Review your workload
During the prerequisites, you wrote down your workload profile, now let’s try to do a mind map and a stakeholder analysis of your workload.
Architecture diagram
During the scope meeting you may have obtained the architecture diagram of the solution, but, if you didn’t, this is the time to ask for it. You will need this diagram to identify the most obvious problems, like bottlenecks or availability issues, and it will also be used for the Subscription Walkthrough step.
If you don’t have a current architecture diagram, you can take a look to the Azure Architecture Center as a source of inspiration to create your own one.
:pill: You can use a tool like Visio or Draw.io. These tools already contain a full set of the Azure Icons, or you can download them to use with your favourite tool.
Describe the workload
Gather the most important technical details of your workload. Some topics usually are:
- Development platforms and programming languages used
- External services needed (dependencies)
- Provided connectors (dependent services)
- Data: databases, storage, sources
- Deployment tools
- How do you capture logs and other metrics
- Special infrastructure and network requirements (VMs, containers, VPNs, Hybrid scenarios, ExpressRoute, network appliances)
- Are all these points covered in the architecture diagram?
- Does the architecture diagram show all the Azure resources used?
Create a Responsibility Assignment Matrix
The matrix is a table that shows the roles and responsibilities of each team member, using the following role distinctions: [R]esponsible, [A]ccountable, [C]onsulted, [I]nformed.
| Phase/Stakeholder | CTO | Team Lead(s) | Solution Owner | Project Manager | Architect | … |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover | ||||||
| Analyze | ||||||
| Prioritize | ||||||
| Design |
Resources
These are some tools and resources you can use during this first step:
- Mind map
- User Journey map
- Value Proposition Canvas
- RACI
- Visio
- Draw.io
- Azure icons
- Azure Architecture Center
Checkpoint
- Workload technical description (mind map or bullet points)
- Workload Architecture Diagram
- RACI matrix
When you have finished these two tasks, continue to the Information Collection step.