Architecture at the speed of the decision.
A free, open-source practitioner framework for enterprise architecture — six viewpoints, 18 artefacts, and an AI-powered agent that generates board-ready architecture in minutes, not months.
"The artefact is the record of the decision made in the conversation. Not the input to it."— Velocity Architecture Framework™ · Governing Principle
Standard EA practice has three systemic failures.
VAF was built to fix each of them directly — not to replace existing frameworks, but to make them work at decision pace.
EA is too slow
Standard frameworks produce artefacts before decisions, not after. Twelve-week capability maps arrive after the decision was already made informally. VAF operationalises the correct sequence: decision first, minimum artefact second.
Generic output
Most EA artefacts describe the landscape rather than frame the choice. VAF compression targets each artefact to the decision it exists to support — and nothing else. Time saving: 70–90% per artefact.
No traceability
Decisions get made in conversations and never recorded. The same debate recurs three times. VAF enforces decision-to-artefact traceability from day one. Every commitment has a record.
Built for the people in the room when architecture decisions get made.
Whether you have an EA function or not, VAF meets you where the decision is.
Enterprise Architects
Move from twelve-week programmes to decision-pace delivery. Six viewpoints, one brief, done.
Solution Architects
Frame decisions at the right altitude, first time. Trade-off Matrix. ADR. Guardrail Canvas. All in one pass.
Cloud Architects
Translate cloud options into governance-ready recommendations. Six viewpoints give you the structure; the agent gives you the output.
Transformation Leads
Align programme delivery to architecture decisions. VAF's Velocity and Rhythm viewpoints were built for this.
Architecture Review Boards
Receive structured, traceable architecture submissions every time. Board Pack format is review-ready from generation.
CTO / CIO / CISO
Architecture that speaks to the board, not the whiteboard. Decision framing in plain language. Governance evidence attached.
Six viewpoints. One coherent architecture.
Each viewpoint targets a distinct architectural concern. Together they cover the full decision space — from strategic direction to practitioner capability. Aligned to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 concepts.
Direction
Frames the strategic context, governing constraints, and architectural intent. The artefacts that belong in ARB submissions, executive briefings, and policy decisions.
Solution Strategy
Frames solution options, trade-offs, and the basis for the chosen direction. The artefacts that belong in option analysis, business cases, and capability assessments.
Solution Design
Frames the technical design at the right resolution. Not a complete specification — the minimum design decision record needed to unblock the next phase of delivery.
Delivery Velocity
Frames delivery sequencing, dependency mapping, and programme architecture. Aligns architecture decisions to delivery milestones without slowing the team.
Operating Rhythm
Frames the operating model, governance cadence, and continuous architecture practice. Keeps architecture connected to delivery after the artefact is produced.
Practitioner Capability
Frames the practitioner's own operating model — how to run conversations, extract architecture, compress artefacts, and present decisions under time pressure.
Brief in. Board-ready architecture out.
The VAF sequence inverts standard EA practice. Start with the decision. The agent produces the artefacts that record it.
Brief
Articulate the problem, context, and constraints in plain language
Viewpoints
Agent selects which of the six viewpoints apply to this decision
Trade-offs
Options surfaced, rejections recorded, chosen direction framed
Decision
One decision, one record — ADR format with full context
Board Pack
Six viewpoints packaged into a single governance narrative
Governance
Guardrail Canvas, traceability chain, ARB-ready submission
Delivery
Artefacts committed to version control — immutable audit trail
The framework runs as an AI agent.
Enter a brief. Select your viewpoints. The agent generates a complete, board-ready architecture pack — governance, strategy, design, velocity, rhythm, and practitioner artefacts — in minutes.
Six-viewpoint generation
Every artefact generated across all six viewpoints in a single pass
Board Pack mode
All viewpoints packaged into a single executive-ready governance narrative
Brief quality scoring
Live signals before you generate — stronger brief, stronger artefacts
Markdown export
Download the full architecture pack as structured Markdown — commit-ready
Built for real decisions, not framework demonstrations.
VAF has been applied across cloud, transformation, security, and board-level architecture decisions.
Cloud migration decisions
Lift-and-shift vs re-platform vs re-architect — trade-off analysis and governance record in one pass.
Platform selection
Structured options analysis with rejection rationale, ready for ARB submission.
Security architecture
Zero trust, APRA CPS 234, IRAP — security and compliance framing across the governance viewpoint.
Digital transformation
Programme architecture aligned to delivery milestones — velocity and rhythm viewpoints in sequence.
M&A integration
Current-state assessment, target architecture, and integration sequencing for mergers and acquisitions.
Legacy modernisation
Migration strategy, dependency mapping, and decommission sequencing framed as architecture decisions.
Multi-cloud strategy
Workload placement, cost model, and vendor lock-in analysis with governance evidence.
Board reporting
Technology decisions presented at board level — plain language, traceable, governance-complete.
Every artefact is a governance record.
VAF enforces traceability from decision to artefact to commitment. The audit trail is built in, not bolted on.
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Every artefact traces to a decision. If there is no decision, there is no artefact. The brief defines the decision; the artefact records it.
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Every decision traces to a constraint or objective. The Guardrail Canvas defines the non-negotiables before design begins.
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Rejections are recorded, not discarded. The Trade-off Matrix captures what was considered and why it was not chosen.
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ADR format captures context, not just resolution. Drivers, options considered, rationale, and consequences — the full decision record.
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Board Pack aligns all six viewpoints. A single governance narrative covering direction, strategy, design, velocity, rhythm, and practitioner.
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Version-controlled Markdown throughout. All artefacts committed to Git — immutable, auditable, and integrated with engineering workflow.
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Aligned to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 concepts. Formal viewpoint specification with concerns, stakeholders, model kinds, and governing rules.
Everything. Free. Citable.
All tools, templates, research papers, and guides are open source. Use any of it without permission.
/research/
Research Papers
Four papers covering EA artefact true purpose, value metrics, MVP/MLP empirical evidence, and value-over-time analysis. Full bibliography graded by evidence quality.
/frameworks/
Framework Documents
The governing argument, four-type artefact classification, and the full VAF compression map — all 18 artefacts with standard vs VAF time and substitution logic.
/guides/
Practitioner Operating Manual
18 artefacts × 3 layers each: extraction guide, VAF template, and executive framing. How to run the conversation, what to write, how to present the finding.
/tools/templates/
Fill-in Templates
All 18 VAF compressed templates in Markdown and Word format. Minimum fields only. Guidance on what to write and at what resolution. Usable today.
/diagnostics/
Plain Language Guide
Start here if you have never heard of enterprise architecture. What an artefact is, why most organisations produce them wrong, and what one useful artefact looks like.
/viewpoints/
Six Viewpoints
Formal viewpoint specifications with concerns, stakeholders, model kinds, and governing rules for VP1 Direction through VP6 Practitioner.
/spec/
Framework Specification
Full specification document. Seven columns, six viewpoints, foundation layer. The complete formal description of the Velocity Architecture Framework.
/examples/
Worked Examples
Completed artefact examples — Guardrail Canvas, Trade-off Matrix, and Architecture Decision Record — showing what done looks like in practice.
Built by a practitioner, for practitioners.
Phil Myint
Principal Architect · ZenCloud Global Consultants · BrisbaneThe Velocity Architecture Framework was built from practice, not theory. Phil Myint is a Principal Architect at ZenCloud Global Consultants in Brisbane, working with organisations across government, financial services, and enterprise technology. VAF emerged from the consistent failure of standard frameworks to deliver useful architecture at the pace real decisions require. Every element of the framework — the compression map, the six viewpoints, the Board Pack format — was tested in live engagements before it was documented.