Engineering Mega-Systems: The Challenge of Systems Engineering in the Information Age

With their ability to cross traditional boundaries and achieve a level of functionality greater than their component elements, mega-systems have helped corporations and government organizations around the world resolve complex challenges that they otherwise couldn’t address with stand-alone systems. Engineering Mega-Systems: The Challenge of Systems Engineering in the Information Age provides a clear understanding of the engineering of this class of systems—a process that demands consideration of increasing program scale and the rapid change of underlying technologies.

Written by Renee Stevens, a Senior Principal Engineer at The MITRE Corporation with decades of experience analyzing, engineering, and acquiring large-scale systems for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, this book explains how the engineering of mega-systems is inherently different from that of large-scale monolithic systems. It supplies the vocabulary and framework needed to explore the issues relevant to mega-systems. This framework then evolves into the Profiler diagnostic tool that helps you understand the nature and context of the system at hand and, on that basis, select the most appropriate processes, tools, and techniques.

Stevens examines commercial and government applications of mega-systems to provide insight into the contemporary challenges of engineering these systems in three critical dimensions: engineering processes, management processes, and the larger context in which these systems are developed and deployed. Complete with two case studies in engineering mega-systems that illustrate valuable lessons learned and highlight emerging practices, this book supplies the understanding and the tools needed to begin engineering, characterizing, and acquiring mega-systems across multiple dimensions.

Renee G. Stevens is a Senior Principal Engineer at The MITRE Corporation. She has 30 years of experience in the analysis, engineering, and acquisition of large-scale systems for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies. Her current interests lie in research and practice contributing to the development of an enterprise systems engineering discipline.

Stevens has developed the well-received Profiler tool for use in characterizing the environment and context in which a system will be developed and will operate. It serves as both a diagnostic tool and the basis for a situational model. Results have been widely briefed to government, academic, and professional audiences. She is applying the model to the assessment of several large-scale programs and is conducting research on innovative strategies and practices to improve the acquisition of information technology systems.

Stevens received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Hunter College, City University of New York, in 1966, and a master’s degree in public and business administration from George Washington University in 1981. She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Academy of Management.

SETTING THE STAGEList of Acronyms

IntroductionThe Trend Toward Large-Scale, Richly Interconnected SystemsWhy This Book?Organization of the Book

Context and TrendsChanging the Strategic Environment in the U.S. Department of DefenseThe Imperative to Share Information across AgenciesEnabling ConditionsInstitutional Trends: Enterprisewide, Top-Down PerspectiveImplications for Systems and ProgramsA Look Ahead

CONCEPTS AND FRAMEWORKS

Mega-System ConceptsWhat Is a System?Mega-SystemsSummary

A Framework for Exploring Mega-SystemsBasis for the FrameworkElements of the Basic FrameworkTame versus Wicked Problems

Engineering and Acquiring Mega-SystemsWhat Is Systems Engineering?Mega-System Challenges for Systems EngineersTroubled Large-Scale SystemsLevels of Systems EngineeringEnterprise Systems Engineering Profiler

CASE STUDIES IN ENGINEERING MEGA-SYSTEMS

Introduction to Mega-System Case StudiesA Note about Case StudiesApproach to Mega-System Case StudiesSingle Integrated Air PictureMotivation: Moving from Independent Systems to a Theater-Wide Integrated CapabilityStanding up a System Engineering OrganizationSIAP System Engineering ProcessBuilding the IABMFormalizing the SIAPSummarySIAP Mapping to the Systems Engineering ProfilerInsights for Engineering Mega-Systems

Developing the Electronic Product Code NetworkBackgroundThe Auto-ID CenterThe Vision: An Internet of ThingsConcept and TechnologiesRFID Design Process and ImplementationTransition from Research to CommercializationEPC AdoptionSummaryEPCglobal Network Mapping to the Extended FrameworkInsights for Engineering Mega-Systems

Observations from the Case StudiesCase Study RecapObservations

THE WAY AHEAD

The Way AheadEmerging TenetsMatching Practice to CircumstancesAn Emerging View of Systems Engineering as a Continuum of PracticeRefining the Engineering Tenets: A Way AheadAn Emerging View of Next-Generation PracticeConcluding Thoughts

POSTSCRIPT: PROFILING A COMPLEX ACQUISITION PROGRAMMultiple Purposes of the StudyApproachFindingsThe Profile as an "Uncertainty Map"Recommended Practices for Dealing with UncertaintyConclusion