Model-Based Support for Decision-Making in Architecture Evolution of Complex Software Systems

Design decision support for software architects in complex industrial software systems, such as software ecosystems and systems of-systems, which feature extensive reuse of third-party solutions and a variety of deployment options, is still an open challenge. We describe three industrial use cases involving considerable re-architecting, where on-premises solutions were migrated to a cloud based IoT platforms. Based on these use cases, we analyse the challenges and derive requirements for an architecture knowledge model supporting this process. The presented methodology builds upon existing approaches and proposes a model for the description of extant software applications and the management of domain knowledge. We demonstrate its use to support the evolution and/or composition of software applications in a migration scenario in a systematic and traceable manner.