It is important to understand the context and objectives of an IT architecture project prior to reviewing the architecture itself. This task ensures that all participants are up-to-speed and that they all agree on these requirements. Modifications may be suggested, in which case they are documented in an Artifact: Architecture Review Record. These suggested changes will be reviewed along with the IT architecture in the next step, and actions agreed at that stage.

This review is always done prior to the review of an IT architecture deliverable to ensure that participants in the review are at the same level of understanding regarding the context and objectives.