Where should an architect begin a cost trade-off discussion?
Why C is the answer
Business requirements and their value
A cost trade-off needs a starting point, and that is the business requirement and its value.
In detail
- Start with business requirements and their value.
- The cheapest option is not always the best.
Use case
An illustrative scenario, not a real incident.
A team discusses cost by first asking what each option is worth to the business.
See it in different ways
mindmap
root((Well-Architected))
Operational excellence
Security
Reliability
Performance optimization
Cost optimization
SustainabilitystateDiagram-v2 [*] --> BusinessNeed BusinessNeed --> Requirements Requirements --> Design: functional and non-functional Design --> Measure: KPIs and ROI Measure --> [*]
flowchart LR S0["Business requirement"] --> S1["Value"] --> S2["Options"] --> S3["Trade-offs"]
Key point: Begin cost discussions with business value.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. The newest available product
- New is not a reason.
- B. The team's favorite service
- Preference is not a reason.
- D. The cheapest possible design
- The cheapest design may miss the need.