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Selected:ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Root Cause AnalysisBarrier AnalysisFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 1-4 h | 2-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 3-8 | 2-6 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeSafetyIncident | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |