Diversifying Software Architecture for Sustainability: A Value-based Perspective

We use real options theory to evaluate the options of diversity in design by looking at the trade-offs between the cost and long-term value of different architectural strategies under uncertainty, given a set of scenarios of interest. As part of our approach, we extend one of the widely used architecture trade-offs analysis methods (Cost-Benefit Analysis Method) to incorporate diversification. We also use a case study to demonstrate how decision makers and architects can reason about sustainability using a diversified cost-value approach.