I would strongly recommend laying down Salesforce-specific architecture principles, which can fall into Technology principles underlining Salesforce.  In real-life scenarios, we have yet to make a software selection at this point as we are still forming the Enterprise Architecture Principles. Architects can induct Salesforce-centric architecture principles at the later phases.

To summarize, critical deliverables are

• Agreeing on the scope of the organization impacted,
• Maturity assessment
• Architecture governance strategy
• Tailored Architecture Framework, which includes Architecture principles and Tailored architecture methods

The explicit goal of this phase is to create a vision of capabilities and a strong business case as the outcome of the proposed enterprise architecture.

As part of this phase, you will seek permission for a Statement of Architecture Work that specifies a work program for developing and deploying the architecture defined in the Architecture Vision. The budget is set aside to conduct Statement of Architecture Work, and the organization is committed to conducting architecture assessment.

The key deliverables:

• Enterprise vision and goals
• An approved statement of architecture work
• Stakeholder map matrix
• Business case
• Architecture project planning
• Architecture repository

From the Salesforce perspective, it could be seen as a pre-sales activity in which we need to assess the business capabilities fully. Creating a solid business case and business preposition will enable to development of high-level business capabilities. At this stage, we’ll probably need to know with a high degree of confidence which software products on-premise/cloud we will be working on in the later phases.

For example, if the capability is about increasing customer satisfaction or focusing on agent productivity, you might be thinking about Service Cloud and CTI solutions.

Business Architecture  (Phase B)

This phase aims to develop the target business architecture to achieve its business goals and provide direction to the Architecture Vision’s strategic drivers.

The critical task is to Identify potential architecture components based on the gap analysis between the baseline and target business architectures.

The key deliverables:

• Baseline Business Architecture
• Target business architecture
• Gap Analysis results
• Business Architecture Components of an Architecture Roadmap

• Product Lifecycle diagram
• Use-Case diagram
• Business Process Flows

By this time, you might already be getting an idea of how Salesforce as a solution can be playing a vital road by mapping Salesforce out of box capabilities vs. intended business capabilities. There are possibly a few hints towards how your Salesforce Org strategy might be unfolding in the upcoming phases.

Information Systems Architecture (Phase C)

With business architecture and business capabilities in place, we can define the Data and Application Architecture in the Information Systems Architecture phase. This phase will enable the Business Architecture and the architecture vision envisioned in phases A and B.

The key deliverables:

• Baseline Data Architecture
• Target Data Architecture
• Baseline Application Architecture
• Target Application Architecture
• Gap analysis results for Data and Application Architecture
• Information Systems components of an Architecture Roadmap

Data Architecture may contain

• Entity Relationship Diagrams
• Master Data Management Strategy (Business Glossary, Enterprise Business Data Model)
• Data Migration Strategy
• Data Sharing
• Data Security

• Information systems components of an Architecture roadmap
• Application Architecture diagram
• Technology constraints

Data architecture will provide insights on how much Salesforce out-of-box capabilities can be leveraged and validate any extension needed to fulfill business capabilities by extending the Salesforce Data Model.

Technology Architecture (Phase D)

The Technology Architecture phase aims to develop the target technology architecture that will enable Data and Application architecture. As we did in the earlier phases, we will be identifying gaps between the Baseline and Target Technology Architecture.

The conception of building blocks is critical in developing a comprehensive architectural model of the target system. Architecture Building Blocks (ABBs) describe the functionality and how they may be implemented without the detail introduced by configuration or detailed design.

The key deliverables:

• Baseline Technology Architecture
• Target Technology Architecture
• Gap analysis results for Technology Architecture
• Technology platforms – On-premise/Cloud, Infrastructure and its locations
• Hardware and Network specifications
• Architecture Review Board
• Technology portfolio – System Landscape diagrams, Infrastructure, and network diagrams
• Application Matrix
• Application Security
• Integration requirements and tooling
• Identity requirements and tooling (Optional)
• Reporting platform (Optional)
• Mobile requirements (Optional)
• Document Management Strategy (Optional)
• Compliance Assessment

• Salesforce Cloud selection: Sales/Service Cloud/etc.
• Salesforce Licenses
• Salesforce Environment Strategy
• Customization/Extension Decisions
• Appexchange product Assessments
• Mapping Business Capabilities with Salesforce Product Capabilities and Identifying gaps

The opportunities and Solutions phase intends to finalize the architecture roadmap based upon the gap analysis performed from phases B, C, and D, organize them, and review them from stakeholders. The key objective of this phase is to evaluate whether an incremental approach is necessary, and if so, establish Transition Architectures that will provide ongoing business value.

The key deliverables:

• Architecture Vision
• Baseline and Target Architecture (Business, Data, Application, and Technology)
• Transition Architecture
• Project Identification and its value proposition

• Single or Multiple Projects requiring Salesforce implementations
• Risks and Issues
• Release Strategy
• Solution Building Blocks based on Salesforce Capabilities
• Salesforce Implementation and Rollout Strategy
• Dependencies

Important factor influence migration planning is the organization’s ability to handle the overall change portfolio. Thus, the Implementation and Migration plan needs to be coordinated with the organization’s approach to manage the change successfully. Another aspect to look at it carefully to ensure that the key stakeholders grasp the business value attached to each project and transition architecture.

The key deliverables:

• Project and portfolio with milestones
• Work package allocation to each project
• A roadmap of identified projects
• Implementation and Migration Strategy
• Governance Model to execute the project
• Estimated Cost of the project and possible migration approach
• Identify Reusable Architecture Building Blocks

• Governance Model – Environment Management Strategy, Deployment Strategy
• Setting up Center Of Excellence
• Salesforce Architecture Principles

The main objective of the implementation and Governance phase is to keep architecture governance for ongoing projects. Another important aspect of this phase is that Architecture Governance caters to any change requests during implementation.

The key deliverables:

• Compliance Assessments
• Change Requests
• Business and IT operating models

• Change Request due to any implementation-driven architecture
• Design and Coding guidelines
• Define an operations framework – e.g., DevOps
• Identify Deployment Resources and Skills
• Set up Peer Code Review Process
• Guide Development of Solutions Deployment
• Test Management Strategy
• Identify bottlenecks in the implementation and make recommendations
• Skills development and training implementation
• Communications documentation publication, e.g., Mass emails for external users to onboard new partner/customer community

The key objective of Architecture Change Management is to ensure that the architecture lifecycle is maintained properly and ensures to keep Enterprise Architecture up to date. Specific technology-related drivers for architecture change requests, e.g., New technology, IT cost reduction, compliance, and regulations, or obsolete technology. All these changes requested need to be managed through an organization’s change management and architecture governance processes.

The key deliverables:

• Changes to architecture framework
• Changes to Enterprise Architecture principles
• Updated Compliance assessment

• Changes from the bottom up to fix or improve capabilities arises due to Salesforce implementation
• Impact due to Salesforce releases, e.g., new capability added for which previously implemented as customization

Requirements Management

At the center, we have a requirements management phase to ensure a unified requirements Management process throughout all relevant ADM phases.

An architect should capture functional as well as non-functional requirements and should consider

• EA and Domain level principles
• Technology constraints
• Assumptions
• Compliance and regulatory policies affecting requirements

Take your time to explore other IT frameworks, e.g., Zachman, ITIL, and adapt to your circumstances.

Projects vary in scale and complexity. Be mindful that you might not be able to few of the ADM phases at full scale based on the outcomes from the earlier phases.

Remember that the main objective is to focus on creating value for the enterprise and improving business efficiency.