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Vol.12, March 2026

Tech radar, Vol.12

34 technologies, tools and practices placed on four rings, from Adopt to Hold. Retrospective edition, compiled 2026.

Retrospective edition, compiled 2026

Inspired by ThoughtWorks’ Technology Radar, our radar captures the technologies, platforms, tools, and patterns we observe and recommend across enterprise engagements. Updated semi-annually since 2020.

Tech radar, Vol.12, March 202634 entries in four quadrants and four rings. The same entries are listed below the chart.AdoptTrialAssessHoldPlatforms & InfrastructureLanguages, Frameworks & ToolsArchitecture & PatternsEA Tooling & Governance12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
New in this editionCarried over

Platforms & Infrastructure

Adopt

  1. 1AWS Landing Zone (Control Tower)

    Production-proven multi-account governance.

    Since Vol.3

  2. 2Azure Landing Zones (CAF)

    Subscription vending with policy guardrails.

    Since Vol.5

  3. 3Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE)

    De facto orchestration. Multi-cloud ready.

    Since Vol.1

  4. 4Terraform

    IaC standard. Module registry for reuse.

    Since Vol.1

Trial

  1. 5Crossplane

    Kubernetes-native infrastructure composition.

    Since Vol.9

  2. 6OpenTofu

    Open-source Terraform fork. Monitoring license situation.

    Since Vol.10

Assess

  1. 7Talos Linux

    Immutable, API-managed K8s OS. Promising for edge.

    Since Vol.11

Hold

  1. 8CloudFormation (standalone)

    Vendor lock-in. Prefer Terraform or CDK.

    Since Vol.2

Languages, Frameworks & Tools

Adopt

  1. 9ArgoCD

    GitOps for Kubernetes. Production standard.

    Since Vol.5

  2. 10Backstage

    IDP framework. Service catalog + golden paths.

    Since Vol.8

  3. 11Nuxt / Vue 3

    Frontend framework for SSR/SPA enterprise portals.

    Since Vol.4

  4. 12Symfony + API Platform

    Our default backend stack. Mature, performant, well-tested.

    Since Vol.1

Trial

  1. 13Astro

    Content-heavy sites. Performance-first.

    Since Vol.10

  2. 14Go (for platform tooling)

    CLI tools, operators, and controllers.

    Since Vol.7

Assess

  1. 15Deno 2

    Secure JS runtime. Watching enterprise adoption.

    Since Vol.11

Hold

  1. 16BizTalk Server

    Legacy. Migrate to event-driven alternatives.

    Since Vol.1

  2. 17jQuery (new projects)

    Legacy. Use vanilla JS or modern frameworks.

    Since Vol.1

Architecture & Patterns

Adopt

  1. 18API-First Design

    Contract-first with OpenAPI + AsyncAPI.

    Since Vol.1

  2. 19Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)

    Git-tracked. Every solution engagement starts here.

    Since Vol.1

  3. 20C4 Model for documentation

    Standard for all architecture deliverables.

    Since Vol.2

  4. 21Event-Driven Architecture

    Default for async integration. Kafka / Redis Streams.

    Since Vol.3

Trial

  1. 22Data Mesh

    Organizational pattern for data ownership. Requires maturity.

    Since Vol.7

  2. 23RAG Architecture Patterns

    Production-ready for document Q&A and knowledge bases.

    Since Vol.11

Assess

  1. 24Agentic AI Architectures

    Multi-agent systems with tool use. Early but high potential.

    New in Vol.12

  2. 25Cell-Based Architecture

    WSO2-inspired. Blast radius isolation beyond microservices.

    Since Vol.10

Hold

  1. 26Monolithic ESB patterns

    Replace with lightweight EDA or API gateway.

    Since Vol.1

EA Tooling & Governance

Adopt

  1. 27LeanIX

    IT portfolio management. Lightweight, fast adoption.

    Since Vol.4

  2. 28MEGA HOPEX

    EA repository for regulated industries. Strong metamodel.

    Since Vol.3

  3. 29Structurizr (C4 DSL)

    Architecture-as-code. CI-integrated C4 diagrams.

    Since Vol.5

Trial

  1. 30Ardoq

    Lightweight EA tool with strong API. Good for agile orgs.

    Since Vol.9

  2. 31FinOps Foundation FOCUS

    Open cost data format. Cross-cloud normalization.

    Since Vol.11

Assess

  1. 32AI-assisted architecture review

    Using LLMs to pre-screen ADRs and flag risks. Experimental.

    New in Vol.12

Hold

  1. 33Spreadsheet-based portfolio management

    Unmaintainable at scale. Migrate to LeanIX or HOPEX.

    Since Vol.3

  2. 34Visio-based architecture documentation

    Unversioned, unstructured. Move to C4/Structurizr.

    Since Vol.2

Changes in Vol.12

  • New Agentic AI Architectures to Assess
  • New AI-assisted architecture review to Assess
  • Moved in RAG Architecture Patterns: Assess to Trial
  • Moved in Backstage: Trial to Adopt

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