As we work through the patterns & practices App Arch Guide 2.0 project, I find myself repeating an important mantra …

“You can’t evaluate an architecture in a vacuum …”

You need scenarios to evaluate it against scenarios.

Scenario-Based Evaluation Methods
Here’s a list of some scenario-based evaluation methods:

• Software Architecture Analysis Method (SAAM) - evaluate quality attributes against actual usage.
• Architecture Trade_off Analysis Method (ATAM ) - evaluate how well the architecture satisfies particular goals, especially around trade-offs between qualities.

These are mostly variations of SAAM and ATAM.

• Cost-Benefit Analysis Method (CBAM) - evaluates the architecture cost and benefit against the economics of the organization.
• Architecture Level Modifiability Analysis (ALMA) - evaluates the modifiability of an architecture for Business Information Systems (BIS).
• Family-Architecture Assesment Method (FAAM) - evaluates information-system family architectures for interoperability and extensibility.

Additional Resources

• Scenario-Based Software Architecture Evaluation Methods: An Overview (PDF)