Understanding ADM — Architecture Development Method
→ IT is ever-evolving. If you are in the software industry, you should have worked in different areas of projects.
→ These can be developers, QA, Product owners, Architects, Scrum Masters, and many more.
→ Did you know before Software Development starts or before the Architecture of the application starts, there is a standard way to choose which software to choose, which technology, and even which Agile Software to choose?
→ There is a company called The Open Group — that provides TOGAF standard which is popular and used worldwide.
ADM
→ This is the heart of TOGAF.
→ ADM is a process to define Enterprise Architecture.
→ It is tested and repeatable.
→ I will try to make it short and from a high level so that we should be aware.
First Stage — Preliminary or Prelim
→ The ADM preliminary stage is like making a plan before building a house.
→ It’s the first step where architects and designers figure out what the building should look like, what rooms it needs, and how everything should be arranged.
→ They also consider the location, budget, and any special requirements. It’s all about brainstorming and making initial decisions before starting the actual construction work.
Phase A — Vision
→ In this stage the vision of the project is decided. Why should we create this application or ways to solve some business needs.
Phase B, C, D— BDAT
→ BDAT is simply the four pillars/domains of a project or application:
a. Business Architecture — Why build this app?
b. Data Architecture — Data to be secure, what Data Architecture to follow, etc.
c. Technology Architecture — Which tech stack to use — Java, Javascript, Python, PHP, etc. and why?
d. Application Architecture — This is basically Development Architecture, Infrastructure level planning, which cloud?
→ In this phase, Architecture is defined and all stakeholders should sign off for the same.
Phase E, F — Planning
→ This is basically the roadmap for transition architecture.
→ I was once working in a company where was given for technology modification. It was already built in .NET, now we have to modernize it into Javascript and AWS Cloud.
→ We have also architected the database relations in PostgreSQL DB.
→ The idea is before it was given to us somewhere at the higher level it was agreed. This is in Phases E and F.
Phase G— Implementation
→ Here Architect works with the — development team, to get the work implemented and establish the Architecture contract.
→ All the software development work comes here 🙂
Phase H— Change Management
→ This deals with the phase after the architecture is implemented.
→ This is where we make changes, where want to kick off a new ADM cycle.
→ There are things in the centre called Requirements Management — ongoing phase.
→ Here we look at:
a. things that are happening intermediate period of time,
b. examining changes in your industry,
c. and the new business requirements coming from the business team — here we start the ADM cycle all over again.
Closing Thoughts
Architecture planning is important for all projects. TOGAF is a standard followed in today’s time for software development.
There are lots of organizations that follow this standard. Some of them are listed above.
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