Dependability Modeling in an Industrial Environment

In this industrial report, we present the application of an architectural risk assessment of a major digital transformation initiative to validate and improve reliability and performance characteristics. The goal of this paper is to describe our experience adapting the well-known Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) methodology to perform an architecture risk assessment of the individual components of this initiative. A high-level back-of-the-envelope model was developed to support the iterative ATAM architecture risk assessment of reliability, performance, and scalability business drivers on the industrial project under analysis each highlighted the dependability of the solution. This performance model was validated using measurements of the existing architecture prototype and demonstrated estimated reliability. This paper contributes to presenting the ATAM adaptation details, the technical approach adopted, the challenges encountered, the summary of results, and the lessons learned from the application of the ATAM methodology to understanding software reliability and performance early in the system life-cycle.