Architecture evaluations help identify weaknesses and potentials in software solutions, validate decisions, and assess improvements. Traditional methods like ATAM are thorough but are often seen as heavyweight or too formal - sometimes too rigid for agile projects.
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) offers a lean, easy-to-use alternative. You can apply it immediately with your team to assess your software system and gain valuable insights—quickly and efficiently.
You’re wondering whether your technological and architectural ideas will lead to success—before or during development.
You’re facing issues with an existing system and need to identify the best starting point for improvements.
You want to gain better control and increase flexibility in a large system that has evolved over time and became harder to manage.
You need to prioritize modernization ideas or align them with your goals to strengthen the decision-making.
You’re facing new challenges — such as market expansion, user growth, or higher system load—and want to assess their impact
There are disagreements among stakeholders about the solution or system objectives, and you need clarity to move forward.
In all these situations, you need to examine your existing software - or at least its core ideas and concepts - from multiple perspectives.
In general, software analysis can be categorized as either workshop-based or tool-based. Tool-based approaches rely on measurements and metrics, requiring operational data or source code as input—meaning they can only be applied at a later stage. Additionally, not all software properties can be easily quantified.
As a result, workshop-based methods are often preferred for early reviews and as a guiding framework. The most well-known of these is ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method). While traditional approaches are well-founded and offer clear benefits, they also come with challenges.
Conventional software evaluation methods are often complex.
Are there simpler approaches that can be easily adopted?
Profound analysis methods typically involve larger review groups.
Can reviews be done effectively with smaller teams or even alone?
Many methods only produce raw results that need further analysis or refinement.
Is it possible to get management-ready insights early on?
Most evaluation methods follow a fixed structure that doesn’t always match the criticality of the situation.
How can the scope and depth of a review be adjusted appropriately?
"LASR is the essence of insights gained from over 100 software reviews. It builds on this foundation to give you a head start."
Co-creator of LASR
"In a nutshell, LASR empowers development teams to identify risks early — independently and with minimal effort."
Co-creator of LASR
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) is a structured and efficient method for software evaluation.
Instead of just reading about LASR, why not dive in and start analyzing your software, validating solution ideas, and uncovering potential risks right away?
How to Start