Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
10.1184/R1/6583481.v1Topic or Tag
Abstract
This technical report analyzes the output of 18 evaluations conducted using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) developed by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. The goal of this analysis was to find patterns in the risk themes identified during those evaluations. The major results are
- a categorization of risk themes
- the observation that twice as many risk themes are risks of "omission" as are risks of "commission"
- a failure to find a relationship between the business/mission goals of a system and the risk themes revealed during an ATAM evaluation of that system
- a failure to find a relationship between the domain of a system being evaluated and the risk themes associated with the development of that system
Part of a Collection
Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method Collection
Software Architectures and Acquisition
Cite This SEI Report
Bass, L., Nord, R., Wood, W., & Zubrow, D. (2006, September 1). Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012). Retrieved May 15, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1.
@techreport{bass_2006,
author={Bass, Len and Nord, Robert and Wood, William and Zubrow, David},
title={Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations},
month={{Sep},
year={{2006},
number={{CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012},
howpublished={Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library},
url={https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1},
note={Accessed: 2026-May-15}
}
Bass, Len, Robert Nord, William Wood, and David Zubrow. "Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations." (CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012). Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library. Software Engineering Institute, September 1, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1.
L. Bass, R. Nord, W. Wood, and D. Zubrow, "Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations," Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012, 1-Sep-2006 [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1. [Accessed: 15-May-2026].
Bass, Len, Robert Nord, William Wood, and David Zubrow. "Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012). Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute's Digital Library, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Sep. 2006. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
Bass, Len; Nord, Robert; Wood, William; & Zubrow, David. Risk Themes Discovered Through Architecture Evaluations. CMU/SEI-2006-TR-012. Software Engineering Institute. 2006. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583481.v1