Architectural Analysis and Design

Analysis is about problem definition, whereas design is about solution definition. A solution that will satisfy all of the functional requirements must be constructed. The solution must also take advantage of the available technologies to provide the best support at the lowest cost and best performance. Architectural analysis is the period in the development process where you step back and look at the types of problems you are trying to solve, in order to figure out what technological approach would provide the optimum solution. 

If we call it architectural design weÕre implying that we are designing a new architecture--which we are not, at least not usually. There are a limited number of ways to organize an application. Architectural analysis is the process of matching a need to an approach. To accomplish that goal, we first need to break down, or Òpartition,Ó the problem.