This appendix sets out the author's proposal for a project blueprint: a reusable playbook, inspired by the FINOS Common Architecture Language Model (CALM), for regulated financial organisations that want to modernise safely and transparently. The proposal is a thought experiment rather than an existing FINOS initiative. It inherits the "Architecture as Code" ethos that this repository documents in depth, treating every artefact—from design rationale to production telemetry—as code subject to automated governance, and it combines the automation foundations described in the book's technical chapters with CALM's modelling constructs.
The blueprint proposal takes its cues from the end-to-end publishing workflow that powers this manuscript: a collection of markdown sources, configuration files, and CI pipelines orchestrated as code so that every change is auditable, reproducible, and quality-assured. The proposal reframes that approach for domain-specific platforms—banking APIs, trading analytics, risk models—where architectural drift carries material risk. The goal is to codify a collaborative template that:
FINOS already demonstrates that such ambitions are credible: its community maintains specifications, reference implementations, and data models under open governance, and its Architecture as Code project publishes CALM as an open specification together with a command-line tool, a model hub, and documentation Source [48]. Against that backdrop, the blueprint proposed here provides the connective tissue between CALM’s modelling constructs and the delivery mechanics that keep the book's own production pipeline reliable. The combined approach would support regulated institutions that must prove both technical rigour and collaborative transparency.
Primary topics explored
- Blueprint Objectives and Context
- Principles Anchored in CALM
- Operating Model and Team Design
- Automation Spine and Delivery Mechanics
- Governance, Risk, and Financial Stewardship
- Observability and Resilience Patterns
About Architecture as Code
Infrastructure as Code represents a fundamental change in how we manage and develop IT infrastructure. This book provides organisations with practical guidance for implementing IaC principles whilst fulfilling local compliance requirements and optimising costs.
The book covers everything from fundamental principles and tools to advanced implementation strategies, security aspects, and organisational changes required for successful IaC adoption.
IT architects, DevOps teams, developers, and decision-makers within organisations.
Gunnar Nordqvist
Conceived, directed and published the books of The Transformed Architecture.
Continue with the full chapter
Appendix C: FINOS Project Blueprint: Operationalising Architecture as Code in Architecture as Code gives the detailed explanations, practical examples and implementation patterns behind this summary.
This whitepaper belongs to “Appendices” and is one of 38 drawn from the manuscript.