Your client's expectations clash with your IT architecture solutions. How will you bridge the gap?

Often if you find yourself in this situation, then this critical first step wasn’t completed the first round. As an expert in business architecture, you will know better than the client about the right combination of systems, processes, and people to solve their needs, but the client will always know better than you what their needs and constraints are, and those will inevitably evolve over time. Take care to quell your biases like “It works for three of my clients, this one just doesn’t know better yet” because you will miss the details that make this client’s situation different. Don’t be afraid to ask all the questions and talk to as many stakeholders as you can if that is what it takes to fit the right solution to the right problem.

It sounds like there was some critical requirements missed in the analysis phase of the business needs and requirements. . Now is the time to identify the differences, (the customer is always right with the business requirements and business needs) and after revisiting the assessment. Then determine the impact on the architecture, and plan the changes needed to meet the client requirements. After rectifying the misses, then it’s time to come back to the client with a recommendation with the new architecture and how the architecture meets the new requirements, and fill the gaps created in the first analysis. You are now building trust in your solution and its ability to meet the business needs, and trust in the end results.

The first step is to clearly define both the business and IT needs. Why are they clashing? Is it a difference in priorities, expectations, or understanding? Once the root cause is identified, look for an intersection where value can be immediately provided—a quick win. This might involve adjusting the solution to meet urgent business needs without compromising long-term IT goals. Starting from this point of alignment fosters trust and creates momentum, helping both sides see the benefits of working towards a common, integrated solution.

Engage stakeholders to clarify requirements, Align IT architecture wth business goals, iterate on solutions & propose scalable adjustments that meet both technical constraints and client expectations effectively.

Assessing needs is crucial for understanding business goals, identifying gaps, and aligning strategy with execution. I've often seen a rush to compare software or technology and solutions without first identifying key stakeholders and understanding their pain points. It's important to involve executives, middle management, and operational staff for a complete perspective. Strategic tools like SWOT or business architecture frameworks such as TOGAF or ArchiMate should be leveraged to facilitate structured assessments. This allows you to map out business capabilities, assess their maturity levels, and ensure alignment with strategic goals.

Successful IT architecture hinges on a strong partnership between technical experts and business stakeholders. By fostering open communication and actively engaging with data owners, architects can develop solutions that truly align with business needs.

At project implementation,I typically propose client to stay with our solutions because of ease managing and support. I guide client with logical reasonings why our solution sufficient for what their needs. Be confident with answers and good resons to back it up. But if customer insists to choose a complete different path, sure we can do it; but it comes with a cost and time.

Building a robust IT architecture involves a continuous dialogue between IT and the business. By iteratively gathering, documenting, and implementing solutions, architects can ensure that the final product meets evolving business requirements.

Remember, the goal is to craft a win-win strategy. If both business and IT needs aren't addressed, any delivered result could be challenged by a new stakeholder down the line. By finding a solution that balances both sides, you mitigate future risks and ensure that the architecture is resilient against shifting demands. A win-win approach builds a foundation of trust and sustainability, ensuring long-term success and minimizing disruptions from emerging priorities or voices.

In today's app-driven world, solutions can vary widely, from modifying existing IT architectures to leveraging new, cloud-based or composable platforms. The diversity of available apps, integrations, and tools allows for flexible, scalable options that cater to specific business requirements. So whether you are a CIO or CTO handling executive-level strategy, or a business architect managing detailed discussions, it's your role to communicate clearly, early and continuously the benefits and potential IT architecture. Clear communication ensures stakeholders understand how these solutions align with business goals and drive long-term value, but also sets the expectation and helps bridge gaps.

As a Business Architect, you must recognize that not all stakeholders share your holistic perspective. Always assume they are unaware of the entire landscape and need your help to illuminate their blind spots. The more often you can provide a multifaceted view, the more trust you'll build with stakeholders. By clarifying complexities and connecting the dots, you foster stronger collaboration and ensure decisions are made with a comprehensive understanding of both business and IT needs.

It is important to establish realistic expectations. Part of that is providing your clients with rationale as to why something isn't feasible. Depending on your audience, you may want to provide this in writing to allow the client to validate the concerns with their internal experts, and to avoid paraphrasing/miscommunication. However, be clear and concise. Too much detail might be counterproductive.

Collaboration is the key to any successful implementation. Continuous and feedback loops help identify the gaps early on. Necessary tweaks can be made early in the journey which aligns with the business process and requirements. Understanding the requirements and mental model analysis behind the scope also helps in consulting with an alternate approach or align business with the architecture in place.

Create both tactical and startegic solutions for addressing the client needs and eventually plan for a strategic solution. Evaluate solutions options and do a design walkthrough with client to discuss each solution option on some of the key paramters like cost to implement , future cost, automation , non functional requirements , time to implement , operational cost ,risks and issues with design and is solution startegic or tactical based on business vision and roadmap. Capture design decisions in your design for future references after reviewing with client.

Small iterations provide the agility to deliver value quickly while allowing time for feedback and improvements. Amazon is a prime example of this approach. Instead of launching massive updates, they continuously deploy small changes, sometimes hundreds a day, which helps them maintain high availability while improving the customer experience. By introducing changes in smaller, manageable phases, companies can gather feedback, reduce risks, and make necessary adjustments, ensuring the final solution is more polished and better aligned with business needs. This also fosters user adoption, as employees are not overwhelmed by sweeping changes all at once.

While designing the architecture, we should ensure the principle of business first i.e. architecture should be designed which meets the business and clients expectations, if clients expectations are not met this may be a complete failure situation as clients expectations revolve around business and architecture should be designed around the expectations only. Once business and clients functional scope is met in architecture the approach and components can be designed and selected based on points mentioned above in coordination with the customer.