Overview |  | Roles |  | Work Items |  | Views |  | Index |  | Glossary |

Project Portal
| ### Next Steps Partition the System Determine Interfaces |
| ### Patterns & Practices Implement a Development Task |
| Activity: Create Architectural Prototype
Architect
|  |  |  | Create Solution Architecture |  |  |  | Risk |
|  | Participating Roles Responsible: Architect
### Overview Significant risks to the project can be mitigated by creating an architectural prototype. It is important to address risk as early as possible in the project so key strategic and architectural decisions can be made while it is still easy to modify fundamental components of the architecture. Creating early prototypes reduces overall project risk and unknowns. Lower project risk and fewer unknowns makes planning and estimating in later iterations more accurate. Prototypes can be temporary, discarded once the issues have been addressed, or built as the foundation of the core architecture. # Entry Criteria Dependencies: A risk is identified that impacts the solution architecture. # Sub-Activities
1 | Examine Risk | Understand the elements that lead to the identification of the risk or architectural decisions. Examine related scenarios and quality of service requirements. Check on any target environment implications.
2 | Plan the Approach | Determine the form of prototype needed. Solve only the architectural problem identified by the risk. Look for the simplest resolution. Set about development using the determined approach.
3 | Build and Execute the Prototype | Build the prototype. Maintain focus on the problem to be solved. Be sure the prototype appropriately addresses the issue being explored. Deploy the prototype to an environment similar to the target. Test the prototype against the high risk issues. Add any new risk work items that the prototype might have uncovered.
# Exit Criteria
| Identified risk has been reduced to an acceptable level.
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