In the context of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.2 and IT architecture design, business

requirements articulate the high-level needs and expectations of the organization that the solution

must address. They serve as the foundation for the architectural design process, guiding the

development of technical solutions to meet specific organizational goals. According to VMware’s

architectural methodology and standard IT frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, which aligns with VMware’s

design principles), business requirements focus on what the organization aims to accomplish rather

than how it will be accomplished or who will be involved. Let’s evaluate each option:

Option A: Business requirements define which audience needs to be involved.

This statement is incorrect. Identifying the audience or stakeholders (e.g., end users, IT staff, or

management) is part of stakeholder analysis or requirements gathering, not the purpose of business

requirements themselves. Business requirements focus on the goals and objectives of the

organization, not the specific people involved in the process. This option misaligns with the role of

business requirements in VCF design.

Option B: Business requirements define how the goals and objectives can be achieved.

This statement is incorrect. The how aspect—detailing the methods, technologies, or processes to

achieve goals—falls under the purview of functional requirements or technical design specifications,

not business requirements. For example, in VCF 5.2, deciding to use vSAN for storage or NSX for

networking is a technical decision, not a business requirement. Business requirements remain

agnostic to implementation details, making this option invalid.

Option C: Business requirements define which goals and objectives can be achieved.

This statement is misleading. Business requirements do not determine which goals are achievable

(implying a feasibility assessment); rather, they state what the organization intends or needs to

achieve. Assessing feasibility comes later in the design process (e.g., during risk analysis or solution

validation). In VCF, business requirements might specify the need for high availability or scalability,

but they don’t evaluate whether those are possible—that’s a technical consideration. Thus, this

option is incorrect.

Option D: Business requirements define what goals and objectives need to be achieved.

This is the correct answer. Business requirements articulate what the organization seeks to

accomplish with the solution, such as improving application performance, ensuring disaster recovery,

or supporting a specific number of workloads. In the context of VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2,

examples might include “the solution must support 500 virtual machines” or “the environment must

provide 99.99% uptime.” These statements define the goals and objectives without specifying how

they will be met (e.g., via vSphere HA or vSAN) or who will implement them. This aligns with

VMware’s design methodology, where business requirements drive the creation of subsequent

functional and non-functional requirements.

In VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2, the architectural design process begins with capturing business

requirements to ensure the solution aligns with organizational needs. The VMware Cloud Foundation

Planning and Preparation Guide emphasizes that business requirements establish the “what” (e.g.,

desired outcomes like cost reduction or workload consolidation), which then informs the technical

architecture, such as the sizing of VI Workload Domains or the deployment of management

components.

Reference:

VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 Planning and Preparation Guide (Section: Requirements Gathering)

VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 Architecture and Deployment Guide (Section: Design Methodology

Overview)

VMware Validated Design Documentation (Business Requirements Definition, applicable to VCF 5.2

principles)