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| Criterion | ![]() Product Strategy GIST Planning | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis | ![]() Business Strategy GAP Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | GIST Planning helps clarify target groups, value, goals, and priorities. It links customer value, product logic, and decision priorities, and captures the result as goals, an idea bank, and a step-project list. | 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. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | Wochen bis Monate je Goal | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | Half day | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Goals, Idea bank, Step-project list, Tasks, Learning reports | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Gap Matrix, Action Plan, Risk Notes |
Tagsno overlap | RoadmapOutcomesPlanningExperiments | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | StrategyAnalysisPlanning |



