Quantifying the Value of Architecture Design Decisions: Lessons from the Field

January 1, 2003 • White Paper

By

Jai Asundi, Rick Kazman, Mark H. Klein, and Mike Moore (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

This paper outlines experiences with using economic criteria to make architecture design decisions.

Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

Subjects

Software Architecture

Abstract

This paper outlines experiences with using economic criteria to make architectural design decisions. It briefly describes the CBAM (Cost Benefit Analysis Method) framework applied to estimate the value of architectural strategies in a NASA project, the ECS. This paper describes the practical difficulties and experiences in applying the method to a large real-world system. It concludes with some lessons learned from the experience.

Software Engineering Institute