iL a CHAPTER 1 a Introduction to Systems Engineering ‘This chapter and Chapter 6 (the last chapter of this text), each attempt to provide a perspective on all of systems engineering. This is a major challenge, ‘We belicve that some introductory comments followed by another look at the big picture after we have discussed some of the methods based details in our intervening chapters, is an appropriate way to meet this challenge. 4 1.1 INTRODUCTION Here, as throughout the book, we discuss some fundamental and introductory { considerations associated with the engineering of large-scale systems, oF systems engineering. We begin our effort by first discussing the need for systems engineering and then providing several definitions of systems engineering. We ‘ext presenta discussion of systems engineering processes or systems engince ing life cycles. A lifecycle isthe product lin, or process, that is used to create 4 product or service, or pethaps even another process, We will also discuss the three funetional levels, or considerations, that are associated with systems ‘engineering: + Systems methods and tools + Systems engineering lifecycle processes, or methodology do. + Systems management While there will be some discussions throughout this chapter, as well as in the next and final chapters, on systems engineering methodology and systems 1—— 12 INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING tne book is on methods for systems ‘olving through use of a systems ‘engineering approach de an overview of where we sesh | canese wil also atiempt to indicate what its at Hen cengincers do in vo wegonal practice. We wil provide a brit Wes ‘of the history of Prete enginccring and wil also discuss some of {he challenges and pitfalls Prociated with systems engineering efforts acai next chapter, we will discuss a framework, &f methodology for ystems engineering. We will indicate that this framework i generally Com prised of three fundamental steps: as to identify the ness to be fulfilled and the arin terms of objectives to be satisfied: {seve resolution and generation of management, our major focus in most of Toginering. and on methods for problem Jn. Here we wish to prov % tse formulation, such sents associated with th a and alterables that aft |) gy), mciem, courses of action Re eenanatys auch a5 to enable we to determine he impale of 1°eaN> Tue ana ntuding possible rinement ofthese alternates Sig mee nas acme 0 ek cree baer Te lene rrrettr pon and xo sect one fr Hmplemenation or ‘vitonal study ata number of methods appropriate for these tres sep (2 Chapters 3, 4a Se aeemy ofthe content ofthis effort, \ soi is basicaly £0 Mgethods forthe forme we analysis, and interpretation of issues, TO Put © iiscussions in perspective, we illustra ce ecring pierre These are the objectives of CPA 2, which is devoted 10 ee eniecring Bixee proces, and Chapter 6 ‘which is devoted 1 Systems management. ‘We will apply these 5} and Interpretation —to a varity Sm appreciation for systems engineering frimary purpose of the text isto deseibe @ Va are eneke we in formulation, analysis and interpecto fae associated with problet eployent. Te text concludes in Of each of these functional levels in Targe-seale systems. We will prese Formulation, Analysis, ystems engineering steps — wuld enable us to develop of situations that sho riety of systems jon situations that the engineering and management of 4.2. SYSTEMS ENGINEERS rs ceva engiascct 4A The ane 12 the GeO ostensibly ee se a They define, develop, and deploy ystems. he Sa (pr0d- siraigh ores they engineer usually favolve many considerations associatedS “edge for the betterment of a svsreus enciveens 3 With both the user (ie, client or enterprise desiring the system) and the ‘implementation specialists who ultimately produce or manufacture the system. ‘Thus, systems engineering is a human, organizational, and technology-based effort that is inherently multiiseiplinaryin nature, Often, it is said that systems”) ‘engineering deals with systems that are large in scale and large in scope. 5 ‘Sometimes itis said that these systems are “complex,” meaning that there are ‘many parts to the system and that the parts are related to each other in sometimes complicated ways Often a systems engincer leads, in @ technical direction sense, a team of experts in various areas of disciplinary specialization who work together in ‘efforts that are large in scope, in that they involve human, economic, technical, environmental, and other considerations. But what ix a large-scale syste 5 Many examples can be found by looking at big projects that are typically coordinated by the systems engineering department of many modern com panies. Airport planning and operations, command-and-control systems, man= agement information systems, software development projects, urban eonine plant layout, and manufueturing operations are a few examples. Otten system engineers build relatively inexpensive models of proposed projects to refine and test new ideas. Such prototypes, or models, can save lots of time and money in that they allow experimentation on a synthetic system, rather than on the “real” system where mistakes can be very expeasive and may even be dangerous, System failures may be expensive to diagnose and correct, even though they are often not difficult to detect. Because systems engineers) know how to analyze and understand complicated situations, they are often called on to organize knowledge for executive decision makers. In this role, they perform systems analysis to develop and evaluate policies and programs. In this capacity, systems engineers typically function as consultants or as technical direction and staff support to management. Thus, in developing and implementing large-scale systems, systems engineers must also understand and appreciate human, organizational, and behavioral concerns, a8 well as concerns involving technology. ‘Systems engineering may also be described as a management technology. ‘Technology is the organization, application, and delivery of scientific know!- ient group. This is a functional definition of Technology as a fundamentally human activity. A technology inherently in- volves a purposeful human extension of one or more natural processes, For example, the stored program digital computer is @ technology in that it enhances the ability of a human to perform computations and, in more advanced forms, to process information. Information is data of potential value in decision making. When information is associated with the context that ‘There isan evoving field of study, called comple systems or complex adaptive systems which ‘wes a somewhat dif meaning of empl In this re, compen i ile to exibe 2 ststem thi cannot be fly stud by the clases! approaches of sytem analy: oth ae frtet wero th etn @ 6 Oo o DO2) 4 pvTRooUCTION TO SYSTEMS ENCINEERING ‘occurs with experiential familiarity with a task and the environment into which itis embedded, it becomes actionable knowledge Management involves the interaction ofthe orgenization with the eaviron- ‘ment. A purpose of management is to enable organizations to better cope their environments such as to achieve purposeful goals and objectives Conse- uently, a management technology involves the interaction of science, the Organization, and its environment. Figure 1.1 illustrates these conceptual interactions. Information is the glue that enables the interactions shown in this Sigure, Information isa very important quantity which is assumed to be present im the management technology that is systems engineering. This strongly couples notions of systems engineering with those of technical ditection oF systems management of technological development, rather than exclusively with ‘one or more ofthe methods of systems engineering, important as they may befor the ultimate success of a systems engineering effort. It suggests that systems) engineering isthe management technology that coniols a total system life-cycle ‘Process, which involves the definition, development, and deployment of a system. tha 18 of high quality trstworthy, and coteffective in meeting user needs, This rocess-oriented notion of systems engineering will be emphasized here. Our, focus will e onthe description of) an appropriate methods basis for problem, f) solving and (b) support of this process-related view of systems engineering. |” We can think of a physical (or natural) science basis for technology. a ‘human and organizational science basis, and an information science basis. The Physical or natural science basis involves primarily matter and energy proces- Sing.‘The management scons bats involves human and ompanizaonl\ | ‘concerns, both of the technology development organization and of the technol- ‘ogy user organization. In many ways, the information science basis is more dificult to cope with than the physical science or management science basis, | ‘because information is not a truly fundamental quantity but one which derives, from the structure and orgenization inherent in the natural sciences and ‘organizational sciences and the purposeful uses to which they are put. This leas sto emily the primary concerns of sts engineers hye systems HDTHE SYSTEMS POWNT OF View 5 planning, development, and deployment; human and organizational, or enterprise. systems planning, development, and deployment; and information systems plan. ing, development, and deployment. 1.3. THE SYSTEMS POINT OF VIEW Now that we understand what systems engineers do, we naturally want to know some of the basic ideas that systems enginoors use in their work. Because systems engineering is often described as a “new way of thinking,” we need to describe what we mean by the systems point of view, This will lead us to see that it is not really new. The systems perspective takes a “big picture” or holisti, oF gestalt, view of large-scale problems and their proposed technologi- cal solutions. This means that systems engineers not only examine the specified, | of the problem under consideration but also investigate relevant factors in the. surrounding environment. (They realize that problems are embedded in a situation or environment that can have significant impacts on the problem and its proposed alternative solutions. This is not to say that systems engineers do not get very detailed or specific. Far from it. There is also much effort devoted to inscoping, high-fidelity modeling, and specification of system requirements and architecture. The systems viewpoint stresses that there usually is not a single correct answer or solution to a large-scale problem or design iste. Instcad, there are many different alternatives that can be developed and ‘implemented depending on the objectives the system is to serve and the values of the people and organizations with a stake in the solution. Let's add more detail to what we mean by the systems point of view: First, system is defined as a group of components that work together for >) _ specified purpose. This is avery simple but correct definition. Purposeful action S > isa basic characteristic of a system. A number of functions must be implemen. {ed in order to achieve these purposes. This means that systems have functions. They are designed to do specific tasks. Systems are often classified by their ultimate purpose: service-oriented systems, productoriented systems, or pro- ‘cess-oriented systems. An airport can be viewed as an example of a service system. The planes, pilots, mechanics, ticket agents, runways, and concourses are all components that work together to provide transport service to passen- ers and freight. An automobile assembly plant is an example of a product. oriented system. The raw materials, people, and machines all work together to produce a finished car. A refinery that changes erude oil into gasoline is an ‘example ofa process-oriented system. We note here thatthe systems consider- ced by systems engincers may be service systems, or they may be product systems. The systems may be systems designed for use by an individual or by agroups of individuals. These systems may be private sector systems, or they ‘may be government or public sector systems ‘This suggests that what is a “system” is very perspective-dependent. An overhead projector may be viewed as a “system.” So may the combination of6 nTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING an overhead projector, a screen on which it projects, and a set of overheads. ‘The instructor using the overhead may also be included in the notion of “system.” From another perspective, the combination of the overhead, screen, ‘overheads, instructor, and students may be regarded as a “system.” Thus, when Wwe use a term such as “engineer a system,” we must be very careful to define the nature of the “system” that we wish to engineer and what is included in, and exempted from, the notion of system. We must also be very concerned with the interfaces to the system that we are engineering ‘The systems point of view also recognizes that a problem and its solution hhave many elements or components, and there are many diflerent relations ‘among them, The important aspects of a problem are often function of how the components interact. Simple aggregation of individual aspects of a problem is intuitively appeating but often wrong. The whole s often not simply the sum ofits parts. Often, much more is involved. This does not suggest at all that scientific analysis, in which an issue is disaggregated into a number of component issues and understanding sought of the individual issues, isin any ‘way improper. The following steps are essential in finding solutions to large and complicated poblems: + Disaggregation or decomposition ofa large issue into smaller, more easily understandable parts + Analysis of the resulting large number of individual issues + Aggregation ofthe results to attempt to find a solution to the major issue ‘This is the essence of the formal scientific method. However, interpretation ‘must follow analysis, and meaningful issue formulation must precede it. Also, ‘these formal efforts need ‘o be conducted across a variety of lifecycle phases, And there must be provision for experientilly based skills and understanding, just as there must be provision for formal rational thought. The systems approach attempts to incorporate all ofthese. System components are often of very diferent types; and it i helpful, from systems perspective, to distinguish among them. Consider a university as a system for producing educated graduates. Some of the parts of the university system are structural or static eomponents, such as university buildings, As the system is operating, these structural components usually do not change much. Operating components are dynamic and perform processing such as the professors in a university who teach students. Flow components are often ‘material, energy, or information; but in this example, students are the parts that ‘low or matriculate through the university system. Again, how the components interact is an important aspect of any systom, its problems or design issues, and their alternative solutions. For example, grades are one mechanism for inter- action between professors and students. Grades serve a purpose, intended oF not, and itis important to understand what purpose, intended and unintended, they serve,THESYSTENS POWT OF view 7 ‘A very important fundamental concept of systems engineering is that all ‘systems are associated with fe cycles. Similar to natural systems that exhibit a Dirth-growth-aging and death lifecycle, human-made systems also have # lif cycle. Most generally, this life cycle consists of definition ofthe requirements {or a system, development ofthe system itself, and deployment ofthe system: in an operating environment. These thre essential Iife-eycle phases are always ‘needed. Each of them may be described in terms of a larger number of meve fine-grained phases, as we describe in Chapter 2 In all types of system evolution, and as we will discuss, there will be a minimum of three phases: + Definition + Development * Deployment ‘These comprise the essential systems engineering process activities, This life-cycle perspective should also be associated with a long-term view toward planning for system evolution, research to bring about any new and emerging technologies nccded for this evolution, and a number of activities associated with actual system evolution, or acquisition. Thus, we see that the efforts involved in the life-cycle phases for definition, development, and eployment need to be implemented across thre lif cycles that comprise: * Systems planning and marketing, * Research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) + Systems acquisition or procurement ‘We will brifly examine these life-cycle phases, especially those for systems ‘acquisition, procurement, or manufacturing in this chapter and in Chapter 2 Even though our primary purpose in this text is to discuss the methods for systems engineering, such discussions would be incomplete if they are net ‘associated with some discussion of systems engineering life cycles, processes, oF ‘methodology and the systems management efforts that lead to selection of appropriate processes, Because large-scale systems are inherently complex in the sense of being comprised of many subsystems, systems often can be better understood by ‘organizing their parts into groups based on function or some other organizing inciple, Often systems are organized into hierarchies. For example, a suriace ‘ansportation system may be organized into roads, streets, intersections, freeways, and interchanges. The subsystem, interchanges, may be organized into ramp, bridges, and pavement components, The pavement system may be ‘comprised of lanes, shoulders, signs, lights, surface, drainage ditch, and cm. Sometimes the term “stem of tems” is sed What component ‘again dependent spon peng baste te@ vpRODUCTION 10 SYSTEMS eWcINEERING bbankments. We are familiar, if only because of extensive news coverage, with the way in which many of the space shuttle components are organized: the launch vehicle, booster rockets, end fight orbiter. While these are the techno. logical components of these systems, there are obviously human components as well. We see that there are structural, functional, and purposeful points of view from which we can describe each of these several systems. We generally need a structural, functional, and purposeful definition of an entity in order to define that entity ina relatively complete manner. Because large systems are dificult to describe completely and theit behavior ‘changes frequently over time, systems engineers use the concept ofthe state of 4 system, Think of the state ofa system as a snapshot at an instant of time of 4 particular system, It is simply a collection of variables that conveniently Aeseribe a system at any particular point in time. For example, the systems view ofthe state of an airport might include such variables asthe average delay for incoming and outbound flights, the number of planes waiting to land or takeof the number of available parking spaces, and the weather with any fight restrictions. Obviously, the variables we choose to include in our description ‘depends on our purpose for observing or modeling ths system over time. If we are modeling an airport to improve passenger convenience, then parking spaces are important. But, if we are concerned about improving air traf safety, then itis unlikely that we will model automobile parking spaces, ‘State changes at a point in time are often used to deseribe particular events ‘of a system such as the shutdown at an airport when the weather has caused all of the runways to close. State and event changes over time are used to describe and explain system behavior. Models of systems generally attempt to imitate or mimic system behavior. Systems engineers classify systems by state behavior for modeling and analysis purposes. For example, systems that have predetermined outputs for specific inputs are deterministic. That is, we know with certainty the behavior of the system given a set of inputs. For stochastic systems we cannot know for certainty which output will occur, but we can | assign some ptobabiltes of occurrence to speciic outputs. The basic approach ofthe systems engineer is thatthe properties ofthe system or problem at hand } determine our analytical approach, not any particular biases towards a favored. approach that we happen to hold ‘Now that we understand some of the basic ideas underpinning systems ‘engineering, we are ready for some more rigorous definition, 1.4 DEFINITIONS OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING When studying a new area, it is important to define it. We provide severat efintions, First, we suggest that systems engineering is a management ‘eehnology-to assist and support policy making, planning, decision making, and associated resource allocation or action deployment. Systems enginoers accomplish this by quantitative and qualitative formulation, analysis, andINTIONS OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING — 9 interpretation ofthe impacts of action alternatives upon the needs perspectives, the institutional perspectives, and the value perspectives of thetr cients or customers, Fjostt® Key words in this definition are formalation, analysis, and interpreta: 77 ton. In fac, virtually all of systems engineering canbe thought of ax coniting (f formulation, analysis, and interpretation efforts. We may excrcise thene in formal sense, or in an as if or expetientially based intuitive sense. These ae the components comprising a structural framework for systems methodology and design. We need a guide to formulation, analysis, and interpretation efforts and systems engineering provides this by embedding these three steps into life {e¥cles, or processes, for system evolution System management and integration issues are of major importance in determining the ellectivenes, efficiency, and overall functionality of system designs. To achieve a high measure of functionality, it must be possible for a system design to be ficiently and effectively produced, used, maintained, ‘etrofitted, and modifed throughout all phases ofa life cycle. This lie cycle begins with need conceptualization and identification, through specification of system requirements and architectures to ultimate system development instale lation or operational implementation, evaluation, and maintenance throughout 4 productive lifetime. For our purposes, we may also define systems engineering 2s the definition, design, development, production, and maintenance of functional, reliable, and {trustworthy systems within cost and time constraint. There are, of course, other definitions. Two closely related and appropriate definitions are provided by MIL-STD-499A and MIL-STD-499B [1] , ‘Systems Enginecringis the application ofscientificand engineering efforts to. ‘ transform an operational need into a description of system performance Darameters and a system configuration through the use of an iterative Process of definition, synthesis, analysis, design, test, and evaluation: ' integrate related technical parameters and ensure compatibility of all Physical, fonctional, and program interfaces in a manner that optimizes the total system definition and design, «integrate reliability, maintainability, safety, survivability, human engin- ‘eering, and other factors into the total engineering effort to meet cost, schedule, supportabilty, and technical performance objectives. Systems Engineering isan interdiseiplinary approach to evolve and verily fan integrated and lifecycle balanced set of sysiem product and. process solutions that satisfy the customers needs, Systems engineering. ‘encompasses the scientific and engineering efforts related to the develop- ‘ment, manufacturing, verification, deployment, operations, support, and disposal of system products and processes.1 INTRODUCTION To sysTeNs ENG» b, develops needed user training equipment, procedures, and data. ¢. establishes and maintains configuration management of the system. 4. develops work breakdown structures and statements of work, and it provides information for management decision making In keeping with the tendency in the U.S. Department of Defense to rely on ‘commercial standards, these standards are no longer operational and have been replaced by comparable commercial standards. Nevertheless, they do provide generally appropriate definitions. These two definitions attempt to combine structural, functional, and purposeful views of systems engineering. Itis generally ‘accepted that we may define things according to structure, function, or purpose. ‘Often, definitions are incomplete if they do not addcess structure, function, and purpose. Our continued discussion of systems engineering will be assisted by the provision ofa structural, purposeful, and functional definition of systems engineering. Table 1.1 presents these three definitions. ‘Each of these definitions is important and all three are generally needed, as wwe have noted. In our three level hierarchy of systems engineering there is _nenerally a non-mutually exclusive correspondence between function and tools, structure and methodology, and purpose and management, as we note in Figure 12. A systems engineering process results from efforts at the level of systems management to identify am appropriate methodology, an appropriate set of procedures, or a process for engineering a system. A systems engineering. product, of service, results from the use of this process, of product line, | together with an appropriate set of methods and metres. These are illustrated in Figure 12. ies incest | Siraciare Systems englnecring is management technology to assist clients through | the formulation, analysis, and imerpretaion ofthe impacts of proposed policies, contol, or compet systems upon the need Fe) perspectives, institutional perspectives and value perspectives of akeholers to isses under consideration, Function Systems engineering is an approprite combination of the methods and ‘tools of systems engineering, made posible through use of suitable methodology and systems management procedures, in & useful process-oriented scting that 6 appropriate forthe retlution of ‘real-world problems, often of large scale and scope Purpose "The purpose of systems engineering is information and knowledge ‘organization that wil asst cients who desire to define, develop, and ‘eploy total systems to achieve a high standard of overall quality, fntegrity and integration as related to performanes, trustworthiness, rebabity, availablity, and maintainability ofthe resulting systemDENIMONS OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING — 11 Figure 1.2, The evolution of process and production from purpose, function, and sttucture and the thre levels for systems engineering: Sytem management, metho ‘ology, and methods ae tools ‘We have illustrated three hicrarchical levels for systems engineering in Figure 1.2. These are associated with structure, function, and purpase as also indicated in Figure 12. The evolution of a systems engineering product, or setvie, from the chosen systems engineering process i illustrated in Figure 13. ‘The systems engineering process is driven by systems management and there are a number of drivers for sysiems management, such as the competitive strategy of the organization. We now expand on this to indicate some of the ingredients at each of these levels. The functional definition of systems ‘engineering says that we will be concerned with the various tools snd fechniques that enable us to engineer systems. Often, these will be systems science and operations research tools that enable the formal analysis of Figure 1.3. 4 tlueetevel systems enginering perspective on the engineering of12. NTROOUCTON TO SYSTEMS ENGINEERING = — erator Fomiaion ‘er t ae Detniion Sepebestene 1 Figure 1.4 The three basic steps and phases of sjstems engineering. systems. The basic activities of systems engincers are usually concentrated on the evolution of an appropriate process to enable the definition, development, and deployment of a system or on the formulation, analysis, and interpretation of issues associated with one of these phases. Figure 14 illustrates the basic systems engineering process phases and steps. Generally, these are combined to form a nine clement matrix structure, as represented in Figure 15. ‘The functional definition of systems engineering says that we will be concerned with an appropriate combination of methods and tools. We will Genote the result of the effort to obtain this combination as a. systems ‘methodology. Systems engineering methodology is concerned with the life cycle ‘process used for system evolution. This brings about such important notions fs appropriate development fife cycles, operational quality assurance issues, land configuration management procedures that are very important [2-4] but Figure 1.5. A systems engineering framework comprised of thee phases and thee steps per phase‘DEFININONS OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING | 13, Which we do not emphasize here, The functional definition of systems engin- ering also says that we will accomplish this ina useful and appropriate setting ‘This useful setting is provided by an appropriate systems management process. We will use the term systems management to refer to the cognitive and ‘organizational tasks necessary to produce a useful process, methodology, ot ‘Product line for system evolution and to manage the process-elated activities that result in a trustworthy system. More specifically, the result of systems management is an appropriate combination of the methods and tools of systems ‘engineering, including their use in a methodological setting, with appropriate leadership in managing system process and product development, {o ultimately field a system that can be used by clients to satisfy the needs that led to its development. There are many interesting issues associated with systems management, but this is not a focus of this introductory text. Figure 16 illustrates the notion of systems engineering as a broker of information ‘across enterprises having a need for a system and the implementation special- ists who will implement detailed design considerations to bring this about. —The structural definition of systems engineering tells us that we are {concerned with a framework for problem resolution that, from a formal Vases least, consists of three fundamental steps: 4+ Issue formulation + Issue analysis \ + Issue interpretation v ‘These are each conducted at each ofthe life-cycle phases that have been chosen in order to implement the basic phased elforts of definition, development, and deployment. There are three major fié-cycle phases associated with systems engineering — definition, development, and deployment —as shown in Figures114 stRODUCTION 7o sySTEMS ENGINEERING Figure 1.7 Interactions across the thee primary systems engineering life cycles. 1.4 and 1.5. These phases may be described in any number of ways, as we describe in greater detail in Chapter 2. There are three general systems life cyeles, as suggested by Figure 17: + Research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) + Acquistion (or production, or manufacturing, ot fielding) + Planning and marketing Systems engineers are involved in efforts associated with each of these life cycles, often in a technical direction capacity. We will return to describe the systems acquisition life cycle in much more detail in Chapter 2 1.5. HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT “Throughout history, the development of more sophisticated tools has invari ably been associated with a decrease in our dependence on human physical energy a8 a source of effort, Generally, this is accomplished by control of nonhuman sources of energy in an automated fashion. Often, these involve intellectual and cognitive efort. The industrial revolution of many years ago ‘represented a major initial thrust inthis direction. Two excellent works present ) (Ganga otal, ere ‘dnt Figure 1.9 Auributes ofa trustworthy systems engineering product or service. Tn general, we may approach isues from an inactive, reactive, interactive, or proactive perspective [2,3] * Inactive. This denotes an organization that does not worry about issues and that does not take efforts to resolve them. It is a very hopeful perspective, but generally one that will ead to issues becoming serious problems, ‘Reactive, This denotes an organization that will examine a potential issue only after it has developed into a real problem, It will perform an ‘outcomes assessment and after it has detected a problem, or failure, will ‘iagnose the cause of the problem and, often, will get rid of the symptoms that produce the problem * Interactive. This denotes an organization that will attempt to examine issues while they are in the process of evolution such as to detect them at the earliest possible time. Issues that may cause difficulties will not only be detected, but eforts at diagnosis and correction will be implemented 1s soon as they have been detected. This will involve detection. of Problems as soon as they occur, diagnosis of their causes, and correction of difficlty through reeycling, feedback, and retrofit to and through that portion ofthe lifecycle process in which the problem occurred. Thus, the {erm interactive is, indeed, very appropriate Proactive. This denotes an organization that predicts the potential for {debilitating issues and that will synthesize an appropriate lifecycle process ‘hat is sufficiently mature such that the potential for issues developing is as small as possible It should be noted that there is much to be gained by a focus on process improvements in efforts from any of the lat three perspectives. While proactive Pe