PiSencePiSence
Cloud, Data & Modernisation

Solution Design & Architecture

Get the architecture decided, costed and documented before build starts — so delivery is an execution problem, not a discovery one.

Overview

Projects rarely fail on code quality; they fail on decisions made implicitly and revisited too late. A solution design engagement turns business requirements into a target-state architecture with the trade-offs made explicit: which components you build, which you buy, how systems integrate, what the non-functional requirements actually are, and what the whole thing costs to run. You finish with a design your team, or ours, can build against directly.

Key benefits

Decisions made once

Architecture decision records capture what was chosen, what was rejected and why.

Costed before committing

A run-cost model per option so the budget conversation happens before build, not after.

Buildable specification

HLD and LLD detailed enough for any competent team to implement against.

Integration mapped up front

API contracts and data flows agreed across systems and teams before development starts.

Non-functionals made explicit

Availability, latency, scale, recovery and security targets stated and designed for.

Vendor-neutral advice

Technology selection driven by your constraints, not by a reseller relationship.

Scope — what we cover

Requirements elicitation and constraint capture, target-state solution architecture, build-versus-buy and technology selection, high-level design (HLD) and low-level design (LLD), integration and API contract design, data flow and storage design, non-functional requirements including availability, scale, latency and recovery objectives, security and compliance considerations, infrastructure sizing and run-cost modelling, delivery roadmap, and architecture decision records.

Methodology

  1. Stakeholder workshops to capture business goals, constraints, budget and hard deadlines
  2. Current-state assessment of existing systems, integrations and technical debt
  3. Non-functional requirements definition — availability, scale, latency, RTO/RPO and compliance targets
  4. Option analysis with build-versus-buy trade-offs and a run-cost model per candidate architecture
  5. Target-state architecture and HLD, reviewed with stakeholders and engineering leads
  6. Low-level design — component, data, API and integration contracts ready to build against
  7. Delivery roadmap, risk register and architecture decision records, handed over with a walkthrough

Deliverables

A solution architecture document with target-state diagrams, high-level and low-level design, technology selection rationale with build-versus-buy analysis, API and integration contracts, a non-functional requirements specification, infrastructure sizing and run-cost model, a phased delivery roadmap with a risk register, and architecture decision records covering every significant choice.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions we hear before starting a migration or architecture engagement — click a question to reveal a short, clear answer.

A documented target-state architecture — HLD and LLD, integration contracts, an NFR specification, a costed infrastructure model, a delivery roadmap and architecture decision records. Enough for any competent team to start building.

We can, but the design stands on its own. Plenty of clients take the deliverables and build in-house or with an existing partner, which is exactly why the documentation is written to be vendor-neutral.

Typically 3–6 weeks depending on the number of systems and stakeholders. Larger programmes are split so the first buildable increment is designed early.

Yes. An architecture review is a common variant: we assess the proposed design against your NFRs and constraints and report gaps, risks and alternatives.

Against total cost of ownership, time to value, how core the capability is to your business and how much lock-in you can tolerate. The analysis is written down so the decision is reviewable later.

We give a costed recommendation with the reasoning shown, but we hold no reseller relationships, so the choice is driven by your constraints rather than ours.

Expected. The design is developed iteratively with stakeholder reviews at each stage, and decision records make it clear what a change actually affects.

Yes — security architecture, data handling and relevant compliance obligations are treated as design inputs. Where a formal audit is needed we can bring in our compliance practice.

Yes. Most engagements are constrained by existing systems and skills, and a design that ignores those is not much use.

They pair naturally — solution design defines the target state, and the migration engagement executes the move to it. Many clients run them back to back.