Measuring architectural adaptability in i* models

Developing adaptable systems is still a big challenge in software engineering. Different reference architectures and systematic approaches have been proposed to address this challenge. Several of these approaches are based on goal models, given their suitability to express and reason on alternative behaviors. In this paper we intend to provide a basis for comparing architectures described in goal-based models in regard to their adaptability. This way, different approaches to improve adaptability may be compared based on the resulting architectures. To do so we mapped two adaptability metrics onto i* models and developed guidelines to define the adaptability of individual elements, based on the extra information provided by i* models. We applied these metrics in a healthcare system to illustrate the comparison of architectures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

ASSESSING GOALS MODELLING TECHNIQUES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF BUSINESS STRATEGIC PLANNING

La orientación a metas ha hecho importantes aportes a la Ingeniería de Requisitos. Las metas refinan la visión global del negocio, exponen el valor de un sistema/software y proporcionan la fundamentación para su desarrollo. No obstante, las bondades obtenidas de la Ingeniería de Requisitos Orientada a Metas no garantizan que los sistemas de software estén alineados con la estrategia del negocio, ni que contribuyan efectivamente a la proposición de valor. Como un medio para mejorar esta situación se plantea la utilización de la Planificación Estratégica en el direccionamiento de la Ingeniería de Requisitos Orientada a Metas, considerando que en este proceso se establecen las metas de más alto nivel y las estrategias del negocio. Dada la existencia de un grupo diverso de técnicas orientadas a metas, el objetivo de esta investigación es evaluar las técnicas de mayor difusión con el fin de determinar cuál satisface en mayor grado los requisitos de un proceso de Ingeniería de Requisitos dirigido por la Planificación Estratégica. La evaluación realizada se basó en el Análisis de Características propuesto por Kitchenham. El grupo de características establecido persigue examinar la capacidad de las técnicas para: (1) el modelado de los conceptos básicos de la Planificación Estratégica, y (2) la representación de metas en diferentes niveles de abstracción y sus interrelaciones.Goal orientation has made important contributions to Requirements Engineering. Goals refine the overall vision of business, expose the value of a system/software and provide the rationale for its development. However, the benefits obtained from Goal-oriented Requirements Engineering do not guarantee the strategic alignment of software systems nor do they effectively contribute to the value proposition. As a means to improve this situation, it is proposed the use of Strategic Planning for driving Goal-oriented Requirements Engineering, considering that this process defines the business highest level goals and strategies. Given the existence of a diverse group of goal-oriented techniques, the objective of this research is to assess the most widely used techniques in order to determine which one meets, in a higher degree, the requirements of a Strategic Planning-driven Requirements Engineering process. The evaluation was based on the Kitchenham´s Feature Analysis. The specified set of features pursues to examine the ability of the techniques for: (1) modelling the basic concepts of Strategic Planning, and (2) representing of goals at different levels of abstraction and their interrelationships