Technology · The technology estate · Component
System landscape
The organisation-wide catalogue of systems, each with an owner, a purpose, a criticality and a place in its lifecycle.
The deliverable
What it is
The landscape is the single list of systems for the whole organisation. The tool inventory under Operational Systems records how well a tool fits one process; the landscape records the system itself, once, and the threat model, the AI register and the portfolio assessment all refer to its entries.
Its value lies in the fields beyond the name. A list of applications says what was bought; a landscape with owners, criticality and status says what the organisation depends on, who answers for it, and what is on its way out.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
System entry
One record per system: what it is called, what it does, and which business capability it supports.
4 attributes: System · Capability supported · Provider · Documentation
LearnBusiness owner
The person in the business accountable for the system being fit for purpose, distinct from whoever runs it technically.
3 attributes: Business owner · Technical custodian · Owning function
LearnCriticality rating
How much the organisation depends on the system, graded by what would stop if it were unavailable for a day.
3 attributes: Criticality · Tolerable outage · Users
LearnLifecycle status
Where the system stands — being introduced, in active use, contained or being retired — and since when.
3 attributes: Lifecycle status · Status since · End of vendor support
Learn
List the spreadsheets and no-code tools as well. The systems nobody chose formally are often the ones the business cannot do without.
The other components in the technology estate
Integration map
The connections between systems — what each carries, how it is carried, and what fails downstream if it stops.
LearnArchitecture principles
The short set of rules every addition to the estate is tested against, derived from how standardised and integrated the business intends to be.
Learn