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Selected:Failure Scenario AnalysisWSJFATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion | ![]() Engineering Failure Scenario Analysis | ![]() Agile WSJF | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In critical processes, it is not enough to plan only for the normal case. Failure Scenario Analysis looks at the path into failure and shows which failures, chains, and control gaps cause the most damage. | When many tasks compete for the same capacity, it orders work by economic impact. It makes time lost, benefit, and effort comparable together. | 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. | 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 | Medium | High | High | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-90 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-10 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Failure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions | Ranked Backlog, Cost-of-Delay Assumptions | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | FailureResilienceRisk | LeanEconomicsSequencePrioritization | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |



