Phase E: Opportunities & Solutions — From Architecture to Action

Phase: Phase E — Opportunities & Solutions Perspective: Enterprise Architect

Architecture that cannot be implemented is just art. Phase E is where the EA earns commercial credibility — by producing a roadmap that is realistic, sequenced, and tied to business value.

Key Inputs

Gap analyses from Phases B, C, D
Architecture Requirements Specification
Business case templates
Programme and project constraints
Organisational change capacity
Existing project portfolio

The Process

Review and consolidate all gap analyses
Identify work packages and solution building blocks
Assess build vs buy vs reuse options
Sequence work packages by dependencies and value
Develop high-level business cases
Define Architecture Roadmap version 1

Deliverables

Architecture Roadmap (version 1)
Work Package definitions
Transition Architecture(s)
Implementation and Migration Strategy
High-level Business Cases
Solution Building Blocks (SBBs)

Practitioner Perspective

Phase E requires you to think like a programme manager. Group related changes into coherent work packages that can be funded, governed, and staffed. Avoid the trap of a single monolithic transformation programme — the organisation will lose confidence before it sees results.

Define Transition Architectures that show the intermediate states the enterprise will pass through. Each transition architecture should be a stable, operable business state — not a half-built house. This is critical: if a transition state cannot stand alone, your sequencing is wrong.

Prioritise ruthlessly. Sequence work packages by three criteria: business value delivered, dependency order (what must exist before what), and organisational change capacity (how much change can this organisation absorb simultaneously).

The most common mistake: Producing a roadmap that is technically correct but organisationally impossible. A five-year transformation requiring simultaneous changes to finance systems, customer platforms, and core operations will stall. Phase it.

Practical tips:

Use a value/effort matrix to facilitate prioritisation conversations with leadership — it makes trade-offs visible and depoliticises sequencing decisions
Identify "lighthouse projects": early-phase initiatives that deliver visible value quickly and build organisational confidence in the architecture programme
Every work package business case must answer: what does this enable, what does it cost, and what is the cost of not doing it?
Check your roadmap against the existing project portfolio — redundant investments and conflicts are common and politically sensitive

Part of a series: TOGAF from an Enterprise Architect's Perspective