What the Lessons Learned from Large, Complex, Technical Projects Tell Us About the Art of Systems Engineering

摘要

This paper examines the literature to identify the lessons that have learned from a selection of the thousands of projects that have been conducted over the last 15 years or so. The first purpose of this review is to establish a value-for-money argument for the application of systems engineering. The review is also intended to provide guidance on the application and development of systems engineering methodologies. To provide a context, the paper opens with a definition of systems engineering, a description of key concepts and a brief discussion on supplementary methodologies. This is followed by a discussion of the lessons learned by NASA, the UK Ministry of Defence, and the UK and USA software development industries. The paper closes with discussion that concludes that systems engineering is a cost-effective way of ameliorating schedule, performance and user-acceptance risk for large, complex, technical development projects. It also concludes that the lessons learned indicate the need for more than good processes; there is a growing need to understand and manage the socio-political issues associated with creating and successfully fielding a complex, technical system.