Architecture Contracts are the joint agreements between development partners and sponsors on the deliverables, quality, and fitness-for-purpose of an architecture. Successful implementation of these agreements will be delivered through effective architecture governance (see Part VII, Architecture Governance). By implementing a governed approach to the management of contracts, the following will be ensured:

• A system of continuous monitoring to check integrity, changes, decision-making, and audit of all architecture-related activities within the organization
• Adherence to the principles, standards, and requirements of the existing or developing architectures
• Identification of risks in all aspects of the development and implementation of the architecture(s) covering the internal development against accepted standards, policies, technologies, and products as well as the operational aspects of the architectures such that the organization can continue its business within a resilient environment
• A set of processes and practices that ensure accountability, responsibility, and discipline with regard to the development and usage of all architectural artifacts
• A formal understanding of the governance organization responsible for the contract, their level of authority, and scope of the architecture under the governance of this body

Typical contents of an Architecture Design and Development Contract are:

• Introduction and background
• The nature of the agreement
• Scope of the architecture
• Architecture and strategic principles and requirements
• Conformance requirements
• Architecture development and management process and roles
• Target Architecture measures
• Defined phases of deliverables
• Prioritized joint workplan
• Time window(s)
• Architecture delivery and business metrics

Typical contents of a Business Users' Architecture Contract are:

• Introduction and background
• The nature of the agreement
• Scope
• Strategic requirements
• Conformance requirements
• Architecture adopters
• Time window
• Architecture business metrics
• Service architecture (includes Service Level Agreement (SLA))

For more detail on the use of Architecture Contracts, see Part VII, Architecture Contracts .