| Lesson 3 | Perspectives |
| Objective | Stakeholder perspectives impact architectural requirements. |
In e-Business, functionality is the minimum price of admission. In other words, your
site can work, but if the graphics take too long to download, are people going to come back?
Example metrics
Stakeholder-defined criteria
Architecture is about performance against stakeholder-defined criteria. In other words, the architect needs to consider performance (metrics) when
prescribing a solution that meets the stakeholder-defined criteria.
Stakeholder perspectives
The architect must view the problem space from the perspective of each stakeholder. These perspectives will vary, depending on the relationship the stakeholder maintains with the business entity of concern.
Stakeholder perspectives
The architect must view the problem space from the perspective of each stakeholder. These perspectives will vary, depending on the relationship the stakeholder maintains with the business entity of concern.
Differentiation
Successful architecture must not only meet functional requirements (criteria), it must also differentiate itself from alternative solutions.
Architect vs. contractor
For example: You want to buy a house. The most important specification is that it has four bedrooms. How do you choose between a ranch and bi-level
that both meet the same requirements? It would come down to the way you perceived the characteristics of each house. However, characteristics always
must be prioritized.
Ebusiness perspective
It is easy for an architect to under- or
over-engineer a solution. An architect needs to understand where the line between good and good enough exists.
It is most important to identify and implement those things that will increase the probability of meeting the specified objectives.
It is most important to identify and implement those things that will increase the probability of meeting the specified objectives.
