Key Solution Architecture Focus Areas During a Project

As a solution architect, you may at some point be involved in a critical, turbulent project where you must rely on technical, political, and social skills acquired over years in ICT.

Today's blog (prepared on a train to Coventry, London) reminds us that a general solution architect must consider certain fundamentals when handling complex projects; these system‑oriented considerations remain at the forefront throughout analysis, design, and construction phases.

Like most things in life, the listed items depend on the domain—e.g., a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) focuses on real‑time monitoring and data acquisition, while a retail banking application emphasizes regulatory compliance and reporting.

The list is not exhaustive but illustrates a common pattern in ICT projects: collect raw data, transform it into information, allow digital processes to consume it and generate reports, thereby enabling value‑adding activities for the organization.

The flow is illustrated below, with thought bubbles representing the areas listed in the subsequent tables.

Daily Solution Architecture Focus During a Project

Digital Data

Consideration

Description

Collect

How will project elements collect raw data—physical/logical sources and transport protocols?

Extract, Transform, Load

If data lacks structure, what molding or shaping is needed before storage?

Store

How will the system physically store data—raw, reorganized, indexed, with metadata?

Cleanse

Is data cleaning or isolation required, perhaps in a temporary staging area before use?

Protect

How will data be protected during collection, transformation, and storage to maintain integrity and prevent malicious activity?

Source

Understanding the origin of data—whether from SCADA devices, repositories, or third parties—is crucial for upstream consistency.

Ingest

Validation is required at the ingestion stage, especially for raw data linked to multiple objects such as spatial coordinates.

Information

Consideration

Description

Governance

The “information lifecycle” demands extensive management throughout the project and post‑deployment.

Classification

Information, as an asset, needs classification for protective labeling and usage control.

Transformation

One of the biggest value‑adding activities is converting data into its representational form.

Governance

Control and usage of data must be managed to ensure compliance with enterprise standards and policies.

Visualization

Large data collections often require visual representation or simplification for consumption.

Cost

The actual and nominal costs of producing, retaining, and distributing information.

Intelligence

Grouping large data sets to produce information that, in turn, provides actionable intelligence.

Process Execution and Orchestration

Consideration

Description

Definition

Functional and non‑functional definitions of a process.

Orchestration

Orchestrating defined processes and associated triggers.

Interaction (Internal/External)

Processes may execute outside the organization, followed by integration.

BPM – Modeling

Actual modeling of business processes.

RACI

Roles and responsibilities for a process (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).

Execution

How is the process executed? What triggers or events start it?

Notation/Graphic Tools

Complex processes with many dependencies often require graphical tools to capture flows and swim‑lanes.

Reporting

Consideration

Description

Dynamic/Static Reporting

Static reports use predefined data sources and structures; dynamic reports generate on‑the‑fly without fixed schemas.

Localization

Global deployments must consider localization requirements, e.g., compliance in Brazil.

Data Source/Query Executor

Fundamental “bread‑and‑butter” of a solution: what sources and queries will reports be based on?

Structure

Charts

Templates

Elements and Styles

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