Solution Concept Diagrams: High‑Level Overview and Purpose

Solution concept diagrams provide a high‑level direction for a solution envisioned to meet the goals of an architecture effort. Unlike the formal, detailed architecture diagrams developed later, a solution concept is a pencil‑sketch created at the start of an engagement, showing the key objectives, requirements, constraints, and the work areas that will require deeper analysis through formal architecture modeling.

Only the main application components of the solution are displayed, using "access" dependencies to summarize their connections. When needed, they are linked to existing applications, tied to requirements, processes, or functions, and ultimately to the overall goals. The diagram can also indicate which role uses which component via "dependency" relationships.

The purpose of this diagram is to enable rapid participation and coordination of stakeholders involved in a specific change plan, so that all participants understand the objectives the architecture effort seeks to achieve and how the proposed solution approach will satisfy business needs.

Consequently, a "macro" vision of the target solution architecture is presented, linking the goals and requirements that the various solution elements must satisfy.

In this example the focus is on the "TripReservationSite" application component and the "ReserveTrip" process component, which address the needs for internet reservation access and automated booking workflows. These components map to enterprise goals such as increased productivity and improved BPM. The primary users involved are the internal client manager and the external customer. Additional components (travel, customer, order, accounting ERP, portfolio repository, credit‑card) illustrate which new major components need to be built, which repositories will be reused or developed, and which legacy applications (e.g., ERP) must be integrated.

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For further reading, see the original article at https://architect.pub/togaf-modeling-solution-concept-diagrams . Additional resources and community links are provided in the table below.