MITRE's Architecture Quality Assessment
Richard F. Hilliard, Michael J. Kurland, Steven D. Litvintchouk · 1997
ABSTRACT MITRE’s Architecture Quality Assessment (AQA) is intended to provide an objective andrepeatable technique for the evaluation of system architectures. This paper describes thescope of AQA and its intended use; the evaluation methodology embodied in the AQA;the process of conducting an architecture assessment using the AQA; the current status ofthe AQA; and a comparison with other approaches to architectural assessment. INTRODUCTION Current interest in architecture is motivated by the objectives of building systems faster,better and cheaper (Horowitz, 1991). This has led to attempts to create a discipline ofsystems architecture exemplified by work such as (Rechtin, 1991) and (Maier, 1996), andby the growth of architectural methods such as (Kruchten, 1996) and (Emery, Hilliard,Rice, 1996) to support this discipline. Within large enterprises, such as the US Departmentof Defense, the promise of architecture has resulted in a move toward architecture-basedprocurement of defense systems. This is evidenced by the definition of enterprise-wide“building codes” and standards such as the Technical Architecture for InformationManagement (TAFIM) and the Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) and by the emergenceof industry and formal architectural standards such as Open/X and the IEEE