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| Criterion |  Business Strategy GAP Analysis |  Business Strategy PESTLE Analysis |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Business Strategy SWOT Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | GAP Analysis compares the current state with a target picture and makes the distance manageable. It becomes useful when, ahead of new initiatives, it must become clear which capabilities, processes, or resources are missing. | PESTLE Analysis makes political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental influences visible. The environment of an initiative is thereby read systematically instead of through isolated trends. | 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. | SWOT Analysis arranges strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats into a compact picture of the situation. It keeps internal capabilities and external influences separate before strategic options emerge from them. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-10 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Gap Matrix, Action Plan, Risk Notes | PESTLE Map, External Risks, Strategic Questions | 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 | SWOT matrix, Strategic options, Action list |
Tags1 shared | StrategyAnalysisPlanning | StrategyMarketAnalysis | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | StrategyAnalysisMarketPositioning |