Estimation Considerations: Architecture Overview |
These estimating guidelines are for the effort of creating an initial Architecture Overview for a system on a moderately complex project based on a reasonably well defined set of requirements. These guidelines assume a new, not existing, architecture and a viewpoint for a particular stakeholder.
Relationships
Related Elements | Architecture Overview
Main Description
The effort you need to create an Architecture Overview for a system depends on the size and complexity of the project and how much research you must perform during its development. Typically, there are a number of steps involved in creating an Architecture Overview. Each step has a range for the amount of effort required. For a moderately complex project, below is a summary of the steps involved with an estimate of the effort for each step: Understand the functional and non-functional requirements. The effort depends on whether there are adequate requirements documents, how large and complex these are, and whether the same people who documented requirements are involved in architecture definition. Familiarization time could be zero if personnel defined the requirements. Otherwise, two people may be able to familiarize themselves in two days each. Research industry literature, assets, and previous engagements that might be relevant. Effort expended here may reduce subsequent effort and risk. Research may be conducted for up to five days. Envision alternative system architectures. You may do this best by conducting in a workshop session. This might take five people for one day each. Evaluate alternative solutions and decide which to adopt. The effort for his depends on the number of alternatives, the extent to which each alternative is elaborated, and the diversity of stakeholders and conflicting requirements. In a small project this could be performed as part of the envisioning workshop. This effort could take from one to twenty days, depending on the complexity of the nuances involved. Document the agreed upon Architecture Overview, which may take approximately one day.
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