Domain 14: Documentation

Architecture Diagrams, Runbooks, ADRs

All Teams | Governance | Max 30 Points

0-6
Ad-hoc
7-12
Foundational
13-18
Standardized
19-24
Advanced
25-30
Optimized

Scoring Criteria by Level

LevelCriteria
1Tribal knowledge; outdated docs; no runbooks
2Some docs exist; quality varies; runbooks partial
3Architecture documented; runbooks for critical paths
4Docs as code; ADRs tracked; runbooks tested
5Docs auto-generated; executable runbooks; always current

Assessment Questions

#QuestionMax
1How current is your architecture documentation?6
2Do runbooks exist for all alerts?6
3How do you track architecture decisions?6
4How do you keep docs up-to-date?6
5Can new team members onboard via docs?6

Focus Areas

  • Architecture: C4 diagrams, service maps
  • Runbooks: Linked from alerts, tested
  • ADRs: Decision records with context
  • Freshness: Regular review cadence

Anti-Patterns (Red Flags)

  • Knowledge only in people's heads
  • Docs abandoned after creation
  • Runbooks that don't work
  • No architecture diagrams
  • Decisions not recorded

Evidence Checklist

  • Architecture diagrams exist and are current
  • Runbooks linked from alert definitions
  • ADR repository maintained
  • Documentation review process exists
  • Onboarding docs enable self-service

Related Domains

DomainRelationship
AlertingAlerts link to runbooks
IncidentsRunbooks aid response
DependenciesService maps document deps

Docs as Code

If it's not documented, it doesn't exist.