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Selected:Porter Five ForcesSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)SWOT AnalysisATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
| Criterion |  Business Strategy Porter Five Forces |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Business Strategy SWOT Analysis |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Porter Five Forces analyzes the forces that shape competitive pressure and profitability in a market. The view of market structure goes beyond individual competitors and reveals systemic pressure points. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-12 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Five Forces Analysis, Competitive Risks, Strategic Options | 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 | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations |
Tagsno overlap | StrategyCompetitionMarket | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | StrategyAnalysisMarketPositioning | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders |