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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 1-4 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-8 | 2-5 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
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 | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
