Solution Design & Strategic
Architecture Review
Design around your business. Make technology decisions with evidence.
dForce provides UK solution design and architecture review services for ERP, PSA and CRM programmes, including Sage Intacct, Certinia and Salesforce. We map your processes, applications and data, compare options, and document the decisions, integration requirements and delivery priorities needed to support your business outcomes.
Understand the current landscape. Design the right next step.
A Strategic Architecture Review assesses how your current systems support the business and where change may be needed. Solution Design translates agreed requirements into processes, data structures, application responsibilities and integration decisions that a delivery team can implement. You can engage us for either activity or a connected review and design exercise.
Strategic Architecture Review
A clear picture of your technology estate today.
We review your application landscape against business priorities, operating processes, cost, dependencies and constraints. The work helps identify what to retain, improve, connect or replace, and which decisions need further evidence before you commit to delivery.
What the architecture review covers
- Business priorities, current processes and the capabilities needed to support them.
- Application responsibilities, dependencies and the evidence behind investment choices.
- Access, integration and operational control risks that need further attention.
- Data ownership, information handling, change control and review requirements.
- Duplicated capabilities, manual work and ongoing maintenance costs.
Solution Design
A practical blueprint for the solution you need.
We turn agreed requirements into a design that explains how the solution should work: the processes, roles, records, integrations, controls and reporting it needs. Options, assumptions and trade-offs are recorded so stakeholders and delivery teams can make informed decisions.
What the solution design covers
- Target processes, roles and responsibilities mapped to agreed requirements.
- Application boundaries, ownership of key records and integration patterns.
- Capacity, performance and growth assumptions that influence the design.
- Access, approvals, reporting and data quality controls.
- Delivery phases, migration, testing and the transition into support.
Measure twice, cut once.
The review establishes the evidence. The design turns agreed priorities into a practical solution, with a clear record of what was chosen, why it fits and what needs to happen next. The depth of review and the outputs are agreed around your decision and delivery needs.
Better vendor decisions. Smoother change. Aligned stakeholders.
A shared design helps business leaders, IT teams, delivery partners and vendors assess the same options and dependencies. It provides a basis for deciding what to change and how to introduce it.
Vendor management
Assess which capabilities your existing vendors provide, where services overlap and which dependencies or contractual commitments affect a proposed change.
Change management
Identify how new processes, data ownership and application changes affect people, then connect the design to training, readiness and transition planning.
Stakeholder alignment
Give business leaders, IT teams and delivery partners a shared view of the decisions, assumptions and responsibilities behind the solution.
Design that connects to what happens next.
A review and design exercise is a starting point, not the destination. We help you carry the agreed architecture into operating model advisory, application architecture and implementation and integration, with a clear link between the business need, the decisions made and the outcomes you want to achieve.
Common questions
Solution design and architecture review: your questions answered.
What is solution design for an ERP, PSA or CRM project?
Solution design translates business requirements into a practical description of how a system and its surrounding processes should work. It covers the relevant workflows, roles, data, integrations, controls and reporting, together with assumptions and acceptance needs. dForce uses it to connect the intended business outcome with the work an implementation team will deliver.
How does a Strategic Architecture Review differ from Solution Design?
The review assesses the current landscape and the options for change. Solution Design describes how an agreed solution should work. They can be separate engagements: a business may need a review to decide its next step, or a design for a platform and scope it has already selected.
What deliverables can we expect?
The outputs are agreed for each engagement. Depending on scope, they can include:
- A current-state view of applications, processes, data and dependencies.
- Requirements and a record of options, assumptions and design decisions.
- A target process and application design with clear responsibilities.
- Data and integration requirements, including ownership and exception handling.
- Reporting, access, control and acceptance requirements.
- Prioritised delivery phases, dependencies and readiness actions.
We agree the level of detail and who will review and accept the outputs before the work starts.
When should we commission a review or design exercise?
It is useful before an implementation, a major integration, a platform replacement, a renewal decision or a significant change in your operating model. It can also help when manual work, duplicated records, slow reporting or unclear responsibilities suggest that the current landscape needs attention. dForce scopes the exercise around the decision you need to make.
Can you design around systems we already use?
Yes. We assess what to retain, improve, connect or replace. Your existing applications, data, integrations, vendor commitments and operating constraints form part of the design. A new platform is not assumed to be the answer to every requirement.
How does this relate to application architecture and advisory?
Advisory helps establish the operating model, priorities and decisions the business needs to make. Application architecture focuses on the roles of applications and how their boundaries, data and interfaces fit together. Solution Design applies those decisions to the processes and configuration needed for an agreed business requirement. dForce can connect these activities or scope them separately.
How long does the work take, and what does it cost?
The timetable and cost depend on the number of processes, applications and integrations involved, the information already available, stakeholder access and the depth of design required. We agree the scope, workshops, outputs, responsibilities and estimate around your decision needs. A focused review and a detailed multi-system design require different levels of effort.
Can dForce carry the design into implementation?
Yes. dForce can support implementation, integration, data migration, testing, training and the transition into support, or work with your chosen delivery team. The design records the decisions, responsibilities and acceptance needs so delivery can proceed against an agreed scope. Any implementation work is scoped and agreed separately.
What should your architecture do for you?
You may have a defined technology decision ahead, a legacy system holding you back, or simply a sense that your architecture could work harder. Talk to us about where you are and what you want to achieve.
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