Architecture Design Methods

for Information Technology

(ADMIT)
By
Dr. J.V. Joshua, PhD
 Architecture Design Methodology for IT
(ADMIT)
• ADMIT consist of 2 components:
1. Architecture design forces (ADF)
2. Architecture development life cycle (ADLC)
• Design forces focus on the strategies and techniques of developing
the architecture systematically.
• Lifecycle defines the phases and processes of managing the
architecture development
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• In order to develop architecture with excellent system qualities, a
structured thinking process is encouraged, so that the correct
decision can be made to select the best possible option.
• ADFs are used to drive the methodical development of any
architecture. They span across several areas of concern as shown in
the table below:
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)

business Constraint/Environment
operation Failure
Aestheticism Channel
Future Content
Simplicity Platform
Change Infrastructure
Process Network
Integration Storage
Implementation/Pattern Security
Enterprise Cost
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Business force
• A needs assessment from the business community should be considered first,
in order to craft a successful solution.
• Business and IT will partner together to identify innovative solutions that
satisfy requirements and adhere to IT strategy and standards.
• Architects transform ideas and concepts into systems and solutions; yielding
the definition of business processes and services by applying their broad
domain knowledge and business expertise
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Operation force
• Non-functional requirements, such as system health monitoring,
administration, service level agreements, and operational concerns usually
comes from the business and IT operations.
• Despite not originating from direct client needs, meeting these requirements
and pursuing operational excellence is a vital component of any architectural
work
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Aestheticism Force
• Artistry and aestheticism should come into play because of human interaction
with the systems we create.
• Architectural design delights people and raises their spirits.
• Seamless, effortless and attractive user interface will enhance customer
experience and engagement.
• Helping business with right mix of technology, process, and pragmatism is a
combination of both science and art. For that, left and right brains should be
fused to think outside of box
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Future force
• In addition to current requirements, architects have to consider the relevance
of the solution for next five to ten years, so that a sound and solid
architecture can be built to cater the expected growth pattern.
• Think ahead by introducing abstraction layers (boxes on flow chart or
interfaces in code), but defer implementation until it is required.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Simplicity force
• Simplicity not only improves the understandability of the system to its
stakeholders, but also saves cost in the long run.
• However, sometimes complexity is unavoidable in the enterprise.
• Architects should be able to identify and manage the necessary complexity by
abstraction or decomposition, and prevent the design entropy from taking
hold.
• In the real world, complex systems evolve from simple working systems
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Change force
• In order to be competitive in the market place, we have to embrace and
adopt changes quickly.
• For this reason, systems should be easily configurable using metadata and
properties.
• Architecture will be better off if it is based on common foundation and
building blocks to enable agility and flexibility
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Process force
• Outdated business processes and custom solutions should be reengineered to
deliver both current and future requirements.
• Standardized and integrated business processes build core capabilities for
execution and growth.
• Industry standard processes are appropriate for most functions, unless a clear
competitive reason exists for a custom solution.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Integration force
• Integration plays a major role in sharing data between applications as well as
external business in the case of corporate acquisitions.
• To maintain flexibility and interoperability, integration should be loosely-
coupled and standard-based.
• Common integration patterns and messaging protocols prevent the
proliferation of redundant technologies and reduce maintenance costs
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Implementation/Pattern Force
• Architects need to provide implementation details like object models (UML),
data models (ERD), shared components, data-flow diagrams, dependency
graphs, service APIs, communication protocols, messaging structure, etc. to
the delivery team.
• These patterns, frameworks, and standards play an important role in
architecture design.
• Patterns are proven solutions of a problem within a given context.
• Frameworks are the implementation kits for architecture and design patterns.
• Technology standards are used to improve interoperability of the system.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Enterprise Force
• Having enterprise systems, shared IT infrastructure, and company-wide core
data store provides global synergy, promotes efficiency of processes, and
saves overhead costs, compared to building business silos for each business
vertical.
• Focus should be on system reusability, core business processes and master
data management
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Constraint/Environment Force
• In the organization, there may be some constraints that inevitably need to be
addressed. These constraints can be related to personnel, technology, or
time.
• We need to balance those constraints while designing the architecture.
• Architecture is also influenced by many environmental factors such as the
organization’s structure and culture, as well as individual employee’s
influence and corporate politics.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Failure Force
• Protecting systems from a single point of failure is achieved by considering
fault-tolerance, redundancy, and data replication in the architecture.
• Over time all hardware and software systems fail. We need to plan for success
scenarios, as well as failure scenarios in order to mitigate this risk.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Channel Force
• Companies target different customer segments via multiple channels, such as
mobile, web, social media, and on premises kiosks to provide unique and
differentiating user experiences.
• Architects need to consider various tangible devices that are available to
reach the consumer, and their related technologies at the client tier for mass
adaption
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Content Force
• Content such as data and information is an enterprise asset that needs to be
governed and delivered in an efficient way.
• Content sourcing, integration, and distribution are some of the important
aspects of content strategy
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Platform Force
• Platform covers the operating systems, virtual servers, middleware, database,
and other technologies that deliver products.
• They play a major role in overall architecture in application and data space.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Infrastructure Force
• To design a highly scalable and reliable infrastructure, architects consider
server sizing and cluster environments to balance the workload for multiple
servers and to protect the system from single point of failure.
• Infrastructure includes hardware stacks and the datacenter facility
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Network Force
• To design a distributed system for a globalized environment, we have to
consider next-generation networks including mobile and cloud and prepare
deployment topologies with the proper network segmentation and firewall
protected perimeter security.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Storage Force
• Protecting data’s integrity is one of the most important elements in IT.
• These assets should be stored in a persistent storage medium such as NAS,
SAN.
• Attention should be paid to define data replication strategy, backup and
retention policy, restore and cleanup procedure.
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Security force
• Companies formulate security policies to meet the legal and regulatory
requirements of compliance, governance, and privacy in addition to
protecting the organization and its brand from various risks.
• These policies are enforced as part of network security, application and data
security, platform security, and physical security
 Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
• Cost Force
• Minimizing cost and maximizing quality is everybody’s business in IT.
• Architects explore multiple of design options and their associated trade-offs
in order to measure their cost and effectiveness before deciding the best
possible solution of the business problem.
• Efficient technology is always good for company’s bottom-line.
Architecture Design Forces (ADF)
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• In order to manage architecture development effectively, fifteen(15)
processes have been defined in the lifecycle.
• These processes are agile and iterative, and are grouped into five(5)
phases:
• planning, design, management (from development area), optimization
(optimization area) and
• automation (automation area) as shown below.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)

Fig. architecture development lifecycle

Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
Table: Processes, Phases & Areas in Architecture Development Lifecycle
Area Phase Process
Planning/ Strategy (4) Identify business vision & strategy
Development Plan stakeholder management
Define architecture & technology strategy
Assess current architecture
Design/ Execution (4) Design target architecture
Conduct gap analysis
Develop execution roadmap
Build reference architecture
Management/ Governance (5) Review architecture with stakeholders
Initiate a quick-win project
Perform implementation governance
Manage lifecycle changes
Manage architecture assets
Optimization Optimization (1) Improve architecture & process continuously
Automation Automation (1) Automate lifecycle with tool & technology
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Identify business vision and strategy
• Business vision and strategic plan are identified in this process. Architecture is
initiated by a business case and its objectives. This will form the basis of
business architecture.
• Plan stakeholder management (requirement management)
• Stakeholders are identified for the architecture initiative. Managing their
expectations, requirements, and communication needs are keys to success of
any architecture implementation.
• Relationship management, communication, and negotiation play crucial parts
in this process
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Define architecture and technology strategy
• Management and strategic direction are defined by technology standards,
asset governance, and portfolio management.
• Key technology decisions such as buy versus build or cloud versus premises
are also considered as aspects of this strategy.
• Assess current architecture
• Architecture assessment is performed by reviewing the overall requirements
of the new system and comparing them with the state of the current
architecture using SWOT, MoSCoW, and other techniques.
• Based upon this assessment, a list of best practices is recommended for
architecture advancement and adoption in later phase
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Design target architecture
• In order to execute the proposed business strategy or to meet business
requirements, the target architecture with future processes is developed
using the aforementioned architecture design forces.
• Sometimes transition architectures are identified to deliver continuous
business value before reaching the target architecture.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Conduct gap analysis
• The current and target architectures are compared and gaps between them
are identified.
• Impacts on upstream and downstream systems and existing processes are
analyzed; identifying dependencies, synergies, risks, assumptions, and
constraints that should be addressed during implementation.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Develop execution roadmap
• Based on identified gaps, an execution roadmap with multiple project and
program initiatives and sequencing action plan is developed to migrate from
current state to future state, based on business priorities, costs, and expected
value.
• Build reference architecture (architecture pattern)
• Reference architecture provides the architectural foundation and guidance via
solution blueprints and models for future implementations across multiple
organizations or business units.
• Architects need to implement standard, reusable platforms, and formulate
best practices and repeatable patterns in their own technology’s “center of
excellence”.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Review architecture with stakeholders
• Architects need to socialize their solutions with stakeholders in order to
garner support and establish consensus.
• Engineering solutions, architecture views, and roadmap are reviewed with
stakeholders and validated for viability and feasibility in regularly scheduled
checkpoint meetings to get their approval and buy-in.
• Initiate a quick-win project
• In order to realize the business value quickly, it is recommended to begin with
a foundation project that emphasizes accelerating the implementation’s time-
to-market.
• This project prepares the organization and IT environment for the future
solutions that will be implemented.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Perform implementation governance
• An architecture team will manage and monitor where the architecture
standards and guidelines that are being followed by the delivery teams during
regularly scheduled project architecture reviews
• Manage lifecycle changes
• This process ensures that the architecture responds to the changing needs of
business during its lifecycle.
• Architecture changes need to be evaluated and analyzed for their impact and
then managed proactively in a controlled manner.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Manage architecture assets
• Architecture assets are used to communicate the stakeholder’s concerns and
referred to as a knowledge area for future architecture works.
• Deliverable artifacts such as views, models, catalogs and other assets need to
be recorded and managed within a content repository in order to be
congruent with version, approval, and access controls.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Improve architecture and process continuously
• Continuous improvement of the product, process, and personnel is a key
element in delivering quality solutions.
• Architectures are improved and optimized iteratively to maximize their value
to the business.
• Similarly, lifecycle processes should be improved and streamlined over time in
order to achieve efficiency.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Automate lifecycle with tool and technology
• Architecture development is a process that has specific objectives and uses
tools and techniques to convert inputs into output deliverables.
• Architecture development and the management of its processes depend
heavily on architect’s skill and experience.
• Appropriate tools and technologies should be used to automate some parts
of the development lifecycle in order to assist architects in a well-established
architecture practice.
 Architecture Development Lifecycle (ADLC)
• Organizations can tailor ADMIT by customizing its design forces and
implementing its processes, based on their own needs, size of their
organization, and scale of their solution
 Exercise
• What are the 2 components of Architecture design methodology
• What is Architecture Design Force (ADF)
• What is Architecture development life cycle (ADLC)
• Give 5 Architecture Design Forces
• What are the 5 phases of Architecture Development Life Cycle (ADLC)