Minimally Viable Architecture: Architecture Early in Development

This technical note explores the concept of minimally viable architecture (MVA), which is architecture that can be used by Department of Defense (DoD) development teams as they build products. After an MVA is developed, the unified modeling language frameworks can be used to enhance the MVA throughout the life of the project as greater detail and understanding are needed to maintain the effort and ensure the quality attributes (also known as systemic properties or non-functional requirements) are met by the solution.

Overall, the SEI recommends that DoD teams begin to develop their architecture by using an MVA. This technical note offers guidance on what these teams should do with an MVA to get their certificate to field and authorization to operate.