Note below a general list of pattern oriented pointers, not everything is applicable for all types of systems. Choose as per your system design needs !

General Architectural Patterns

Checklist:

• Is the architecture pattern (e.g., Monolithic, Microservices, SOA, Event-Driven) clearly defined and documented?
• Is the chosen pattern appropriate for the business and technical requirements?
• Are design decisions around architectural patterns justified with pros and cons?
• Is the architecture flexible enough to accommodate future changes or scaling needs?
• Is there a clear separation of concerns (e.g., Presentation Layer, Business Logic, Data Access)?

Questionnaire:

• What architectural pattern is being used, and why was it chosen?
• How does the pattern facilitate modularity, reusability, and maintainability?
• What are the trade-offs made in choosing this pattern over others?
• How does the architecture handle cross-cutting concerns (e.g., logging, security, transaction management)?
• How are dependencies managed within the architecture?

On-Premise Application Considerations

Checklist:

• Are there considerations for hardware and infrastructure limitations?
• Is the architecture designed to leverage on-premise resources effectively?
• Are disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place for on-premise deployments?
• Is there a strategy for scaling resources on-premise?
• Are security measures aligned with on-premise deployment needs (e.g., physical security, network segmentation)?

Questionnaire:

• How does the architecture optimize the use of on-premise hardware and infrastructure?
• What are the constraints of the on-premise environment, and how does the architecture address them?
• How is the architecture designed to handle disaster recovery on-premise?
• What strategies are in place to scale on-premise resources?
• How does the architecture ensure data and application security in an on-premise environment?

Cloud-Based Application Considerations

Checklist:

• Is the architecture designed to be cloud-native or cloud-agnostic?
• Are cloud-specific patterns (e.g., 12-factor app, serverless, microservices) followed?
• Is the architecture leveraging cloud services (e.g., PaaS, SaaS, IaaS) effectively?
• Are there cost management practices in place for cloud resources?
• Is the system designed to handle multi-cloud or hybrid cloud deployments?

Questionnaire:

• How does the architecture leverage cloud-native patterns and services?
• What considerations were made for cloud vendor lock-in, and how is this managed?
• How is the architecture optimized for scalability, availability, and performance in the cloud?
• How are cloud resources monitored and managed for cost efficiency?
• What strategies are in place for hybrid or multi-cloud deployments?

Microservices and SOA

Checklist:

• Is the system decomposed into independent, loosely coupled services?
• Are service boundaries well-defined and aligned with business capabilities?
• Is there a mechanism for service discovery and communication (e.g., API Gateway, Service Mesh)?
• Are there strategies for managing data consistency across microservices (e.g., eventual consistency, Saga pattern)?
• Are microservices independently deployable and scalable?

Questionnaire:

• How are services defined, and what criteria are used to determine service boundaries?
• What strategies are in place to manage communication between services?
• How is data consistency maintained across services?
• How does the architecture support independent deployment and scaling of services?
• What challenges have been encountered with microservices, and how are they addressed?

Event-Driven Architecture

Checklist:

• Is the system designed to be reactive and event-driven?
• Are there clearly defined event sources, channels, and listeners?
• Is there a strategy for managing event consistency and ordering?
• Are there mechanisms for event logging, auditing, and replay?
• Is the event-driven architecture scalable and resilient?

Questionnaire:

• How are events defined and managed within the system?
• What patterns (e.g., pub/sub, event sourcing) are used to implement the event-driven architecture?
• How is event consistency and ordering ensured?
• How does the architecture handle event failures or retries?
• What are the benefits and challenges of using an event-driven architecture in this system? ~

  Security Best Practices

Checklist:

• Are security best practices (e.g., OWASP Top 10, secure coding practices) followed in the architecture?
• Is there a strategy for identity and access management (IAM)?
• Are data encryption standards applied consistently?
• Are there security monitoring and incident response mechanisms in place?
• Is the architecture designed to minimize attack surfaces (e.g., network segmentation, least privilege)?

Questionnaire:

• What security standards and best practices are followed in the architecture?
• How is identity and access management handled across different components?
• How is sensitive data protected within the system?
• What strategies are in place to monitor and respond to security threats?
• How does the architecture ensure compliance with security regulations and standards?

DevOps and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

Checklist:

• Is the architecture designed to support CI/CD pipelines?
• Are there automated testing and deployment processes in place?
• Is the infrastructure as code (IaC) approach used for managing environments?
• Are there monitoring and logging practices in place for continuous feedback?
• Are rollback and recovery mechanisms part of the deployment strategy?

Questionnaire:

• How does the architecture support CI/CD practices?
• What tools and practices are used for automated testing and deployment?
• How are environments managed, and what role does IaC play in this?
• How is continuous feedback from production environments incorporated into the development cycle?
• What strategies are in place for rollbacks and disaster recovery during deployment?

Modularity and Reusability

Checklist:

• Is the system designed with modular components that can be reused across different applications?
• Are there shared services or libraries used across multiple modules?
• Is there a strategy for managing and versioning reusable components?
• Are interfaces and contracts between modules well-defined and documented?
• Is there a strategy for refactoring and improving modularity over time?

Questionnaire:

• How does the architecture promote the reuse of components and services?
• What challenges are associated with maintaining reusable components?
• How are interfaces and contracts between modules managed and updated?
• How does the architecture evolve to improve modularity and reusability?
• What practices are in place to ensure consistency across reusable components?

Monitoring and Observability

Checklist:

• Is there a comprehensive monitoring strategy in place for all components?
• Are logs, metrics, and traces collected and analyzed for observability?
• Are there dashboards and alerts configured for real-time monitoring?
• Is the system designed to be observable, with clear indicators for health and performance?
• Are there tools in place for diagnosing and troubleshooting issues?

Questionnaire:

• How is the system monitored, and what tools are used for observability?
• What metrics and logs are critical for assessing system health?
• How does the architecture support real-time monitoring and alerting?
• How are issues diagnosed and resolved using monitoring and observability data?
• What improvements can be made to enhance the observability of the system?