Know what a Level 1 architecture function produces

As the IT leader responsible for this function, you should be able to identify immediately whether what your architecture function produces matches the Level 1 profile. If it does, you now have a precise vocabulary for what needs to change — and what the function needs to stop measuring itself by.

Typical Level 1 Deliverables

• Architecture standards documents and principles libraries — written, published, and largely unread by the delivery teams they are intended to govern.

• Reference architectures and architecture patterns — conceptual models describing preferred architectural approaches, typically at a level of abstraction that requires significant translation before they are useful in a specific delivery context.

• Architecture review board decisions and meeting minutes — formal records of governance discussions, often producing “approved with conditions” outcomes that are difficult to verify or enforce.

• Technology evaluation reports — assessments of specific technology options, typically produced in response to a delivery team’s request rather than as part of a proactive governance program.

• Standards exception logs — documentation of the cases where delivery teams have formally requested permission to deviate from architecture standards, providing a record of governance non-compliance rather than governance compliance.

• Compliance assessment reports — periodic summaries of how well the technology portfolio conforms to current architecture standards, typically showing persistent gaps with no clear accountability for closing them.

• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) — documentation of architectural decisions made by delivery teams, recorded after the fact as a governance artifact rather than driving the decision in real time.

• Technology roadmap presentations — high-level direction documents describing where the technology landscape should evolve, without committed timelines, without owned execution, and without accountability for the gap between the current state and the desired future state.

• Application Portfolio Management (APM) and Technology Portfolio Management (TPM) inventories and governance frameworks — when these disciplines exist primarily as documentation, classification exercises, and advisory governance, they are Level 1 outputs. The inventories may be accurate; the governance rarely sticks.

• Enterprise Architecture repository artifacts — TOGAF-style views, capability maps, business architecture models, and information architecture diagrams maintained in an Architecture Modeling Tool or SharePoint site that practitioners know exists but rarely consult.

The diagnostic question for each of these deliverables is the same: if this deliverable disappeared tomorrow, what delivery outcome, operational result, or business objective would be materially worse? For most Level 1 deliverables, the honest answer is: nothing would be immediately worse, and that is exactly the organizational visibility problem.