alternatives-investigation

Architecture alternatives comparison evaluates materially distinct solutions under real constraints like implementability, reversibility, and migration cost. It weighs failure modes and evidence quality to recommend a minimum-regret choice with documented tradeoffs.

A decision memo documents structured multi-dimension comparison for tool selection, capturing evidence and tradeoffs. You need one when choosing between solutions where implementation impact, dependencies, and reversibility carry significant operational risk.

Risk analysis for solution reversibility assesses migration cost and operational burden alongside failure modes. It rejects unavailable or fake options, comparing only materially distinct solutions to ensure evidence quality supports the recommendation.

Tool selection evaluation explicitly weighs dependencies, approvals, and operational burden across alternatives. It flags when evidence is thin and identifies the next check required, ensuring the recommendation fits real project constraints.

Avoid structured alternatives comparison when evidence is too thin to differentiate materially distinct solutions, or when options lack real project constraints like implementability and reversibility to evaluate against.