One of the fundamental strategies of Agile Modeling is that artifacts, including architecture models, should be just barely good enough (JBGE). Another way of saying this is your models should be sufficient for the task at hand, no more and no less. But sufficiency is contextual in nature, it depends.
In this session we will look at the issue of model sufficiency, exploring the risk factors that motivate us to model more as well as the conditions that enable us to model less.

Target Audience: Software Architects, Software Developers
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of agile, understanding of software architecture
Level: Advanced

Extended Abstract:
One of the fundamental strategies of Agile Modeling is that artifacts, including architecture models, should be just barely good enough (JBGE). Another way of saying this is your models should be sufficient for the task at hand, no more and no less. But sufficiency is contextual in nature, it depends.

In this session we will look at the issue of model sufficiency, exploring the risk factors that motivate us to model more as well as the conditions that enable us to model less. We model to think things through, to identify potential avenues for moving forward so that we can choose what we believe to be the most likely path for success. But the more effort we spend doing so potentially motivates us to make commitments earlier than we should and to lose time, and value, doing so. Balancing these tensions is how we determine model sufficiency in the context that we face. Proven agile architecture strategies that enable us to invest in less up-front modeling will also be explored. It's never just about modeling.

Agenda:
1. Architecture throughout the agile lifecycle.
2. What is initial architecture modeling?
3. What does it mean to be just barely good enough (JBGE)?
4. What risk factors motivate us to invest in more up-front modeling?
5. What factors enable us to invest in less up-front modeling?
6. What are the development practices that support an agile approach to architecture?