Assumptions are critical components of a solution design document that address gaps in information or clarify the conditions under which the design is considered valid. Since each project has a unique scope, customer environment, set of technical requirements, and business objectives, the assumptions made during the design process must be tailored to that specific context. For instance, assumptions regarding available power and cooling in network closets, the state of existing cabling infrastructure, or client device capabilities will inherently differ from one project to another, making them project-dependent.

A. Assumptions are essential for defining the project's scope and boundaries; excluding them from a proposal creates significant risk and ambiguity.

B. While including assumptions is a critical best practice, this statement is an absolute; a very simple, fully-defined project might not require a separate assumptions list.

C. Proactively documenting assumptions is a core responsibility of the solution architect to ensure clarity; it is not a reactive task performed only upon request.

1. HPE Education Services

Designing Aruba Solutions

Rev 20.11 Courseware. The course

which prepares for the HPE7-A04 exam

emphasizes the initial "Information Gathering" phase. This phase involves analyzing a customer's specific business and technical requirements

which often reveals unknowns. Documenting assumptions is the standard process for addressing these unknowns

which are unique to each customer engagement. (Module: "Gathering and Analyzing Customer Information").

2. Aruba Networks

Aruba Validated Solution Guides (VSG). Each VSG

such as the "Aruba Campus for Midsize Networks VSG

" is built upon a specific set of assumptions regarding scale

applications

and existing infrastructure pertinent to a particular use case. This demonstrates that a design for a different use case (e.g.

a large enterprise or a hospital) would be based on a different set of assumptions

confirming their project-specific nature. (Refer to the "Planning and Design" section of any Aruba VSG).

3. MIT OpenCourseWare

16.842 Fundamentals of Systems Engineering

Fall 2015. Lecture 3

"Identifying Stakeholder Needs

" covers the process of defining a system's operational context and requirements. This process necessitates making and documenting assumptions to handle incomplete or ambiguous information provided by stakeholders. These assumptions are

by definition

specific to the system and project being developed.