside a whole day to prepare for an ADS workshop. Organizing the logistics of the conference is essential. It is critical to comprehend the project’s financial plan, schedule, and decision-maker. Whether the meeting is internal or external, this information is essential. These particulars can help you rank your top prospects if you have a large number of clients that are interested in your advertisement. If the ADS is focused on its customers, read through their latest corporate report to learn more about their wider concerns and interests.

You’ll likely want to discuss the following:

• Details about the customer and the Initiative Objective and context
• Business and Technical challenges with their current architecture
• The team’s objectives/goals and the outcome they expect from the meeting (for example, request a proof of concept?)
• How you will run the ADS and what you expect from the team

From the customer side (or if it’s an internal ADS, from the group for which you are doing the ADS), attendees should include:

• The sponsors (at least one from business and one from IT)
• Business representatives
• Technical representatives
• Project manager
• Advisors, architects, developers, and infrastructure or operations people, as necessary

From your team, include:

• A Solution Architect to facilitate the session and make sure the ADS meets its objectives
• Required executives, Foundational teams such cloud engineering or Engineering leads
• Application or Project Subject matter experts (SMEs) to provide in-depth knowledge on specific topics
• At least one resource to records important points (This can be done via modern approaches such as MS Teams, Slack etc…)

Conducting the ADS

• It is your responsibility to establish the tone and steer the meeting in the right direction — remember, you are in command. Say that you can talk about an off-topic issue offline if someone brings it up, and then mark it down on the whiteboard for future reference.
• Similarly, put anything on the whiteboard if you or another person decides to follow up on a certain issue. Allow the application team to take notes; you should be concentrating on having conversations with customers and whiteboarding.

Discovery

Discovery is where you spend an hour or two at the beginning of the ADS asking questions about things like:

• The Current System pain points
• Their current technology and architecture
• Their future architecture or Strategy (if any has been discussed)
• Any decisions they have already made about technologies, products, or tools they use or plan to use
• Current and future use cases
• Details on their business

Tips for Conducting an ADS

• Handle Unpleasant People: Avoid arguments with individuals during an ADS. Instead, use defusing responses to maintain focus.
• Employ Humor: Humor is best way to activate audience. Lighten the mood with funny comments to keep attention and energy levels high.
• Always Humble: Admit when you don’t know something and commit to finding out the answer.
• Manage Team Dynamics: If a team member is over-talking, politely ask them to contribute more concisely.
• Engage Decision Makers: Monitor body language and engagement of key individuals to maintain their focus.
• Adaptability: Be prepared to adjust the agenda based on emerging topics of interest to the customer.
• Build Stamina: Develop the ability to maintain energy and voice throughout a full-day ADS with rest, hydration, and regular exercise.

After the ADS

• Debrief with Account Team: Discuss ADS performance and areas for improvement.
• Growth Mindset: Use feedback to enhance future ADS sessions.
• Communicate Outcomes: Share ADS results with all stakeholders, providing summaries for management and detailed reports for the project team.
• Organize Materials: Compile ADS materials into a digital folder for future reference, including whiteboards from previous sessions.
• Summary Document: Summarize key points from the ADS.
• Physical Architecture: Send the exported file of the digital whiteboard to stakeholders.
• Action Items: List agreed next steps, such as scheduling further discussions or exchanging diagrams.
• Parking Lot Items: Detail follow-ups and assign responsibilities for each item.
• Survey: Distribute surveys at the end of an in-person ADS or provide a link for remote sessions, encouraging immediate completion.

Guidelines for Designing and Creating Target State Architecture

Understand the Concept: Target architecture is a blueprint that guides both enterprise architects and project managers towards a desired future state. For example, a company aiming to migrate to cloud-native applications would create a target architecture that outlines the necessary steps and resources to achieve this goal.

• Establish the Objective: Start by defining the overall business objectives. For instance, if the objective is to improve customer service, the target architecture might include implementing a new CRM system.
• Segment Initiatives: Once the plan is in motion, further segment IT initiatives into executable projects and epics. For example, an epic could be “Implement a new CRM system”, and the projects could be “Select a CRM system”, “Configure the CRM system”, and “Train staff on the new CRM system”.
• Execute the Plan: Implement the segmented projects and epics. This could involve assigning resources, setting timelines, and monitoring progress.
• Consider All Artifacts: When creating target architectures, consider every artifact across the IT landscape, including business capabilities, components, applications, user groups, data objects, and more1. For instance, when planning a cloud migration, consider the impact on all connected systems and processes.
• Roadmap the Impact: Roadmap the impact various changes will make during a transformation project. For example, if you’re planning to implement a new CRM system, consider how this will impact sales, marketing, and customer service processes.
• Identify the Gaps: By comparing the current and target state, organizations can identify the gaps that need to be addressed and develop a roadmap for achieving their desired future state. For instance, if the current state involves manual data entry and the target state involves automated data entry, the gap could be the lack of automation tools.
• Consider Different Approaches: There are three different approaches you might want to consider in order to define your target state: building up from components, breaking down from solutions, and spidering out from a known need. For example, if you’re planning a cloud migration, you might start by identifying the components (servers, databases, etc.) that need to be migrated, then break down the migration process into manageable tasks, and finally, identify any dependencies or requirements.

Conclusion

The end result of an ADS is to build a good architecture, or even a great one. A good architecture is robust and scalable and can effectively support data-driven initiatives. Taking a data architecture from good to great means meeting these needs end to end, with feedback from all users in the data value chain, so that the overall data strategy can meet the organization’s goals. Building a data solution is a user-focused journey into design and feedback, and it requires the kind of strategy and planning that only an ADS can provide.

Author

Milan Dhore Growth-Driven Cloud Strategist and Transformation Leader | Pioneering Leader in Cloud, AI, ML, and Emerging Technologies | Catalyst for GenAI Strategy | ML Patent Laureate | Proficient in Advanced Data Analytics

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