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Criterion
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of an activity-role table with clear RACI assignments and one highlighted accountable role per activity.
Operations
RACI Matrix
Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
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.With unclear responsibilities across several roles or areas, the method creates unambiguous accountability logic. It reduces friction because decision, execution, contribution, and information become separately visible.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.An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowMediumLow
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope45-90 min45-120 min15-45 min
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-82-61-3
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsync
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 alternativesRACI Matrix, Responsibility Map, Decision NotesChange Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action ListADR File, Decision Log, Rationale
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
RolesResponsibilityGovernanceOperations
ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
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