Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method Collection
This collection contains resources about the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM), a method for evaluating software architectures against quality attribute goals.
Software Engineering Institute
The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) is a method for evaluating software architectures relative to quality attribute goals. ATAM evaluations expose architectural risks that potentially inhibit the achievement of an organization's business goals. The ATAM gets its name because it not only reveals how well an architecture satisfies particular quality goals, but it also provides insight into how those quality goals interact with each other—how they trade off against each other.
The ATAM is the leading method in the area of software architecture evaluation. An evaluation using the ATAM typically takes three to four days and gathers together a trained evaluation team, architects, and representatives of the architecture's various stakeholders.
Most complex software systems are required to be modifiable and have good performance. They may also need to be secure, interoperable, portable, and reliable. But for any particular system
- What precisely do these quality attributes such as modifiability, security, performance, and reliability mean?
- Can a system be analyzed to determine these desired qualities?
- How soon can such an analysis occur?
- How do you know if a software architecture for a system is suitable without having to build the system first?
Business drivers and the software architecture are elicited from project decision makers. These are refined into scenarios and the architectural decisions made in support of each one. Analysis of scenarios and decisions results in identification of risks, non-risks, sensitivity points, and tradeoff points in the architecture. Risks are synthesized into a set of risk themes, showing how each one threatens a business driver.
The ATAM consists of nine steps:
- Present the ATAM. The evaluation leader describes the evaluation method to the assembled participants, tries to set their expectations, and answers questions they may have.
- Present business drivers. A project spokesperson (ideally the project manager or system customer) describes what business goals are motivating the development effort and hence what will be the primary architectural drivers (e.g., high availability or time to market or high security).
- Present architecture. The architect will describe the architecture, focusing on how it addresses the business drivers.
- Identify architectural approaches. Architectural approaches are identified by the architect, but are not analyzed.
- Generate quality attribute utility tree. The quality factors that comprise system "utility" (performance, availability, security, modifiability, usability, etc.) are elicited, specified down to the level of scenarios, annotated with stimuli and responses, and prioritized.
- Analyze architectural approaches. Based on the high-priority factors identified in Step 5, the architectural approaches that address those factors are elicited and analyzed (for example, an architectural approach aimed at meeting performance goals will be subjected to a performance analysis). During this step, architectural risks, sensitivity points, and tradeoff points are identified.
- Brainstorm and prioritize scenarios. A larger set of scenarios is elicited from the entire group of stakeholders. This set of scenarios is prioritized via a voting process involving the entire stakeholder group.
- Analyze architectural approaches. This step reiterates the activities of Step 6, but using the highly ranked scenarios from Step 7. Those scenarios are considered to be test cases to confirm the analysis performed thus far. This analysis may uncover additional architectural approaches, risks, sensitivity points, and tradeoff points, which are then documented.
- Present results. Based on the information collected in the ATAM (approaches, scenarios, attribute-specific questions, the utility tree, risks, non-risks, sensitivity points, tradeoffs), the ATAM team presents the findings to the assembled stakeholders.
The most important results are improved architectures. The output of an ATAM is an outbrief presentation and/or a written report that includes the major findings of the evaluation. These are typically
- a set of architectural approaches identified
- a "utility tree"—a hierarchic model of the driving architectural requirements
- the set of scenarios generated and the subset that were mapped onto the architecture
- a set of quality-attribute-specific questions that were applied to the architecture and the responses to these questions
- a set of identified risks
- a set of identified non-risks
- a synthesis of the risks into a set of risk themes that threaten to undermine the business goals for the system
- identified risks early in the life cycle
- increased communication among stakeholders
- clarified quality attribute requirements
- improved architecture documentation
- documented basis for architectural decisions
The most important results are improved architectures. The ATAM aids in eliciting sets of quality requirements along multiple dimensions, analyzing the effects of each requirement in isolation, and then understanding the interactions of these requirements.
Who Would Benefit
Many people have a stake in a system's architecture, and all of them exert whatever influence they can on the architect(s) to make sure that their goals are addressed. For example, the users want a system that is easy to use and has rich functionality. The maintenance organization wants a system that is easy to modify. The developing organization (as represented by management) wants a system that is easy to build and that will employ the existing work force to good advantage. The customer (who pays the bill) wants the system to be built on time and within budget. All of these stakeholders will benefit from applying the ATAM. And needless to say, the architect is also a primary beneficiary.
August 1, 2000 • Technical Report
This report presents technical and organizational foundations for performing architectural analysis, and presents the SEI's ATAM, a technique for analyzing software architectures.read
October 22, 2001 • Book
This book is a comprehensive guide to software architecture evaluation, describing specific methods that can quickly and inexpensively mitigate enormous risk in software projects.read
December 1, 2005 • Technical Report
By Rick Kazman, Len Bass
This report provides a categorization of possible business goals for software-intensive systems, so that individuals have some guidance in the elicitation, expression, and documentation of business goals.read
September 1, 2006 • Technical Report
This 2006 report analyzes the output of 18 evaluations conducted using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis (ATAM). The goal of the analysis was to find patterns in the risk themes identified during those evaluations.read
June 1, 2007 • Technical Report
This 2007 report describes the Software Architecture Initiative of the Army Strategic Software Improvement Program.read
April 26, 2006 • Presentation
In this 2006 presentation, Len Bass, Robert Nord, and William G. Wood of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) present a preliminary analysis of the results of a collection of ATAMs.read
September 1, 2005 • Technical Note
This report describes the application of the SEI ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) to the U.S. Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) system.read
Integrating the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) with the Cost Benefit Analysis Method (CBAM)
December 1, 2003 • Technical Note
By Robert Nord, Mario R. Barbacci, Paul C. Clements, Rick Kazman, Mark H. Klein, Liam O'Brien, James E. Tomayko
This technical note reports on a proposal to integrate the SEI ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) and the CBAM (Cost Benefit Analysis Method).read
Using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) to Evaluate the Software Architecture for a Product Line of Avionics Systems: A Case Study
July 1, 2003 • Technical Note
This 2003 technical note describes an ATAM evaluation of the software architecture for an avionics system developed for the Technology Applications Program Office (TAPO) of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Office.read
October 1, 2002 • Technical Note
When analyzing system and software architectures, the Quality Attribute Workshop (QAW) and the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) can be used in combination to obtain early and continuous benefits.read
Use of the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) in Source Selection of Software-Intensive Systems
June 1, 2002 • Technical Note
This report explains the role of software architecture evaluation in a source selection and describes the contractual elements that are needed to support its use.read
Using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method to Evaluate a Wargame Simulation System: A Case Study
December 1, 2001 • Technical Note
This report describes the application of the ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) to a major wargaming simulation system.read
October 1, 2001 • Technical Report
In this report, we compare the scenarios elicited from five ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) evaluations with the scenarios used to characterize the quality attributes.read
September 1, 2001 • Technical Note
This report discusses the role of software architecture evaluations in a system acquisition and describes the contractual elements that are needed to accommodate architecture evaluations in an acquisition. The report also provides an example of contractual language that incorporates the ATAM as a software architecture evaluation method in a system acquisition.read
September 1, 2000 • Technical Report
By Marta Lopez
This report analyzes and identifies the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)'s evaluation process and criteria, as well as its data-gathering and synthesis techniques, and more.read
June 1, 2000 • Technical Note
This report describes the application of the ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) to evaluate a reference architecture for ground-based command and control systems.read
September 1, 1999 • Technical Note
This report explains the basics of software architecture and software architecture evaluation in a system acquisition context.read
July 1, 1998 • Technical Report
By Rick Kazman, Mark H. Klein, Mario R. Barbacci, Thomas A. Longstaff, Howard F. Lipson, Jeromy Carriere
This paper presents the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM), a structured technique for understanding the tradeoffs inherent in the architectures of software-intensive systems.read
May 1, 1998 • Technical Report
By Mario R. Barbacci, Peter H. Feiler, Mark H. Klein, Howard F. Lipson, Thomas A. Longstaff, Charles B. Weinstock, Jeromy Carriere
This paper presents some of the steps in an emerging architecture tradeoff analysis method (ATAM).read
April 1, 1998 • White Paper
By Rick Kazman, Mark H. Klein, Mario R. Barbacci, Thomas A. Longstaff, Howard F. Lipson, Jeromy Carriere
This paper presents the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM), a structured technique for understanding the tradeoffs inherent in design.read