3 OKR examples for Systems Architect

What are Systems Architect OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

How you write your OKRs can make a huge difference on the impact that your team will have at the end of the quarter. But, it's not always easy to write a quarterly plan that focuses on outcomes instead of projects.

That's why we have created a list of OKRs examples for Systems Architect to help. You can use any of the templates below as a starting point to write your own goals.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read more about the OKR meaning online.

Best practices for managing your Systems Architect OKRs

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRs

Tip #2: Commit to the weekly check-ins

Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples below). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Building your own Systems Architect OKRs with AI

While we have some examples below, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. There are 2 options available to you.

Use our free OKRs generator
Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives
including a GPT-4 powered goal generator

Best way to track your Systems Architect OKRs

The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
It will highlight poorly set OKRs
It will surface execution risks
It improves transparency and accountability

Spreadsheets are enough to get started. Then, once you need to scale you can use a proper OKR platform to make things easier.

Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.

Systems Architect OKRs templates

We've covered most of the things that you need to know about setting good OKRs and tracking them effectively. It's now time to give you a series of templates that you can use for inspiration!

You will find in the next section many different Systems Architect Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to develop a scalable architecture for a video streaming platform

Develop a scalable architecture for a video streaming platform
Integrate a monitoring system to ensure 99.99% platform availability and uptime
Achieve an average video load time of 3 seconds or less for 95% of users
Increase platform's streaming capacity by 30% to accommodate higher user traffic
Conduct load testing and identify performance bottlenecks to optimize streaming capacity
Implement content delivery network (CDN) to distribute traffic and reduce latency
Optimize server configurations to increase platform's streaming capacity by 30%
Upgrade network infrastructure for improved bandwidth and faster streaming capabilities
Implement a distributed storage solution to reduce data retrieval time by 20%
Design and develop a robust distributed storage architecture
Implement and thoroughly test the chosen distributed storage solution
Research and identify suitable distributed storage solutions
Conduct a thorough analysis of the current storage system

Track these OKRs

OKRs to enhance application design by solution architect review

Enhance application design by solution architect review
Conduct in-depth analysis of current application design flaws
Analyze identified flaws and their impacts on user experience
Identify potential areas of improvement in the application design
Develop a plan to address and fix noted design flaws
Collaborate with development team to propose and implement design improvements
Draft proposed design improvements for team review
Oversee implementation of agreed-upon design changes
Organize meeting with development team to discuss design enhancements
Track and evaluate impact of design changes on overall system performance
Analyze and document performance variations tied to design changes
Monitor system performance before and after design changes implementation
Run system testing for evaluating design modifications' effectiveness

application-design system-performance solution-architect development-team design-review-team systems-performance-evaluation-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to externalize authorization models from monolith

Externalize authorization models from monolith
Identify and list all authorization models by Week 2
Finalize and submit the list by Week 2
Research various types of authorization models
Catalogue each identified authorization model in a list
Successfully migrate at least 90% of authorization models to the external component by Week 10
Map current authorization models to the external component
Develop a detailed migration plan
Execute migration and verify success rate
Design and develop a separate external component for authorization models by Week 6
Identify necessary features for authorization component
Design a prototype of the authorization component
Develop and test the authorization component

authorization-models migration systems-analyst software-developer system-architecture-team software-development-team

Track these OKRs

More Systems Architect OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

OKRs resources

Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.

To learn: Complete 2024 OKR cheat sheet
Blog posts: ODT Blog
Success metrics: KPIs examples