Work Product (Artifact): Trade Study Report

This artifact supports the analysis of alternatives performed during architectural analysis. It documents the assumptions, data and conclusions of the trade studies performed to support critical architectural design decisions.

Purpose

The purpose of this artifact is to document the assumptions, data, and conclusions of trade studies performed during architectural analysis to justify key architectural design decisions.

Relationships

Roles	Responsible: System Architect	Modified By: System Architect
Input To	Mandatory: Merge Solutions into System Architecture	Optional: None	External: None
Output From	Define Candidate Solutions Identify Key System Functions Merge Solutions into System Architecture

Main Description

This artifact captures the conclusions and supporting data of trade studies performed to determine the architectural elements that will be used to realize different aspects of the system. It is a composite artifact that evolves throughout the architectural analysis capturing the results of each stage of analysis and providing the necessary input data for the next stage of analysis in the process of determining the preferred solution architecture. Upon completion it captures the design justification for key architectural design decisions.

Properties

Optional
Planned

Illustrations

Templates	Trade Study

Tailoring

Impact of not having

Without this artifact there will be no documented justification for key architectural design decision. This may lead to sub-optimal solutions (reduces functionality, increased cost, etc.) increased risk, and/or challenges later in the development cycle that may have a negative impact on the project.

Representation Options

This artifact may be represented as a document, spreadsheet, model or report from a database or specialized tool.

The current process captures the results of all trade studies in a single artifact. However, you may chose to create separate artifacts for each key aspect under consideration.