Software Architecture Analysis

Problem
The Software Architecture Analysis Method (SAAM) is a structured method for understanding the high-level organization of a software system and determining the impact of requirements changes on that structure. SAAM was developed by Dr. Abowd and colleagues at the Software Engineering Institute and it continues to be a focus for the DARPA-sponsored MORALE project at Georgia Tech. In this project, you are asked to learn about SAAM and to perform a SAAM evaluation on a particular evolving system within the Future Computing Environments Group. Specifically, you are asked to perform a SAAM evaluation of the ZenPad system used in Classroom 2000 as it is being evolved to meet more and different needs.

Background

• Papers on SAAM can be found at Gregory's page on software architecture evaluation publications and at the SEI pages on software architecture evaluation.
• Information on the ZenPad system is available from Dr. Abowd or Jason Brotherton. There is also an architecture document on ZenPad that has been done by a group of undergraduates.

• You will need to provide the artifacts of a SAAM evaluation, which are:
  • An architectural representation of the current ZenPad system.
  • A prioritized list of changes to the system, as determined from conversations with Dr. Abowd and Jason Brotherton.
  • A table summarizing the impact of the changes on the architecture.