The Alignment Matrix is AMBIT’s taxonomy for classifying every planning document in an EA practice. It organises artefacts along two independent dimensions, and the intersection of those dimensions produces six distinct types. The classification is not decorative — it immediately tells you who needs to be involved in producing the artefact, which governance body should endorse it, and what failure modes to watch for.
Two dimensions
The first dimension is what the artefact describes. Three options exist along this axis: Rules — general operating principles and constraints that govern the whole organisation or a major domain. Structures — high-level pictures of the organisation’s business capabilities or IT estate. Changes — descriptions of specific proposed IT initiatives or solutions.
The second dimension is how it is described: Business-Focused (accessible, brief, technology-neutral; primary audience is business leaders and architects jointly) or IT-Focused (technical, formal, detailed; primary audience is architects and IT specialists).
The six types
Business Factors Business-Focused Rules
The operating principles and constraints governing how the organisation needs to work in relation to IT. Principles, policies, conceptual data models, direction statements. Broad, stable, long-lived. Established collaboratively by business leaders and architects during Strategic Alignment.
Business Visions Business-Focused Structures
The desired long-term direction and intended future configuration of the organisation’s business capabilities and IT estate. Business Capability Models, Roadmaps, Target States. The primary input translating business strategy into an investment direction.
Business Outlines Business-Focused Changes
High-level, business-intelligible descriptions of specific proposed IT initiatives — their purpose, scope, conceptual solution, business value, and indicative cost. The investment cases through which initiatives are funded. Temporary: produced for each initiative, retired after funding decisions are made.
IT Standards IT-Focused Rules
Technical rules that IT solutions should follow — Technology Reference Models, Guidelines, Patterns, IT Principles. Established and maintained by architects. Promote reuse, consistency, and technical quality across the IT landscape.
IT Landscapes IT-Focused Structures
Factual documentation of the current IT estate — Landscape Diagrams, Application Inventories, Enterprise System Portfolios. The factual basis for every other planning decision. Updated continuously as the landscape changes.
IT Designs IT-Focused Changes
Detailed technical specifications telling project teams exactly how to build approved IT solutions — application architecture, data models, integration specifications, security designs. Temporary: produced per initiative, retired after delivery.
What the classification tells you
The position on the horizontal axis (Rules / Structures / Changes) determines the lifecycle. Rules and Structures artefacts are permanent — they exist continuously and are updated rather than replaced. Changes artefacts are temporary — produced specifically for each initiative and retired when it concludes.
The position on the vertical axis (Business-Focused / IT-Focused) determines the stakeholder set. Business-Focused artefacts require active senior business executive participation to produce legitimately. IT-Focused artefacts require deep technical expertise. This determines not only who to involve but which hat the architect must wear most heavily — the Change Agent hat for business-facing artefacts, the Technology Expert hat for IT-facing ones.
The matrix is a coordinate plane, not a rigid grid. Artefacts sit anywhere along the axes. A Principles document in a highly technical organisation will be more IT-focused than one in a services business. A solution architecture for a simple application will be less detailed than one for a core banking replacement. The classification gives orientation, not a template.
The governance implication: Business-Focused artefacts go to business-facing governance bodies (Strategy Forum, Investment Forum). IT-Focused artefacts go to IT-facing bodies (Technology Forum, Design Forum). The matrix tells you which forum before you begin producing the artefact.