The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
Abstract
This paper presents the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM), a structured technique for understanding the tradeoffs inherent in design. This method was developed to provide a principled way to evaluate a software architecture's fitness with respect to multiple competing quality attributes: modifiability, security, performance, availability, and so forth. These attributes interact—improving one often comes at the price of worsening one or more of the others as is demonstrated in the paper. The ATAM is a spiral model of design: one of postulating candidate architectures followed by analysis and risk mitigation, leading to refined architectures.
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Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method® Collection
Cite This SEI Report
Kazman, R., Klein, M., Barbacci, M., Longstaff, T., Lipson, H., & Carriere, S. (1998, April 1). The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method. Retrieved September 11, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/.
@techreport{kazman_1998,
author={Kazman, Rick and Klein, Mark and Barbacci, Mario and Longstaff, Thomas and Lipson, Howard and Carriere, S.},
title={The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method},
month={Apr},
year={1998},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-11}
}
Kazman, Rick, Mark Klein, Mario Barbacci, Thomas Longstaff, Howard Lipson, and S. Carriere. "The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, April 1, 1998. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/.
R. Kazman, M. Klein, M. Barbacci, T. Longstaff, H. Lipson, and S. Carriere, "The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, 1-Apr-1998 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/. [Accessed: 11-Sep-2026].
Kazman, Rick, Mark Klein, Mario Barbacci, Thomas Longstaff, Howard Lipson, and S. Carriere. "The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method." Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Apr. 1998. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.
Kazman, Rick; Klein, Mark; Barbacci, Mario; Longstaff, Thomas; Lipson, Howard; & Carriere, S.. The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method. Software Engineering Institute. 1998. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/the-architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-2/