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ADS Architecture Description Standard

The 2-Minute Pitch

Notes for someone introducing ADS to their team, a management forum, or an Architecture Review Board. Pitch designed to fit two minutes — adapt for your audience and time slot.

30-second elevator version

Section titled “30-second elevator version”

The Architecture Description Standard (ADS) is a free, open standard for writing Solution Architecture Documents. It gives us a consistent structure across every project, from a one-page PoC to a regulated, enterprise-critical system.

It’s prescriptive where it should be — you know exactly what to fill in — and extensible where it should be. It comes with worked examples, downloadable templates, AI prompts for review, and a machine-readable JSON Schema.

It replaces the blank-page problem and the patchwork of home-grown templates with one shared vocabulary.

2-minute version (with talking points)

Section titled “2-minute version (with talking points)”

Slide 1: The problem (20 seconds)

Section titled “Slide 1: The problem (20 seconds)”

Talking points:

  • Every SA has their own template. Every project describes itself differently.
  • Reviewers spend their time figuring out what they’re reading, not whether it’s right.
  • New team members learn a different dialect on every project.
  • We can’t compare SADs, score them consistently, or roll up portfolio risk.

“We have a pattern-matching problem. Every document is unique, and that’s the wrong kind of unique.”

Slide 2: What ADS is (30 seconds)

Section titled “Slide 2: What ADS is (30 seconds)”

Talking points:

  • Free, open-source standard. CC BY 4.0 content; MIT code.
  • Prescriptive structure: 8 sections, 3 documentation depths, 14 scored areas.
  • Built on industry standards: ISO 42010, 4+1 model, AWS/Azure/GCP/Oracle/IBM Well-Architected Frameworks, TOGAF.
  • Machine-readable JSON Schema drives templates, validation, and tooling.
  • Four worked examples from simple (a URL shortener) to complex (a regulated healthcare portal).

“It’s not a new framework. It’s the useful parts of the existing frameworks, wired together into something you can actually use.”

Slide 3: What you get in the box (30 seconds)

Section titled “Slide 3: What you get in the box (30 seconds)”

Talking points:

  • Templates in Word, Markdown, YAML, and JSON — same content, your choice of format
  • Worked examples across seven project types: simple web app, cloud-native API, migration, retail e-commerce, healthcare portal, developer platform, and this website itself
  • AI prompt library — ready-to-use prompts for LLM-assisted drafting, validation, scoring, and review (security, governance)
  • Guidance — “what good looks like”, anti-patterns, decision guides, industry mappings (GDS, NIST, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, NHS DSPT)
  • Printable cheat cards for desk reference

“You don’t start from a blank page. You start from something that already works — then adapt.”

Slide 4: What’s in it for us (30 seconds)

Section titled “Slide 4: What’s in it for us (30 seconds)”

Audience-specific versions:

For architects:

  • Blank-page problem solved. Start from a structure that asks the right questions.
  • Your work becomes portable. A new team can continue where you left off.
  • AI prompts give you a peer-review partner available 24/7.

For governance:

  • Consistent structure = faster reviews.
  • 0–5 scoring = a common language with authors.
  • Compliance traceability mapped to major frameworks.

For engineering leadership:

  • Lower cost per SAD. Less debate about form, more focus on substance.
  • Portfolio visibility. Aggregate quality and risk across solutions.
  • Faster onboarding for new architects.

For the business:

  • Decisions recorded — no more “why did we build it that way?”
  • Clear audit trail. Clear compliance story.
  • Cost and exit plans visible before they become problems.

Slide 5: How to adopt (10 seconds)

Section titled “Slide 5: How to adopt (10 seconds)”

Talking points:

  • Start with one SAD. Pick a new project or a next-version of an existing one.
  • Choose the depth that matches the criticality.
  • Use the Quickstart — 5 minutes to a skeleton.
  • Use the AI prompts for drafting and review.

“You don’t need to boil the ocean. Pick one project, use the template, see how it feels.”

Pitch variants

Section titled “Pitch variants”

For a sceptical audience

Section titled “For a sceptical audience”

Open with a pain point they have, not with the standard:

“How long did your last architecture review take? How many versions of the SAD went through? How many times did the reviewer ask ‘where’s the security view?’ — and you couldn’t tell if you’d put it in a section or missed it entirely?

That’s the problem ADS solves. Consistent structure. You know exactly where to put the security view, and so does the reviewer. Let me show you…”

For a time-pressured audience

Section titled “For a time-pressured audience”

Skip the framework discussion, lead with the artefacts:

“Three things. First, here’s a template — fill in the boxes, have a SAD. Second, here’s an example — see what good looks like. Third, here’s an AI prompt — paste your draft and an LLM will review it for completeness before you send to the ARB.

That’s the whole thing. Questions?”

For a strategic audience

Section titled “For a strategic audience”

Frame as portfolio-level value, not individual-SAD value:

“Today every team writes a different kind of SAD. We can’t aggregate them. We can’t do portfolio-level analysis. We can’t score compliance against a consistent scale.

ADS gives us a machine-readable structure. A schema. A scoring scale. That means in two years, when the CISO asks ‘show me every Tier-1 system that’s still running unsupported software,’ we can actually answer.

This isn’t about the individual SAD. It’s about making the portfolio visible.”

Common questions, prepared answers

Section titled “Common questions, prepared answers”

“Doesn’t this just add overhead?”

Only if you over-apply it. The Minimum-depth version takes one to three hours. Tier 5 solutions stay at Minimum. The overhead scales with the criticality — which is what you want.

“Why not TOGAF?”

TOGAF covers the full enterprise architecture lifecycle — capability planning, ADM phases, repository. It doesn’t prescribe a SAD template. ADS is the solution-level artefact that sits within a TOGAF-shaped programme.

“Why not arc42?”

arc42 is a software architecture template. ADS is broader — it covers infrastructure, data, security, operations, governance as first-class views. If your “solution” is pure software, arc42 works well. If it’s a full system, ADS fits better.

“Will I need to rewrite our existing SADs?”

No. Adopt it for new work. Existing SADs are fine as-is — don’t create work for the sake of it. Over time, as systems get updated, you can migrate to the new structure.

“What if our organisation has specific requirements?”

The schema has customSections and organisationProfile extension points. Add your internal tool mappings, governance gates, or bespoke sections without forking the standard.

“Who owns this? What if it goes away?”

It’s open-source. Andi Chandler maintains it currently. If that changed, the standard is forkable — any organisation can continue it. Your SADs are just Markdown / YAML / JSON; they don’t depend on the website being live.

Section titled “Links to share”