Abstract
Deployment architecture is an integral part of the software development lifecycle. Few empirical studies regarding the deployment process are found in literature, most of which focus on defining the process and understanding its requirements. Deployment concerns that have not been widely inquired include the challenges along the process, and the product requirements that are most relevant when designing the deployment architecture. The research presented in this paper is aimed at finding the factors that enable to predict successful deployment, as well as provide directions for improving deployment solutions based on these factors. To this end, questionnaires with open-ended questions were distributed to 25 leading service architects in a large IT firm and qualitatively analyzed. Next, eight in-depth interviews with service architects from seven different firms were conducted and iteratively analyzed for identifying success predictors, form a framework for analyzing the maturity level of deployment processes, and provide guidelines for its evolution. This framework is incorporated into the Twin Peaks model, with the aim of ensuring deployment success over the system's lifetime.