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Role of Senior Architects

A key strategy is delegation. This works well if you are comfortable with it. I espouse a personal philosophy that says if a decision can reasonably be made by someone with a more narrow scope of responsibility, defer the decision to that person or group. Trust, but verify. Review. Review. Review. Ask open ended questions and have an open channel of communicating early ‘red flags’. And then hold the group accountable to see through the results of the decision into a tangible deliverable.

10. ATAM Phase 3 and Conclusion

  Purpose: Follow up. This phase is conducted after the conclusion of the ATAM evaluation. Phase 3 Step 1: Produce the Final Report Purpose: To write the final report. Evaluators will write the final report that summarizes the entire ATAM evaluation. Phase 3 Step 2: Hold the Post Mortem Meeting Team members fill out Evaluation team post-exercise survey Method improvement survey Evaluation team post-exercise effort survey Team leader arranges and facilitates meeting and Collects process observer’s report Collects effort data   Phase 3 Step 3: Build Portfolio and Update Artifact Repository Six months after the evaluation the team leader arranges for the customer to complete the long-term benefit survey. Conclusion ATAM is a stakeholder-oriented cross-functional team facilitated architectural review process that results in Risk Themes. Founded on Quality Attributes, Tradeoffs, Sensitivity Points and Risks this process is a proven repeatable method of evaluating ...

9. ATAM Phase 2

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ATAM Phase 2 Bring the producers and consumers together to ensure that there are no discrepancies. Write Risk Themes early at least start risk themes documentations early – and try to stick to 5. Not all risks map to a theme, there can be some outliers. The following are two groups of activities in Phase 2: 1. Testing – involves checking the results to date against the needs of all relevant stakeholders 2. Reporting –involves presenting the results of the ATAM Phase 2 involves bottom-up information gathering and analysis. - Consumers of the system o End users o Application builder o External entities - Servicers of the system o System Admin o Network Admin o Maintainers Review Step 1 -6 with the Phase 2 group. Why? This helps Step 7 because these materials are useful in brainstorming. Do not constrain the group, and changes can be made to the utility tree and other artifacts. Note: Ask for any documentation (architecture) that was requested in Phase 1. Do accept new docu...

8. ATAM Scenario Documentation example

Scenario Documentation The following are templates filled out for scenarios for illustration not completeness. (H,H) Scenario Port new to Operating System Attributes Portability Environment Operating system Stimulus New Device Response The developers deliver a production quality PAMD Image that supports new device within two months. Architectural Decisions Sensitivity Tradeoff Risk Nonrisk (H,H) Scenario Port new hardware to existing infrastructure and operating system(s)>\. Attributes Portability Environment N/A for now Stimulus A new device is selected to inclusion into the ecosystem. Response PAMD developers deliver a production quality PAMD images is developed for the new device within 2 months (business) or 1 year (IT Arch). [Negotiated to 6 months between Business Owner and IT Architect] Architectural Decisions Sensitivity Tradeoff Risk Nonrisk (H,H) Scenario Data type incompatibility Attrib...

7. ATAM Utility Tree Example

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I think a utility tree is a visualization of quality attribute exposures for a given architecture, however it can get pretty cumbersome and the details will loose the big picture. In practice, it really depends on the people reading this and how well familiar they are. Chances are they will not be and the goal will be then for the architect to familiarize the stakeholders or create an alternate artifact.

5. ATAM Phase 0: Evaluation

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  Purpose: Partnership & Preparation: Usually present the ATAM to a small group. Get the Business Drivers. Step 1: Purpose to ensure that the client understands the mechanics of the evaluation method; make sure the client understands the CBA of an architecture evaluation. Record questions for possible FAQ list. Consultants may write up work plans. 75 man days for evaluation team effort– duration best case is 3 weeks. Step 2: Initial description of the candidate system. Client provides existing documentation describing the system. Client conveys main architectural drivers e.g. business goals, requirements, constraints etc. Client and evaluation organization agree on necessary architecture documentation – “3 main views”. NDA – for evaluation team is done at this step. Evaluators record general business goals, quality attributes, architectural constraints and list of architecture documentation to be delivered to the evaluation team. Step 3: Go/No-Go decision with respect t...

4. ATAM Phases Overview

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  There are 4 phases of the ATAM evaluation: Phase 0-3. Phase 0: Partnership & Preparation · Usually present the ATAM to a small group. Get the Business Drivers. Phase 1: Initial Evaluation: Step 1-6 · Steps 1-5: We don’t pre-judge here. Just gather information and focus on the pros. · Step 6: This is still phase 1. Ask questions about the architectural decisions, and do they map back to business drivers? Phase 2: Complete Evaluation: Step 7-9 · Step 7: (Brainstorm & Prioritize) – Phase 2: Show Phase 1 scenarios, you recap. · Step 8: Analyze Architectural Approaches: You have more stakeholders. · Step 9: Report out Phase 3: Follow-up