Book Image

Systems Engineering Demystified

By : Jon Holt
Book Image

Systems Engineering Demystified

By: Jon Holt

Overview of this book

Systems engineering helps us to understand, specify, and develop complex systems, and is applied across a wide set of disciplines. As systems and their associated problems become increasingly complex in this evermore connected world, the need for more rigorous, demonstrable, and repeatable techniques also increases. Written by Professor Jon Holt – an internationally recognized systems engineering expert – this book provides a blend of technical and business aspects you need to understand in order to develop successful systems. You'll start with systems engineering basics and understand the complexity, communication, and different stakeholders' views of the system. The book then covers essential aspects of model-based systems engineering, systems, life cycles, and processes, along with techniques to develop systems. Moving on, you'll explore system models and visualization techniques, focusing on the SysML, and discover how solutions can be defined by developing effective system design, verification, and validation techniques. The book concludes by taking you through key management processes and systems engineering best practices and guidelines. By the end of this systems engineering book, you'll be able to confidently apply modern model-based systems engineering techniques to your own systems and projects.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction to Systems Engineering
4
Section 2: Systems Engineering Concepts
8
Section 3: Systems Engineering Techniques
14
Section 4: Next steps

Introducing SAFe

SAFe is an approach that supports both Lean and Agile approaches to development. The difference between the aforementioned concepts is the following:

  • A lean approach is one where the emphasis is on making delivery more efficient by managing and controlling the workflow. Lean was initially developed and deployed in the manufacturing sector by Toyota.
  • An agile approach is one where the emphasis is on working in collaborative teams in order to develop and deliver a product in an incremental manner. An agile approach is intended to allow businesses to quickly adapt and respond to emerging competitive threats. Agile was initially developed as a way to develop software-based systems, although this has now been broadened to include business- and system-oriented applications.

The SAFe approach embraces both of these concepts and is aimed at improving the way that businesses operate; it is claimed that SAFe helps to sustain and also drive faster time-to-market...