Target state architecture

The target state architecture describes how the new digital and technology capability will meet the business vision for the delivery of services and its strategic objectives.

This guideline helps practitioners to articulate a future state design or architecture vision, based on digital or ICT strategy document, including a service and business process architecture, information architecture, application architecture and technology architecture.

Audience

A practitioner in the context of this guideline can include one or more of the following roles:

• Enterprise architects
• Digital or ICT strategic planners
• Information managers.

The development of a target state architecture should be led by an Enterprise architect operating as part of an integrated planning team.

Some of the key elements of the target state architecture including the vision, objectives and strategies should have already been documented as part of digital or ICT planning activities.

The practitioner will need to review all outputs from the previous activities to properly understand both the current state, emerging trends in business and technology and the desired vision for enabling digital or ICT capabilities within the organisation.

Practitioners should review outputs from the following guidelines:

• Current state
• Horizon scan
• Digital and technology trends
• Vision
• Strategic objectives
• Benefits, business changes and enablers.

The target state architecture should be defined across all layers of an enterprise architecture including business (services and processes), information, applications and underpinning technology assets or services.

Queensland Government agencies should refer to the Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture (QGEA) for guidance.

Practitioners can use the The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) for detailed advice on how to develop an overarching architecture vision and target state architecture.

At the business layer, TOGAF recommends the use of modelling techniques to convey the interactions between people and information participating in the conduct of services and processes.

The type of modelling employed by the practitioner will depend on the level of detail to be provided in the target architecture. For example, business process models are likely to be too detailed at this stage, so it is more appropriate to use techniques that provide more of a conceptual or logical understanding of the overall business context. These can include modelling techniques that use domain names from the business enterprise architecture classification models used across the agency. Industry architectures and patterns may also be useful.

Using business scenarios

Business scenarios can be used as part of developing the architecture vision and target state architecture. Business scenarios help better identify and understand business needs the architecture must address. According to TOGAF, a business scenario describes:

• a business process, application, or set of applications that can be enabled by the architecture
• the business and technology environment
• the people and computing components (called ‘actors’) who execute the scenario
• the desired outcome of proper execution.

Where possible the business scenario should be linked to business outcomes and benefits identified in the strategic planning documents of the agency including the digital or ICT strategy or plan documents.

A good business scenario is representative of a significant business need or problem and enables stakeholders to understand a solution’s value to the customer and the agency.

Some of the information required to construct business scenarios may already be available from the Vision guideline  planning activities, particularly in circumstances where customer journey mapping and service blueprints have been used to assist to develop the service vision.

A value chain diagram or business context diagram may also be suitable for describing the business target architecture for planning purposes.

The scope of level of detail at which the target state information architecture is modelled will depend on the scope of the planning engagement. If the of the planning engagement is agency wide, it may only be possible to describe a conceptual model for the information architecture elements.

This may include domains from the enterprise architecture classification frameworks to describe the future information requirements, highlighting the information elements that will be leveraged or changed as well as the information elements that are new.

If the planning engagement relates to specific architecture domains, it may be more relevant to use logical information models such as entity relationship diagrams. This will provide a greater level of detail providing opportunities to describe the interactions between stakeholders as well as the information elements required.

At the application and technology layers, practitioners should demonstrate both the current and future application and technology components or services required to deliver on the digital or ICT strategic direction and vision.

Industry architectures and patterns are useful in the application and technology layers including the use of domain modelling techniques that leverage the enterprise architecture classification frameworks used across the agency.

As part of the target state architecture, it can be helpful to make the distinction between the application and technology components that are foundational, optimised or transformational. This will provide greater understanding of the components that are essential to realising the longer-term vision and will represent significant dependencies in related roadmaps and plans. It also demonstrates the level of technology capability that already exists in the organisation that can be further leveraged to provide greater, agency wide value.

The target state architecture is iterative and it may take several rounds of consultation with stakeholders before the document can be finalised.

It may also be useful to prepare a presentation outlining the significant elements of the architecture vision and target state architecture. The presentation should be aimed at promoting understanding across the business of how the digital and technology capability proposed will deliver on the business objectives, outcomes and benefits as well as the vision for service delivery.

Not all business representatives and executive management will understand architecture documents. We recommended practitioners seek help from marketing and communications specialists within their agency to conduct an editorial review and support with the overall presentation of architecture documents.

Refer to the Gap analysis guideline for more information.