Three-week Architecture Review Initiative
As-is documentation, a gap analysis against your stated business objectives, and a prioritized target-state roadmap. The output is one document: an architecture brief with the roadmap inside it. You can use it in a CIO hiring decision, a board meeting, or an investment review.
Who this is for
An outside read on whether your current architecture supports where the business is going.
CIO / CTO
You inherited an architecture and want an outside read before committing to a multi-year roadmap.
CEO
You are about to make a major technology investment and want an outside read on whether the architecture can carry it.
COO
Scaling is slowing and you suspect the technology. You want the constraint located.
Board
You want to know whether technology can support the strategic plan.
Scope
What this initiative delivers, and what it does not.
Scope is fixed at signing. Items marked TOP are available through the Technology Operating Partner (TOP) Program. Items marked with a firm type need a separate engagement with that kind of firm.
In scope
- As-is architecture documented from existing diagrams, system inventories, and interviews
- Business-alignment review: where architecture supports stated objectives, where it constrains them
- Gap analysis across scalability, integration, technical debt, vendor concentration, and key-person dependency
- Target-state recommendation at the architectural-pattern level
- Investment roadmap prioritized by business impact and dependency
- Findings mapped to TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework, for enterprise architecture) and the AWS and Azure Well-Architected frameworks (for cloud workloads) where they apply
Out of scope
- Detailed system or component-level redesignEngineering firm
- Vendor selection or RFP execution for target-state componentsTOP
- Implementation of any roadmap itemTOP
- Code-level review or refactoring guidanceEngineering firm
- Network or infrastructure engineering deliverablesEngineering firm
Inputs
What we need from you
Provided at kickoff. Missing inputs delay the initiative; they do not change scope.
- Existing architecture diagrams, system inventories, or integration maps. If diagrams do not exist, we rebuild them from interviews in week 1. If that takes longer, the schedule moves and the scope stays fixed.
- Stated business objectives or strategic plan (formal or informal is fine)
- Three to five interviews (CIO or CTO, engineering lead, business unit lead, optionally CFO and CEO)
Timeline
Week by week
Status updates run throughout the work. The direction check with the CIO comes at the end of week 2, before the final brief.
Week 1
As-is documentation and intake
Existing diagrams reviewed or reconstructed; system inventory finalized. Document intake and access setup.
Week 2
Interviews and gap analysis
Three to five interviews to validate as-is and surface friction. Scalability, integration, debt, vendor concentration, and key-person mapping. Gap analysis reviewed with the CIO at the end of the week.
Week 3
Target-state, roadmap, walkthrough
Architectural-pattern recommendation, prioritized investment roadmap. Final brief and roadmap delivered with walkthrough.
Output
What you walk away with
- Written architecture brief (as-is + gap analysis + target-state)
- Prioritized investment roadmap with effort and dependency markers
- Walkthrough call with CIO and one business stakeholder
Limits
What this initiative is not
This initiative produces an architectural-pattern recommendation, not a detailed system design. Vendor selection, RFP execution, and implementation work are outside the initiative window. The roadmap is sequenced by business impact and known dependencies. Revalidate the sequence before you commit to execution.
If you are a portfolio company
How the work fits a PE-backed company.
For a PE-backed company, the architecture brief is read against the hold period and the board calendar.
- Board cycle. The brief is timed to land before the next quarterly board meeting.
- Exit timing. A buyer's diligence will look at the architecture. Where relevant, roadmap items are tagged with the exit timeline they affect.
- Add-on integration. Findings tied to an acquisition are listed separately, so the deal team can price them in or sequence the integration around them.
Related
Initiatives that pair with this one
FAQ
Questions buyers ask first
How long does an enterprise architecture assessment take?
The Architecture Review Initiative takes three weeks (15 working days). It covers current state, gaps against your business goals, a target-state pattern, and a prioritized roadmap. A full architecture across the business, data, application, and technology domains is a larger job and is scoped separately. Once the current-state map exists, every vendor decision and board discussion can point to it.
Should we start with current state or target state architecture?
Start with current state. A target-state diagram drawn without a baseline cannot be sequenced or costed. The current-state work shows which target-state moves are possible this year and which need more time. Preside delivers current state first, then the target state at the architectural-pattern level.
For your role
Pages for your role
For CEOs →
The current-state baseline that turns "we need to rebuild everything" into a sequenced plan with named decisions.
For CFOs →
How architecture debt shows up in spend and in delivery risk.
For CIOs and Heads of IT →
How the current-state architecture becomes the running reference for vendor and platform decisions.
After the initiative
If you want the work to continue
This initiative is a one-time, fixed-price piece of work that ends with the brief and roadmap. If you want the roadmap tracked and reported to the board each quarter, the Technology Operating Partner Program carries it forward. You choose the Program level after you have the brief.
Ready to scope this
An architecture brief and roadmap your board can read. Three weeks.
Tell us the situation in a few sentences. We reply within one business day to confirm fit or point you to a better one.
Not sure this is the right initiative for your situation? Take the four-question path-finder for a personalized recommendation.