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| Criterion |  Decision Making Delphi Method |  DevOps Incident Timeline Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together. | For an incident with an unclear sequence, the method makes the timeline precisely visible. It separates perception, reaction, and delay so cause and effect become more clearly readable. | 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 single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 60-180 min | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 6-30 Experten | 3-10 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Incident Timeline, Evidence Log, Delay Analysis, Improvement Actions | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | IncidentTimelineSite Reliability Engineering | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |