Architecture Contracts throughout the ADM

A joint agreement on what will be delivered

An Architecture Contract is a joint agreement between development partners and sponsors. It covers the deliverables, quality, and fitness-for-purpose of the architecture, as well as how the partners will work together.

Historically, the contract bound the sponsor to the architecture function or IS department. As more and more services are provided by integrators, application providers, and service providers coordinated by that function, it must now formalize agreements between all parties developing and delivering the architecture.

Where contracts appear in the ADM

Identify the phase and the parties: this is the favorite angle of exam questions.

• Phase A: the Statement of Architecture Work acts as a contract between the architecting organization and the sponsor (or IT governance function).
• During Phases B to D: development of one or more domains may be outsourced to an integrator or provider, under contract.
• End of Phase F: once the Architecture Definition Document is finalized, a contract is set up with the parties who will build and deploy the systems.
• Start of Phase G: the contract binds the architecture function to the function in charge of implementing the architecture.
• After deployment: a contract with business users frames the use of the delivered architecture.

Two families of content

FURTHER STUDY · APPLICATION DETAILS

The design and development contract (the Statement of Architecture Work being the example) typically includes background, nature of the agreement, scope, principles and requirements, conformance requirements, development roles and processes, target architecture measures, deliverable phases, a prioritized joint workplan, a time window, and metrics.

The Business Users’ Architecture Contract, agreed with business users, repeats scope and strategic and conformance requirements, but adds the architecture adopters, business metrics, and a service level agreement.

A governed contract

Managing contracts in a governed way allows continuous monitoring of integrity, changes, decisions, and audit, and checks adherence to the enterprise’s principles, standards, and requirements. It also builds accountability, responsibility, and discipline around architecture artifacts.

The Architecture Board monitors and controls all aspects of the contracts, and the Phase G Compliance Assessments evaluate implementation against these commitments. Finally, involving the architecture team in procurement limits the risk of misinterpreting the Enterprise Architecture.