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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() Operations Change Analysis | ![]() Business Strategy VRIO Framework | ![]() Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | For a deviation after a change, the method isolates the influence of the altered condition. It narrows down which differences are relevant and which are just accompanying noise. | The VRIO Framework rates resources and capabilities on whether they are Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and Organized. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a VRIO table and strategic actions. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-120 min | 90-180 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-6 | 3-6 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List | VRIO Table, Strategic Actions | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison | StrategyDiagnosisBusiness modelCapability | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality |



