Capability Pattern: Agree the Technical Approach
Reach agreement on a viable technical approach to developing the solution.
DescriptionWork Breakdown StructureTeam AllocationWork Product Usage
Relationships
Context
Description

The goal of this activity is to define a technical approach to the system that supports the project requirements, within the constraints placed on the system and the development team. The architect should do the following: 

  • Work with the team to create an initial sketch of the technical approach to the proposed system
  • Ensure that the technical decisions are adequately captured and communicated
  • Ensure that the team has enough information to understand the approach being taken

The work done here does not seek to produce a detailed and comprehensive technical specification for the system. Rather, the approach should be to decide the overall technical approach at a high level.

Emphasis should be placed on proving the architecture with working software. If the solution is similar to a system produced previously (or is a well-known solution domain) then it will probably be good enough to reference that example as evidence of the feasibility of the approach. In some cases, it may be necessary to develop one or more prototypes to validate some of the decisions or clarify some of the requirements.

The conclusion of this work should produce just enough information to communicate the architecture to the team and demonstrate its viability to the customer so that the project can move forward, enabling the architecture to be refined and baselined.

Properties
Event Driven
Multiple Occurrences
Ongoing
Optional
PlannedYes
Repeatable
Staffing

This activity is best carried out collaboratively by the team, with the architect acting as a focal point for coordinating and facilitating the decisions.

Usage
Usage Notes

The major effort occurs early in the Inception phase; thereafter, the system should be assessed at every iteration to ensure that the design is still on track with the architecture.