Architecture consulting in software engineering
Evaluation of system structures and development processes
Software quality is dynamic and the result of active control. At the same time, the complexity of technical systems is growing rapidly and
requires targeted control (controlled self-governance).
To systematically increase quality, stability, performance, and adaptability, control instruments and methods for verification and validation,
especially for industrial systems, are constantly being further developed.
The lack of active control results in a well-known phenomenon that can be observed across industries in a pattern typical of certain sectors (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The phenomenon of “technical debt” (Kruchten et al., 2019)
The phenomenon of “technical debt in software engineering”: It has been empirically demonstrated multiple times across industries that software quality metrics
are often of interest to only a few stakeholders. Stakeholders who significantly fund the project prioritize metrics that generate direct business value (benefits).
This leads to a systemic mismatch between formulated quality goals and measurable metrics that can be collected at the organizational level.
Source:
Kruchten et al. (2019),
Kruchten, Nord & Ozkaya (2012)
The pattern: After just one year development costs increase, stemming from the neglect of quality requirements.
After another 1-2 years, productivity measurably declines, error corrections increase,
and the capacity for development with direct business value (benefit) decreases.
After 3-5 years, error correction costs exceed development costs, externalization strategies accelerate architectural erosion,
and the (lack of) strategic direction exacerbates the phenomenon and directly impacts competitiveness.
Efficient approaches to avoiding technical debt include design and code reviews (and the definition of backlog issues),
as well as well-founded architectural and design decisions that explicitly consider alternatives and risks.
Architecting considers system structures and development aspects as well as operational aspects and,
through targeted architectural consulting, creates essential decision-making foundations for successful software engineering.
~ We would be happy to conduct an independent study