Derivation of Process-Oriented Logical Architectures: An Elicitation Approach for Cloud Design

The benefits of cloud computing approaches are well known but designing logical architectures for that context can be complicated. Prior to designing a logical architecture, a proper requirements elicitation must be executed. When requirements are not properly elicited, and there are insufficient inputs for a product approach to requirements elicitation, a process-level perspective is an alternative way for achieving the intended base requirements for the logical design. Our proposed solution regards the adaptation and extension of the 4SRS (Four-Step-Rule-Set) method to derive logical architectural models, in a process-level perspective. This perspective creates context for the product-level requirements elicitation conducing to cloud design. We present a real industrial case where the method was applied and assessed. The method application results in the creation of a validated architectural model and in the uncovering of hidden requirements for the intended cloud design.