Key takeaways
- H maintains architecture relevance over time.
- Requirements Management supports every phase.
- Evolution should preserve continuity of decisions and traceability.
Monitor the evolving context
Phase H, Architecture Change Management, maintains architecture relevance and considers necessary changes. It examines current needs, changes in the environment, and the effectiveness of capability or governance. Depending on the significance of change, a controlled adjustment may be sufficient or a new architecture cycle may be initiated.
An event does not automatically require a complete redesign. Its scope, affected requirements, and existing decisions need assessment. A request for new work or an amendment to commitments may be needed. Retaining decisions helps identify what remains valid and what must be reconsidered.
Requirements span the ADM
Requirements Management is not a final step: it identifies, documents, and makes relevant requirements available to each phase. Requirements can be refined or changed as work progresses. Traceability connects vision, mission, strategy, and business needs to descriptions and implementation conditions. A significant change calls for impact assessment.
- Maintain requirement status, priority, and relationships.
- Make requirements available when needed.
- Reassess their effects when the context or solution changes.
TERMS TO KNOW
The terms, in context.
- Architecture Change Management
- Management of architecture evolution and new needs.
- Requirements Management
- Continuous management of requirements relevant to the ADM cycle.