How to support the ADM work with applicable techniques

Thornbury Utilities is delivering a field workforce scheduling capability through capability-based planning. The first capability increment was planned for Transition Architecture 1. The scheduling software and device rollout finished on time, but the revised dispatch process and crew training belong to a separate HR project that is six months late. The programme board is about to report the increment as complete because the system is live.

What should the architect advise?

1. AReport the increment as complete, because the tools dimension was the costliest part.A capability increment delivers value only when its dimensions are in place together; a live system without trained crews and new processes does not yet provide the capability.
2. BMove the process and training work into the next ADM cycle as a new change request.Deferring the remaining dimensions to a new cycle hides the shortfall and breaks the link between the increment and its planned value.
3. CSplit the capability into a technology capability and an HR capability so each can be reported separately.Splitting the capability along organizational lines contradicts the cross-organizational intent of capability-based planning and makes value measurement meaningless.
4. DTreat the increment as not yet delivered, re-plan the process and training work into the same Transition Architecture, and measure the increment's business value only when all its dimensions are in place.Capability-based planning coordinates all dimensions of an increment so that business value is realized and measured at a Transition Architecture; the increment is incomplete until they all land.

Ashby Retail is using capability-based planning to deliver an omnichannel order fulfilment capability in three capability increments over 18 months. The programme manager asks the architects which ADM construct the increments should be aligned to when the Implementation and Migration Plan is built in Phases E and F.

Which ADM construct should the capability increments be aligned to?

1. ATransition ArchitecturesCapability increments are aligned to Transition Architectures, which describe the enterprise at intermediate states and are realized through work packages in the Implementation and Migration Plan.
2. BArchitecture ContractsArchitecture Contracts are agreements between development partners and sponsors used in Phase G governance; they do not define intermediate capability states.
3. CBusiness scenariosBusiness scenarios help identify and understand business requirements, mostly in Phase A; they are not the structure for staging delivery.
4. DThe Communications PlanThe Communications Plan schedules stakeholder communication; it does not describe the intermediate architecture states in which value is delivered.

In Phase C, Marlow Freight's architects have three alternatives for the target Application Architecture of its customs declarations system: extend the current package, replace it with a software-as-a-service product, or build a set of new services. Stakeholders from finance, operations and compliance have different priorities, and the Architecture Board wants a defensible selection.

Which two actions should the architects take as part of trade-off analysis? Each correct answer presents part of the solution.

1. AAgree evaluation criteria with the stakeholders, drawing on requirements, architecture principles, cost and risk.Agreed criteria make the comparison transparent and ensure each stakeholder group's concerns are represented in the evaluation.
2. BDocument how each alternative affects the stakeholders' concerns, and record the selected alternative and the rationale.Recording impacts and rationale lets the Architecture Board and later teams understand why the alternative was chosen and what was traded away.
3. CEliminate any alternative that requires new building blocks, because reuse is always preferred.Reuse is one criterion among several; excluding alternatives on that basis alone pre-empts the analysis.
4. DDefer the selection to the delivery team in Phase G so that they can choose during implementation.The target architecture must be selected before migration planning and implementation governance; Phase G governs against an agreed architecture.
5. EChoose the alternative favoured by the most senior stakeholder and record the others as rejected.Deciding by seniority bypasses the evaluation and leaves no defensible rationale for the board.

Architects at Dovecote Insurance are defining a Customer Notification building block that sends policy reminders by email, SMS and app message. Several applications will use it, and the team expects to change the messaging vendor within three years.

Which characteristic will most make Customer Notification a good building block?

1. AIt has a clearly defined interface and can be replaced by another implementation that meets the same specification.Good building blocks have defined boundaries and published interfaces, can interoperate with other building blocks, and can be replaced without affecting their consumers.
2. BIt includes the code of every consuming application so that changes are released together.Bundling consumers into the building block removes its boundary and makes it harder, not easier, to reuse or replace.
3. CIt is specified only in terms of the current vendor's product version.Tying the definition to one product version makes replacement expensive; product detail belongs to a Solution Building Block that fulfils a more general specification.
4. DIt is documented only as a diagram so that it is easy for executives to read.A diagram is one artifact describing the building block; a building block needs a specification of functions and interfaces, not just a picture.