What does ABACUS do?

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ABACUS takes the guess-work out of dealing with solutions, systems, software, information, technology, business processes and/or entire enterprises (collectively referred to as architectures). It can help you to pragmatically design, monitor, simulate, analyse, and visualise your architecture by modelling it, analysing it in intuitive ways (e.g. charts, diagrams and 3D) and then evaluating it against your non-functional requirements.

Note

Non-functional Requirements are those requirements that DON'T relate directly to HOW a product operates. Instead, they are concerned with how WELL it operates. Non-functional requirements include such things as performance, evolvability, quality, scalability, complexity, etc. (as opposed to functional requirements like, turn on this light when this button is clicked). Traditionally, non-functional requirements have been difficult - if not impossible - to measure. In fact, ABACUS is the only product that can objectively and quantifiably measure the first two- performance, and evolvability.

Simply put, you enter the architecture and what you require it to do. ABACUS then tells you if it will do as required and points out any weaknesses or gaps.

ABACUS draws on over 20 years of systems research and many more years of established systems theory. It gives you quantifiable, reliable, objective answers, so you're not relying on subjective assessment.

ABACUS stands for Architecture-Based Analysis, Communication and Understanding of Systems. It can help you with any large scale architecture, but it's generally used for four (4) things:

•Evolving a current architecture. For example, if your existing architecture lacks performance, ABACUS will visualise the architecture for you, identifying the problems (bottlenecks, etc.), then tell you exactly how to improve the architecture.

•Designing a new architecture. For example, if you need an entirely new architecture, and you're designing it yourself, ABACUS will tell you exactly what components you need and how they should be connected.

•Purchasing a new architecture. For example, if you have called for tenders on the design of a new architecture, and you're choosing between three designs, ABACUS will tell you exactly which one suits your requirements best.

•Combining current existing architectures. For example, if you need to combine two or more separate architectures, ABACUS will guide you.