Adapting the Development Approach
Lead Authors: David Endler Contributing Authors: Mike Yokell, Garry Roedler
Adapting development approaches to suit the unique demands of each project is essential for success, especially when facing new technologies, diverse system elements, or changing business strategies. As projects grow more complex, with components spanning different domains like software and hardware, coordinated development becomes increasingly important. Aligning development cycles, managing interface consistency, and considering domain-specific requirements all influence how approaches are adapted. Additionally, certain quality characteristics such as stealth in military systems or safety in healthcare demand further refinement of the development process. Thoughtful adaptation, led by experienced systems engineers, ensures development strategies remain fit for purpose in diverse and evolving contexts.
Adaptation of the Development Approach
Since every project is unique, in most cases it is necessary to adapt not only the life cycle model but also the development approach to the project-specific circumstances. There can be many reasons for this adaptation. For example, if for the organization previously unknown technologies are to be implemented, the approaches used so far are probably no longer up to date. It is also possible that the system elements are very different from one another in terms of their domain characteristics (e.g. software-intensive vs. purely mechanical). Another reason could be that the project is taking a different approach to make or buy than in previous projects.
Adaptation for domains
For larger, complex systems in particular, different development approaches may be used for different system elements. If these development approaches are then also adapted, it is extremely important that the development results of the individual system elements are regularly aligned with each other. These intervals should not be too short. For example, if the software team develops a new release within two weeks, it is unlikely that the associated hardware will have undergone major changes in the same period. At the same time, the intervals should not be too long, as design decisions may then be made without taking other domains into account. As a consequence, there will be inconsistencies at the interfaces that are difficult to resolve.
In most cases, it is the task of experienced systems engineers to adapt the development approaches. In order to come to an educated decision, it is advisable to involve those responsible for the individual system elements. This encourages buy-in from everyone involved and ensures that as many opinions and concerns as possible have been taken into account.
Adaptation for quality characteristics
Some system developments are dominated by certain quality characteristics. For example, when designing a military submarine, it is extremely important that its signature is kept to an absolute minimum. In healthcare projects, topics like system safety and security are usually of particular importance.
In such cases, the development approaches for the system or some of its system elements may have to be adapted to take these peculiarities into account. In the example of the military submarine, it is important that the individual system elements are well coordinated. The reason for this is that even small effects can build up as soon as system elements are integrated into larger assemblies or the overall system of interest. The development approach must therefore aim to ensure that the exchange between the individual departments that develop the system elements functions as smoothly as possible.
In healthcare projects, not only the end product but also the process to it is closely examined by the responsible authorities. The focus in such projects is therefore on predictability, stability, repeatability, and high assurance. All these are characteristics of sequential development approaches.
References
Works Cited
ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-1. 2024. ''Systems and software engineering — Life cycle management, Part 1: Guidelines for life cycle management.'' Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission, and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Available at https://www.iso.org/standard/84709.html.
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