9.2.2 Additional Systems Engineering Roles

Abstract

Abstract. To date, the systems engineering roles described focus on those within an engineering firm and ignore the need for a systems engineer who advises, and acts in behalf of, the client separate from the organization building the system. The software systems engineering community has failed the customers by not providing a process for bridging the gulf between the contractor and the customer in an objective manner.The additional systems engineering roles described, that of the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative and the Client's System Engineer, bridge that gulf and improve the integrity of the process. The focus of this paper is on Department of Defense contracts but the prinicple is true for major software systems efforts.