The objective of this dissertation was to compile an analysis on current situation of the service architecture that is in use in the company that ordered this work. The analysis was conducted in cooperation with the leading architects of the company as well as an external consultant. In addition to outlining the current situation, the analysis phase included documenting the areas that need development in different sectors and proposing alternative solutions on how to improve the service architecture in a manner that supports the future business objectives of the company. In addition to the analysis, a leadership model for technology and architecture work was compiled. The leadership model supports improving the service architecture that the company uses.

The analysis was carried out as a two-month project. The necessary information for the analysis was acquired with a series of workshop interviews. In this manner it was possible to acquire as much information as possible from inside the company. In addition to interviewing the company’s personnel, an external consultant participated in the work to conduct an independent analysis. Based on the findings of the analysis, defining a leadership model was chosen as a more specific development target. In defining the leadership model the focus was in taking into account the manner in which the company organizes its work and create a model that supports this.

As digital platforms become more and more common, a company’s chosen service architecture is of paramount importance in achieving business objectives. When planning a company’s service architecture, it is essential to study the available cloud services and their service models in detail. To be able to choose the best option, one must also understand modern technological trends. Instead of the traditional monolithic approach, it is possible to choose a model that is based on microservices as a basis to build upon. On the other hand, it is possible to choose a combination model which contains characteristics from both monolithic and microservice models. Most importantly, one must recognize the advantages and disadvantages of both models. When planning the implementation organization, it is very useful to study the most modern operations models. One of the most functional operations models today is the DevOps model, especially when used in connection with agile development.