Architecture Quality Assessment version 2.0

This document describes an Architecture Quality Assessment (AQA) instrument for the evaluation of system architectures. The AQA is intended to provide an objective and repeatable basis for assessingan architecture’s quality in both generic and program-specific aspects. The AQA may be used to: evaluate a candidate architecture; review the technical progress of an on-going architecture development; assess a complete, delivered architecture prior to its acceptance and system implementation; or, compare two or more alternate architectures in a consistent fashion. This version is the product of a three month proof of concept phase and has been tested in limited trial use. Future versions will increase the depth and breadth of architectural coverage.