The Enduring Path to System Success: Investment in Quality Early‐phase Systems Engineering

Abstract

System stakeholders responsible for defining, delivering, and commissioning engineered systems often work in resource‐constrained environments. This means that it is not always possible to apply systems engineering processes as comprehensively as practitioners would like. The question then becomes where and when best to allocate systems engineering resources to maximize project success. A review paper that analyzed lessons learned twenty years ago highlighted inadequate early‐phase systems engineering effort as a major cause of project issues. This paper opens with a discussion of this review material and progresses to review contemporary materials. The conclusion drawn is that the quality of early‐phase systems engineering is as vital as ever to project success and that the recommended levels of expenditure on SE are unchanged. The newer work, however, provides us with important new information: guidance on the sorts of activities that provide the greatest payoff in the early stages of the lifecycle and what proportion of the SE budget should be allocated to each major area of activity. The foremost areas to resource are mission definition and project scoping, with systems architecting, technical analysis, and system design also featuring prominently. Requirements also features but not in terms of volume of effort rather in terms of the need to use good systems engineering and analysis to translate the high‐level originating needs (that rarely change) into the detailed technical requirements. Model‐based approaches are claimed to much better support early‐stage SE than older, document‐based approaches.

Academics' perception of systems engineering and applied research projects

“…Furthermore, there is a strong agreement that much of SE is "common sense," but that it helps sharing a common language to enable collaboration. [26][27][28] There is a difference between the formalization of projects and executing project activities. The increased complexity drives the need for planning and management of research projects, and if the researchers are not trained they will choose their methods and tools arbitrarily.…”

“…Hard systems thinking aspires to about "an efficient means to achieve a predefined and agreed end, 25 " while soft systems thinking methods are based on "interactive and participatory approaches to assist groups of diverse participants to alleviate a complex, problematic situation of common interest. 25 " Some have claimed that SE employs "common sense" principles [26][27][28] and others suggest its value may be underestimated and its benefits underrepresented in the literature. There have been efforts, 29 most notably by Honour 12,30 and Boehm et al 31 to quantitatively measure the benefits of SE activities in projects.…”

“…31 an understanding of the process, and a stable environment and context in which the system is developed and deployed. 27 Even so, there are obstacles and barriers to introducing SE in any organization. Some organizations believe that using SE processes may hinder creativity because they associate the process with a prescriptive, detailed, flowdiagram approach which forces your work process.…”

Multi‐Disciplinary Insights into Measurement and Assessment for SoS

“… Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) are a critical subset of the performance parameters representing the capabilities and characteristics that are so significant that failure to meet the performance threshold can be cause for the concept, project, or system being reassessed or terminated. Close monitoring of KPPs is considered a critical project success factor (Cook and Wilson, 2019).…”

Managing complex projects and systems: a literature synthesis

“…There are many other complex system parameters, including a group which could be addressed as nonfunctional requirements. Cook and Wilson (2019) make the point that there is a movement away from the mathematical modelling of complexity to information systems that impact the way an organisation conducts its business and consequently its internal organisation and power structure. Many of the complex system parameters address such organisational issues, and therefore deserve consideration as possible non-functional requirements.…”