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Software Architecture Guide

ATAM Findings: Risks, Non-Risks, Sensitivity Points and Trade-off Points

Explanation

Section titled “Explanation”

An ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method, see the article on it) is a structured review of an architecture. Its findings fall into a few named kinds.

Where findings come from. The review starts from business drivers. These are refined into scenarios, together with the architectural decisions that support each one. Stakeholders vote to prioritize the scenarios. The review then examines the architectural approaches linked to the high-priority factors from the utility tree. In that step, the team identifies risks, sensitivity points and trade-off points.

The kinds of findings.

  • Risks are concerns the review identifies in the architecture. They are listed as an output.
  • Non-risks are also listed as an output. They record what the review found to be sound (see ATAM Non-Risk).
  • Sensitivity points and trade-off points are identified in the same analysis step. The articles Sensitivity Point and Trade-off Point define them.

Risk themes. At the end of the review, the team groups the individual risks into risk themes. Each theme shows how a set of risks threatens a business driver. A theme links a technical finding to a business goal, so non-architects can see why it matters.

Where findings go next. arc42 section 11 holds a list of technical risks and debts, ordered by priority. It usually includes suggested measures to minimize, mitigate or avoid each risk. ATAM risks fit that list. arc42 also tags its tip on qualitative evaluation for finding risks with #atam. It recommends quality scenarios for that evaluation.

Example

Section titled “Example”

A team reviews an online shop. Stakeholders vote, and one top-rated scenario concerns a sales peak. The review examines the approach chosen for that scenario. It records what it finds as risks, non-risks, sensitivity points or trade-off points. At the end, the team groups several risks into one theme, such as “peak sales may be lost”. It links the theme to the business driver of revenue. The risks then go into the risk list of the architecture document, with suggested measures.

Trade-offs

Section titled “Trade-offs”

The facts available here do not cover the limits of these finding types. See Advantages and Drawbacks of ATAM, and the article on lightweight ATAM, for how the method compares with lighter reviews.

How ATAM findings arise and where they go

Diagram source 
flowchart TD
  A[Business drivers] --> B[Prioritized scenarios]
  B --> C[Analyze architectural approaches]
  C --> D[Risks]
  C --> E[Non-risks]
  C --> F[Sensitivity points]
  C --> G[Trade-off points]
  D --> H[Risk themes]
  H --> I[Threat to business drivers]
  D --> J[arc42 section 11 risk list]

Checks

Section titled “Checks”
  • Risks found in an evaluation are listed in the risks section, ordered by priority, with suggested mitigation measures.
  • Individual risks are grouped into risk themes, and each theme names the business driver it threatens.
  • Findings trace back to high-priority, voted scenarios from the utility tree.
  • The review output also lists non-risks, not only risks.
Section titled “Related”

Sources

Section titled “Sources”