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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Business Strategy McKinsey 7S |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | McKinsey 7S checks whether Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff fit together. Organizational misalignments become visible across multiple levers as a result. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 2-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-12 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | 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 | 7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change Actions | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |
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