Early Identification of SE-Related Program Risks

Abstract : The mission of the DoD Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) is to perform research leading to transformational SE methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) that enable DoD and Intelligence Community (IC) systems to achieve significantly improved mission successes. An elevator speech for the capabilities delivered by the Department of Defense (DoD) Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC) Systems Engineering (SE) Effectiveness Measurement (EM) task reads as follows: for the DoD, whose Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs) frequently and significantly overrun their budgets and schedules and deliver incomplete systems, the SERC SE EM framework, operational concepts, and tools will empower MDAP sponsors and performers to collaboratively determine their early SE shortfalls and enable the development of successful systems within their resource constraints. Unlike traditional schedule-based and event-based reviews, the SERC SE EM technology enables sponsors and performers to agree on the nature and use of more effective evidence-based reviews. These enable early detection of missing SE capabilities or personnel competencies with respect to a framework of Goals, Critical Success Factors (CSFs), and Questions determined by the EM task from the leading DoD early-SE CSF analyses. The EM tools enable risk-based prioritization of corrective actions, as shortfalls in evidence for each question are early uncertainties, which when combined with the relative system impact of a negative answer to the question, translates into the degree of risk that needs to be managed to avoid system overruns and incomplete deliveries.