Solution architecture

Understand business needs and concerns

Solution architecture focuses on understanding the needs and concerns of the business to make the right technical decisions when undertaking IT initiatives.

Provide technical leadership

Solution architecture provides technical leadership for projects to identify and design the right solution to meet business and project objectives. This may include, but is not limited to, deciding:

Whether to build or buy
What technology platforms to use
How the IT solution will scale
How to integrate with other systems
What development approach is suitable.

Implement the right IT systems

To ensure that you get the right IT results for your business, solution architecture involves aligning IT systems with strategic plans, adhering to enterprise architecture standards, and supporting projects through governance processes and review boards.

Address non-functional requirements

Solution architects actively engage in understanding and addressing non-functional requirements such as usability, reliability, performance and supportability, as these are critical to the success of delivering IT projects.

Architecture resources

See our solution architecture resources which include recorded webinars, ebooks and frequently asked questions.

Architecture training

See the full set of architecture training delivered by Equinox IT.

How we can help...

We work with you to make the right technology decisions on your projects and to grow your people to become architectural leaders.

Equinox IT has a dedicated team of architecture consultants in our Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand offices. Our people combine a broad understanding of information technology and solution delivery with a deep technical knowledge to help you make better, informed technical decisions.

We can help you to:

Assess the capability of your architecture team
Identify and implement suitable architecture practices and frameworks
Identify the right IT solution for your business and provide technical oversight to your deliver team
Lead solution architecture activities for a team or project
Work with your technology teams and vendors as your trusted technical advisor
Assure that your technology decisions are robust and that architectural standards are adhered to
Resource solution architecture roles on your projects
Grow the capability of your architecture team members through training and mentoring.

Examples of our solution architecture work

Architecture and technical quality assurance

Architectural leadership for a central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided architectural oversight of an IT programme to support the Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP). Activities included reviewing and updating elements of the ISSP; taking responsibility for architectural standards, patterns and direction for core and secondary business systems; modelling the current architecture state; creating a risk-based roadmap for technology refresh; advising on structure, roles and candidate selection; reviewing architecture practices; aligning architectural processes with continuous delivery, operations and service management; and creating a technology roadmap for core business systems and infrastructure.
Deliverables: Updated ISSP, current state architecture models, technology roadmaps, updated architecture processes and practices.
Architectural recommendations for a consortia of local authorities

What we did: Equinox IT worked with a consortia of local authorities, who had agreed a shared strategic plan, to support and progress shared service and collaboration opportunities that would benefit their combined regions. As part of the programme, Equinox IT was asked to undertake an ICT services assessment and report on findings and recommendations. Activities included identifying current state, issues, opportunities and options for shared services across the consortia; performing a capability assessment of fibre networks across the region; and documenting findings and recommendations.
Deliverables: Findings and recommendations report.
Architecture advice for a cross-government programme

What we did: Being presented with deliverables of varying quality and having difficulty ensuring consistency and integration between projects, the programme director requested that Equinox IT provide both remedial and forward-looking development process, quality and architecture guidance. The role included the provision of architectural guidance and stewardship across the full solution delivery spectrum, from involvement in RFP preparation through to ongoing quality assurance of vendor deliverables in deployed systems.
Deliverables: Programme solution architecture document, statement of work acceptance requirements, SLA requirements definition, contractual requirements definition, architecture review, code review, and standards adherence including IEEE 1028, 730 and 1471.
Architecture advice for an education sector organisation

What we did: Provided advisory and review services to support, guide and mentor the client’s information systems team to help them develop key enterprise architecture deliverables to support the client’s business and IT strategies. Activities included facilitating client workshops, identifying technical architecture issues, identifying candidate architecture options to pragmatically address issues, identifying candidate architecture artefacts and deliverables, prioritising and planning architecture activities, and mentoring and reviewing enterprise architecture development.
Deliverables: Architectural issues, candidate architecture options, candidate architecture artefacts and deliverables, findings and recommendations.
Architecture advice for an education sector organisation

What we did: Equinox IT provided advice to an education sector organisation on their processes, technologies, software license management and capacity to resource new projects. The activities included business and data analysis for identity and access management, solution architecture for software licence management, assessing the suitability of current practices and technologies, and providing recommendations.
Deliverables: Identity and access management audit and analysis, service management data analysis, software asset management solution architecture, internet processes and technology assessment report.
Architecture practice improvement for an education sector organisation

What we did: Equinox IT provided architecture services to an education sector organisation to help them implement an effective architecture practice. Activities included improving strategic planning capability – particularly the creation of meaningful roadmaps and plans to communicate direction outside of the information systems team; pragmatically capturing and modelling data, processes and systems using an open standard modelling language (ArchiMate); clarifying the purpose and scope of systems across the organisation; reviewing appropriate reference architectures and standards (Educause NGDLE, SCORM…); creating architectural principles and standards, and embedding them throughout analysis, design and implementation; improving the architecture team's consulting capability and working relationship with client business units outside of IT; aligning architectural processes with programme, project and change management, development and operation's processes; and mentoring the new architect roles as the practice was embedded.
Deliverables: Architecture team principles, standards and practices; introduction of ArchiMate; and architecture team capability improvement.
Business case technical input for a central government agency

What we did: Provision of architecture services to identify candidate architectures, define scope, investigate technical options, and estimate costs as input into a business case for the client to undertake a three-year programme of work to modernise its core system. The programme also included modernising the client’s software development approach and Equinox IT helped define the introduction of new development and delivery approaches as part of the business case. Activities included defining an architectural target state for the modernisation programme; facilitating workshops and meetings with stakeholders and vendors to define, refine, and validate the business case and estimates; and developing a costing and estimation model.
Deliverables: The completion and approval of the project business case.
Core business system infrastructure design for a central government agency

What we did: Providing infrastructure design and establishing an operating model to provide stable and effective operational support for a central government core business system undergoing a major refresh. The system represented the first use by the client of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). Equinox IT also enabled the client to have the future flexibility to contractually separate solution hosting, operational support, application support, and the actual staffing of the operation to separate vendors. We provided the infrastructure and deployment architecture needed to ensure clean separation of these concerns.
Deliverables: Pre-production and production infrastructure design including mapping of the CMO (Current Mode of Operation) to the FMO (Future Mode of Operation); aligning IaaS, backup and network services with operational support model; service assurance roles and resource assurance roles; identification of risk likelihood and consequence, applicable controls and residual risk profile; identity and access management.
Core systems architecture services for a telecommunications organisation

What we did: Equinox IT reviewed and assessed the client’s core system architecture's and interdependencies; their software development practices, team capability, and code quality; and undertook a specific investigation into the impact of switching billing intervals. Activities included facilitating discovery workshops with the key system stakeholders and the development team; analysing the core systems architecture, data, and interdependencies; and reporting on findings.
Deliverables: Findings and recommendations report.
Enterprise architecture advice for a GLAM sector organisation

What we did: The incoming client CTO for a GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector client engaged Equinox IT to review the technology strategic plan and capital works programme, to provide guidance on whether their plan and projects were the best way to deliver on strategic business objectives, and whether the structure, processes, capability and capacity of the technology team were optimal to deliver the plan and work programme. The client was also establishing a programme management office (PMO), and had recently created a digital directorate, that were both implementing new planning and governance processes with a significant technology impact. Their proposed processes were reviewed and feedback provided to improve the alignment with technology planning and delivery.
Deliverables: Technology strategic plan review; technology capital works programme review; structure, roles and candidate selection advice; PMO and digital directorate process review.
Enterprise architecture model for a central government IT environment

What we did: Architecture services to collate, cross-reference, and verify business process, systems and architectural information to enable the creation of an ArchiMate enterprise architecture model with the goal of simplifying and rationalising the client's IT environment.
Deliverables: ArchiMate enterprise architecture model, architecture diagrams, and reports.
Enterprise architecture services for a private sector organisation

What we did: Equinox IT delivered services to establish an enterprise architecture that was aligned with the client's strategic direction and helped address organisational solution and data management issues.
Deliverables: Enterprise architecture principles, current state enterprise architecture model, inputs for 3-year programme plan, and enterprise architecture roadmap models.
IaaS Review for central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided a technical quality assurance review of a vendor's governance, ITIL service management approaches and supply chain management approaches for a cloud IaaS service offering. Activities included interviewing key people involved, reviewing procedures and approaches, and making recommendations.
Deliverables: IaaS solution review report.
Independent architecture advice for central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided independent architecture advice to a central government agency undertaking a complex core business replacement programme. The work involved several assignments over a number of years, with activities including reviewing solution architectures, identifying technical risks, providing software development and system integration guidance, assessing design processes, and recommending refinements.
Deliverables: RFP solution architecture enhancements, independent quality assurance reports, technical debt and risk review report.
Independent technical quality assurance for a central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided independent technical quality assurance for a central government agency for their infrastructure programmes including their merger with other organisations, the migration of their networks to an alternative provider, and migration and consolidation of datacentres. Activities included advising on structure, roles and candidate selection; reviewing the existing infrastructure roadmap; reviewing cross-project technical concerns; and facilitating cross-project technical collaboration between architects and technical leads.
Deliverables: Review findings and recommendations.
Infrastructure architecture services for a non-profit organisation

What we did: Equinox IT provided architecture services to identify, validate and blueprint the infrastructure required to support their strategic goals. This involved defining architectural principles and identifying and prioritising initiatives that would support organisational outcomes. We also provided enterprise architecture representation on the client’s ICT Architecture and Design Governance Meetings. Equinox IT also led the evaluation of approaches to digitise the client’s customer records, identifying a solution that more closely aligned with the client’s principles, requirements and operating model, and that could be implemented in a more progressive, cost-effective Agile manner. We assisted the client throughout the engagement of multiple vendors, and the establishment of ongoing vendor and change management practices to support iterative enhancement and support.
Deliverables: Draft Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP), represent Enterprise Architecture at ICT Architecture and Design Governance, options analysis for digitisation of customer records, assistance with vendor engagement, assistance with establishing ongoing vendor and change management practices to support ongoing iterative enhancement and support.
Introducing enterprise architecture using Sparx EA tool for a central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT worked with the client’s architecture team to introduce the use of an enterprise architecture using the Sparx EA tool. Activities included establishing the EA repository structure - including the initial high-level modelling for the business, applications, data, and systems layers of the enterprise architecture; applying the GCIO EA taxonomy to the EA model; delivering training on Sparx EA, UML, and BPMN; writing usage guidelines for the repository and working with the architecture team to establish the conventions, standards, and patterns; and working with the client’s vendors to identify information sources such as CMDB and establishment of the technical reference model (TRM).
Deliverables: Sparx EA repository and base model, GCIO EA taxonomy, Sparx EA training, Sparx EA usage guidelines and technical reference model.
Solution architecture services for primary sector organisation

What we did: Equinox IT provided solution architecture services for a number of primary sector organisation projects and initiatives over multiple years. Activities included providing solution architecture advice, assistance with business case creation and solution architecture definition.
Deliverables: Solution architecture documents.
Source code IP investigation for a private sector organisation

What we did: Equinox IT provided technical services to compare two bodies of computer source code from two different organisations and provide expert opinion on whether one set of code was derived in terms of algorithms, structure, or inherit logic from the other. Activities included liaising with court appointed independent solicitor; establishing a code comparison approach, methodology, and tools; understanding the business domain context of both sets of source code; and undertaking code analysis and analysing evidence.
Deliverables: Expert opinion report of findings and conclusions.
Technical core business system options for a central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided architecture services to help a central government agency identify and evaluate the main high-level options for the future of a core business system. Activities included identifying and evaluating medium and long-term technical options for the core business system, determining pros, cons, and indicative costs for each option, and working with key stakeholders to evaluate the options and provide recommendations.
Deliverables: Option analysis report.
Technical quality assurance of vendor deliverables for a central government agency

What we did: Equinox IT provided technical quality assurance of vendor deliverables for a central government agency. Activities included technical evaluation of RFP responses from perspective vendors; assessing the capability of the vendors to successfully undertake the work; establishing a statement of work and technical acceptance criteria; reviewing the architectural and technical deliverables to ensure appropriateness and quality; and reviewing ongoing technical deliverables from each iteration.
Deliverables: Evaluation findings, assessment findings, statement of work, acceptance criteria, review findings and recommendations.