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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Business Strategy VRIO Framework |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Root Cause 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. | The VRIO Framework rates resources and capabilities on whether they are Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and Organized. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a VRIO table and strategic actions. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 90-180 min | 15-30 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-6 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | 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 | VRIO Table, Strategic Actions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | StrategyDiagnosisBusiness modelCapability | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |