Stage 5 of 8
Technology Architecture and Cross-Cutting Design
Technology architecture translates the earlier phases into platform, resilience, security, and infrastructure decisions that delivery teams can actually build against.
Read this stage in sequence on the first pass. The point is to sharpen judgement through one concrete artefact and one practical decision, not to accumulate isolated notes.
What this stage covers
Use the modules in order. The groupings below organise the sequence without changing it.
Define the technology architecture problem
Start with the role of Phase D and the technology decisions that genuinely belong in enterprise architecture.
- 40 min. Explain what Phase D must answer
- 35 min. Explain platform decisions as enterprise architecture choices
Handle cross-cutting constraints honestly
These modules integrate risk, security, microservices judgement, and sustainability into the technology layer.
- 40 min. Use TOGAF risk and security guidance in design decisions
- 35 min. Explain the architectural consequences of microservices
- 30 min. Explain where sustainability fits inside architecture work
Ground the target in regulated infrastructure
Finish with reference-model thinking, trade-offs, and the London resilience case.
- 30 min. Explain reference-model thinking in regulated contexts
- 30 min. Apply gap analysis to technology architecture
- 35 min. Apply technology architecture to the London resilience case
Why this stage matters
Technology architecture is often reduced to vendor preference. TOGAF's value is in making those choices traceable to business needs, data architecture, security posture, and operational constraints.
London threads in this stage
- OT, IT, and telecom resilience
- Security, sustainability, and platform consistency in a regulated utility
- How interoperability and technology constraints shape feasible target states
Artefacts you should be able to defend
- Technology standards view
- Resilience dependency map
- Technology-layer trade-off log
Primary stage artefact
Technology standards view
Treat this as the main artefact the stage should sharpen. If you can explain who it is for, what decision it affects, and what evidence it depends on, the stage is doing real work.
My view
A technology architecture is credible when it explains why one constraint matters more than another. A shopping list of platforms is not an architecture.
Stage workspace
The workspace contains eleven practice tools that reinforce the skills covered in each stage. Use them alongside the reading flow or revisit them during revision.