A free, practical architecture tool for architects preparing ARB, HLD, security, cloud, risk, NFR, and production-readiness reviews.
Built as a practical working artefact to help architects turn scattered review preparation into a structured, decision-ready document.
A practical decision and review template for architecture teams.
The idea behind it
A good review should make context, options, risks, trade-offs, ownership, and readiness visible — so the conversation is about the decision, not about hunting for the information.
Start with the sample if you are unsure
If you are using this pack for the first time, start with the sample completed version.
It shows how a realistic architecture review pack can look when filled with context, options, risks, readiness scores, and ARB conditions. The sample is intentionally not perfect — it shows the kind of honest preparation that creates better architecture conversations.
What's included
One carefully built working document. Every section is something you complete, not theory you read. Use the whole pack, or just the parts that match the review you're preparing for.
A short map of which sections to complete before each type of review.
A one-page decision brief for sponsors and review boards.
Frame the whole problem — scope, systems, data, constraints — on one canvas.
Gaps, business impact and severity across twelve architecture areas.
Six views plus a clean sample diagram — and slots to drop in your own.
An ADR template with a fully worked example to copy.
Score three options against ten criteria and make the choice defensible.
Risks with heat-rated severity, owners and status.
Ten control-area checklists, from identity to incident response.
Sixteen NFRs with target values, current status and gaps.
Landing-zone, IAM, DR, IaC and CI/CD readiness in one checklist.
The go-live gate — every item ticked or explicitly accepted.
An ARB-ready one-pager with approvals and final recommendation.
Glossary, assumptions, dependencies, open questions and change log.
Click any field to type, tick checkboxes, set severities, upload diagrams — then export.
Who this is for
If you prepare or sit in architecture reviews, this removes the blank-page problem.
Enterprise, Solution, Technical, Cloud and Infrastructure architects framing and defending decisions.
Leads preparing HLDs, security sign-offs and production readiness for review.
ARB members and decision sponsors who need a clear, comparable brief every time.
Teams driving migrations, platform decisions and vendor evaluations to a clear gate.
Problems it helps with
Most reviews do not stall because the technology is wrong. They stall because the decision, the trade-offs, or the owner were never made explicit.
Start from a structured template instead of an empty document the night before the ARB.
Capture each significant choice as an ADR — context, options, rationale and trade-offs — so it survives.
Score alternatives against the same criteria and make the recommendation defensible.
A register with severity, owner and status keeps risks visible instead of implied.
Control and NFR checklists surface gaps before sign-off, not after go-live.
One calm, consistent format every reviewer recognises — across projects and teams.
Preview
This is the real tool, embedded live below. Open it full-screen to scroll all fifteen sections.
The preview is the live tool. Open the full version to type into every field and export to PDF or Word.
How to use it
No account, no install. Open the file in any modern browser and start typing.
Open the HTML file in your browser. It runs locally and offline — nothing is uploaded.
Click any field to type, tick checkboxes, and cycle severity or approval chips. Entries auto-save in your browser.
Click a diagram box in the Target Architecture section to upload, or drag an image straight onto it.
Save as a print-ready PDF, or download an editable Word file — both keep everything you've added.
Creator note
Built from practical enterprise architecture review experience.
This pack did not start as something to publish. It started as the working structure used to prepare real architecture reviews — the shape that made ARB sessions, HLD sign-offs, and cloud approvals go more calmly. I have tidied it, made it editable, and shared it freely so others can use the same structure.
It reflects a simple bias carried through years of infrastructure and architecture work: clarity over hype, simple over clever, maintainable over impressive.
Subhakanta Kar · Enterprise Solution Architect · Bengaluru, India
Feedback
This is an early public version. If you use it, review it, or adapt it for a real architecture conversation, I would be glad to hear what worked, what felt missing, and what should be improved.
This free pack is shared for personal learning, internal architecture preparation, and feedback. You may use and adapt it for your own work. Please do not resell, repackage, or publish it as your own.
This is a personal architecture-thinking tool. Views and templates are personal and not affiliated with any employer or organisation.
A clearer, calmer way to walk into the ARB, the HLD review, the security sign-off, or the cloud approval — with the decision, the options, and the risks already written down.