What is the Meaning of Opportunities in Opportunities and Solutions Phase of ADM in TOGAF

Question

I have just started to explore TOGAF, as I am planning to get certified in it.

As I am going through the ADM phases, I understand that phase E (Opportunities and Solutions) is meant to be used in planning at initial level and idientify the delvery vehicles for the solutions for architectures defined in previous phases.

However was just wondering how does it justify its name i.e.Opportunities and Solutions? What opportunities are we addressing over here, when we say so?

Answer 1

Phases B through D involve defining the baseline and target architectures for each of the architecture domains, and identifying the gaps between the baseline and the target.

At the end of Phase D, you should have four sets of architecture definitions and four sets of gap analysis on each.

Phase E involves consolidating those identified gaps into work packages. Those collectively are the opportunities. The gaps between the baseline (current) architecture and the target (future) architecture are the opportunities. Then you take those requirements and put them into the roadmap and draft implementation plan, and that's the solution element.

Hope it helps.