Experiences from the Architectural Change Process
Author
Summary, in English
A good software architecture is becoming recognized as a
major factor for successful products. There has been
much research on the technical aspects of software architecture and it is recognized that the driving requirements for architectures are "non-functional", but few have studied how organizations decide on architectural changes. In this paper we study the topic through several case studies. The changes to the architecture are in all cases changes to the "non-functional" requirements on the system. Issues
that we want to evaluate are: when and how is the need
for an architectural change discovered; what is the underlying non-functional requirement; who drives the change; how is it prepared and evaluated; and finally, who makes the decision and how is it implemented.
Through interviews with people that have experience
from architectural changes we compare the decision
process for architectural changes to the ordinary functional requirement change process and the organizational change process. We find that architectural changes have aspects of both functional and organizational changes. An architectural change does not only need to be technically sound, it also needs to be anchored firmly in the organization. This report gives both architects and managers guidelines to balance short-term project goals and longterm organizational goals with respect to architecture.
major factor for successful products. There has been
much research on the technical aspects of software architecture and it is recognized that the driving requirements for architectures are "non-functional", but few have studied how organizations decide on architectural changes. In this paper we study the topic through several case studies. The changes to the architecture are in all cases changes to the "non-functional" requirements on the system. Issues
that we want to evaluate are: when and how is the need
for an architectural change discovered; what is the underlying non-functional requirement; who drives the change; how is it prepared and evaluated; and finally, who makes the decision and how is it implemented.
Through interviews with people that have experience
from architectural changes we compare the decision
process for architectural changes to the ordinary functional requirement change process and the organizational change process. We find that architectural changes have aspects of both functional and organizational changes. An architectural change does not only need to be technically sound, it also needs to be anchored firmly in the organization. This report gives both architects and managers guidelines to balance short-term project goals and longterm organizational goals with respect to architecture.
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop “From Software Requirements to Architectures” (STRAW’03) at the International Conference on Software Engineering
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Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Computer Science
Conference name
Second International Workshop From SofTware Requirements to Architectures (STRAW), at International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE)
Conference date
0001-01-02
Status
Published