Overview of TOGAF Phase C architecture guiding SAP S/4HANA landscape design.
In SAP implementation programs, TOGAF® ADM Phase C plays a critical role in translating business requirements into data and application design principles and in defining the target information systems landscape. Even if the requirements specification looks complete on paper, a vague Phase C often leads to unclear system responsibility boundaries, data structures, interfaces, and migration priorities, which in turn causes costly rework in subsequent design and build phases.
In TOGAF®, ADM Phase C is defined as “Information Systems Architectures” and focuses on developing both the Data Architecture and the Application Architecture. The intent is to define a Target Information Systems Architecture that can realize the Architecture Vision and Business Architecture, and to identify roadmap candidates by analyzing gaps against the baseline landscape.pubs.
The original TOGAF® documentation explains that the core of Phase C is to design the combination of “data” and “applications,” not to produce a flat list of functions. Key activities include selecting reference models, views, and tools, identifying information requirements, and designing information flows, which clearly positions Phase C as an architectural exercise to shape the overall structure rather than a detailed functional spec effort.
In SAP programs, the requirements phase typically aims to clarify business and system requirements and to analyze gaps between the As‑Is and To‑Be processes. However, this by itself does not sufficiently answer key design questions such as “Which business processes will be executed in which SAP capabilities?”, “Where will which data be mastered?”, and “How will SAP integrate with surrounding systems?”.
This is where Phase C becomes indispensable. Phase C translates the To‑Be Business Architecture into a concrete combination of SAP S/4HANA, surrounding solutions, master data domains, analytics platforms, and integration patterns. In other words, the essence of Phase C is to create an enterprise‑level blueprint that bridges business process design and detailed system design.
According to TOGAF®, the purpose of the Data Architecture is to develop the Target Data Architecture needed to realize the Business Architecture and Architecture Vision, and to identify roadmap components by analyzing gaps against the baseline. Likewise, the Application Architecture aims to develop the Target Application Architecture aligned with the Business Architecture and Architecture Vision and to extract roadmap elements based on the identified gaps.
Applied to an SAP implementation, the practical objectives of Phase C can be summarized into four areas:
In SAP implementation, Information Systems Architectures is not about listing SAP modules. In practice, it becomes the activity of defining “which application handles which data at which timing under which accountability” for end‑to‑end business scenarios such as order‑to‑cash, procure‑to‑pay, demand‑to‑supply, and engineering‑change‑to‑cost‑update.
In a typical manufacturing SAP program, SAP S/4HANA sits at the core of transactional processing, while PLM, MES, WMS, quality management systems, and BI/DWH solutions are positioned around it. What really matters here is not only the functional boundaries of each system but also the information life cycle of key objects such as material, BOM, routing, cost, supplier, inventory, and customer demand—specifically, where each object is created, updated, and consumed, and which system is the system of record.
TOGAF® lists Architecture Definition Document, Architecture Requirements Specification, and Architecture Roadmap as key artifacts updated in Phase C. Translated into an SAP project context, at least the following deliverables typically become central:
| Deliverable | Meaning in an SAP Program |
| Target Application Landscape | Shows responsibility split across S/4HANA, cloud SaaS, legacy systems, and the integration platform. |
| Target Data Architecture | Defines key information objects, master data governance policies, and data integration starting points. |
| Information Flow Diagrams | Describe cross‑system data exchange and update responsibility triggered by business events. |
| Requirements Traceability Matrix | Links business requirements to application and data requirements and architectural decisions. |
| Architecture Roadmap (Candidates) | Prioritizes fit‑to‑standard, extension/add‑on, migration, and integration initiatives. |
When these deliverables are in place, they provide a stable foundation for downstream design artifacts such as end‑to‑end process designs, UI/UX designs, report layouts, and authorization concepts. Conversely, if the quality of Phase C is poor, inconsistencies tend to surface across these individual design documents, causing governance and alignment issues.
When properly executed, Phase C creates consistent traceability between the Business Architecture and the SAP solution design. This allows the project team to evaluate requirements not as isolated topics, but in the context of an overall architecture and its design principles.
Typical outcomes in practice include:
Leading Phase C requires more than theoretical knowledge of TOGAF®. In the context of SAP implementation, the following skill set is essential:
Enterprise Architecture delivers tangible value in SAP programs not when discussing abstract strategy alone, but when translating concrete business requirements into an implementable information systems structure. TOGAF® ADM Phase C sits at the heart of this translation, and should be regarded as one of the most critical phases for reducing ambiguity between business and IT.
This becomes especially true in SAP programs that involve global templates, master data governance, PLM integration, MES integration, and consolidated analytics platforms. If Phase C is treated lightly, architectural debt tends to surface late in design and testing; if the target data and application architectures are clarified early, the SAP program can move forward as a business transformation design initiative rather than just a system rollout.
Please refer to this article for topics related to Enterprise Architecture (EA).
Enterprise Architecture – Insight Arc | SAP, Enterprise Architecture & Supply Chain Strategy
Parts of this article were developed with reference to generative AI suggestions and were reviewed, refined, and supplemented based on the author’s professional expertise and judgment.
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