A vision pillar is a major capability or technology component that supports executing an organizational vision. Strong pillars provide a stable foundation while allowing individual components to be replaced without destabilizing the whole system. section 3.4.2
Identify pillars by focusing on foundational services rather than implementation details:
- Name the large capability the vision depends on, such as secure, scalable API access or high-volume data storage. section 3.4.2
- Describe the method broadly enough to preserve implementation choice; HTTP REST with JWT narrows the approach without prescribing a language or framework. section 3.4.2
- Prefer areas that can be outsourced or consumed through frameworks, libraries, or managed services, reducing operational housekeeping. section 3.4.2
- Watch each pillar’s evolution and investigate major shifts with a small, focused splinter team before changing direction. section 3.4.3
- Treat changes to foundational pieces differently from routine framework or language changes, which may be disruptive without being pillars. section 3.4.3
API and data foundations
An API-driven vision may depend on a secure, scalable endpoint mechanism, such as HTTP REST with JWT. A data-intensive vision may depend on a data lake that accepts varied data and postpones transformation decisions; AWS S3 is offered as a starting point. section 3.4.2
Use the figure to map the foundational components supporting a vision and inspect how they function together. section 3.4.2
