Scenario -
Your role is that of a consultant to the Lead Enterprise Architect in a company that develops photovoltaic technologies for use in large-scale solar power farms.
The company has three manufacturing facilities, two in the United States, and one in Southern France. Each of these facilities supplies a different manufacturer that assembles and sells complete systems. The solar panels and photovoltaic arrays are custom engineered to meet each manufacturer's design specifications.
A challenge that the solar power industry has faced is the efficiency of energy conversion. When a conventional solar panel overheats, it becomes inefficient and generates less energy. In response to this, the research arm of the company has pioneered the development of a new solar panel design that will produce up to
50% more energy than standard solar panels when operating at elevated temperatures. This will allow the production of significantly more useable energy per square meter than from standard solar technology. This new design is ready to go into production.
The company has a mature Enterprise Architecture practice that is supported by a cross-functional Architecture Board. TOGAF 9 is used for developing the automated manufacturing process and systems used to design, manufacture and test the solar power technologies they produce. The Chief Information Officer and the Chief Operating Officer co-sponsor the Enterprise Architecture program.
As part of putting the new solar panel design into production, a pilot architecture project at a single location has defined an updated standard approach for controlling the automated test systems used to perform final quality assurance. The Chief Engineer, sponsor of the activity, and the Architecture Board have approved the plan for immediate implementation at each plant.
Architecture Contracts have been developed that detail the work needed to implement and deploy the new automated test system controller for each location. The
Chief Engineer has expressed concern that a uniform process be employed at each location to ensure consistency and high yields.
The Lead Enterprise Architect has asked you to recommend the best approach to address the Chief Engineer's concern.
Based on TOGAF, which of the following is the best answer?