Software Architect's Handbook

Phase 1 – Evaluation

Phase 1 is the first of two phases dedicated to the evaluation of the architecture. In this phase, the evaluation team meets with the project decision makers. Phase 1 consists of the following steps:

1. Present the ATAM
2. Present the business drivers
3. Present the architecture
4. Identify architectural approaches
5. Generate the quality attribute utility tree
6. Analyze architectural approaches

Step 1 – Present the ATAM

In this step, the evaluation leader explains the ATAM to the project decision makers. Any questions about the ATAM can be answered during this step.

If everyone in the meeting is already familiar with the ATAM, this step could potentially be skipped. For example, a development team may go through the ATAM phases and ...