Phase A begins the ADM cycle. It develops the Architecture Vision — a high-level view of where we are going — and produces the Statement of Architecture Work (SAW), the formal project charter that must be approved before Phase B can begin.
Phase A: Architecture Vision is the first phase of the ADM cycle. It establishes the scope, constraints, and expectations for this specific architecture engagement — distinct from the Preliminary Phase which set up the EA Capability overall.
- ▸🌟 Develops a high-level, aspirational Architecture Vision for the initiative
- ▸📋 Produces the Statement of Architecture Work (SAW) — the project charter
- ▸👥 Identifies and classifies project-specific stakeholders and their concerns
- ▸📣 Creates a Communications Plan for the architecture engagement
- ▸⚠️ Assesses transformation risks and organizational readiness
- ▸📐 Confirms Architecture Principles from Preliminary apply to this initiative
- ▸✅ SAW must be formally APPROVED before proceeding to Phase B
Explore Phase A's five key outputs — what each contains, CDIPD examples, and exam traps:
- ▸High-level summary
- ▸Aspirational / north star
- ▸No detailed architecture yet
- ▸Produced in Phase A
- ▸Detailed architecture specification
- ▸Baseline + Target architecture
- ▸Full BDAT domain coverage
- ▸Produced in Phases B, C, D
Phase A is where project-specific stakeholder management begins. Every stakeholder has Concerns; architects create Views (specified by Viewpoints) to address those Concerns.
- ▸🔍 Identify ALL stakeholders with an interest in THIS initiative
- ▸🗂️ Classify by power and interest (Power/Interest grid)
- ▸💬 Capture each stakeholder's specific CONCERNS
- ▸👁️ Map concerns → Views to be produced in Phases B/C/D
- ▸📣 Communications Plan defines HOW each stakeholder is engaged
- ▸⚠️ Exam trap: Phase A stakeholders are PROJECT-SPECIFIC; Preliminary handled EA-wide stakeholders
The distinction between Preliminary Phase outputs and Phase A outputs is heavily tested. Key rule: Preliminary sets up the EA Capability; Phase A starts using it for a specific initiative.
- ▸📐 Architecture Principles → CONFIRMED in Phase A (created in Preliminary)
- ▸📋 Statement of Architecture Work → Phase A output (project-specific)
- ▸🏛️ Architecture Board → established in Preliminary, USED in Phase A to approve SAW
- ▸🌟 Architecture Vision → Phase A (high-level target for THIS initiative)
- ▸✂️ Tailored ADM → created in Preliminary, APPLIED from Phase A onwards
- ▸👥 Stakeholder Map → Phase A (project-specific); EA stakeholders → Preliminary
One of the most tested distinctions in OGEA-101: Phase A produces the Vision (high-level); Phases B/C/D produce the Architecture Definition Document (detailed). These are NOT the same thing.
- ▸🌟 Architecture Vision: high-level aspirational target — the "north star"
- ▸📄 Architecture Definition Document: detailed baseline + target per BDAT domain
- ▸Vision = "We will have a world-class semantic search in 6 months"
- ▸ADD = "Data Architecture: document schema, vector index structure, retrieval pipeline..."
- ▸Vision produced in Phase A; ADD produced progressively in Phases B, C, D
- ▸⚠️ If a question asks "which document shows detailed Technology Architecture?" → ADD (not Vision)