Why Standards?

Lead Authors: Garry Roedler Contributing Authors: Bill Bearden, David Endler, Mike Yokell

There are many standards and guides across the industry that are related to Systems Engineering. A common question that comes up when considering the use of standards and guides is “Why Standardize?.” This section will take a look at this question. This knowledge area, and particularly this article, will view standards as including formal documents that are developed by a Standards Development Organization (such as ISO or IEEE), deFacto standards that are generally accepted works, bodies of knowledge, and key guides that provide a consensus view. A list of the types of standards is provided in Systems Engineering Related Standards Landscape, Standards Taxonomies and Types of Standards, Table 1.

Why Standardize? The need and challenges for standards in SE

Standardization in engineering can help ensure quality, consistency, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness for products and projects throughout the life cycles, leading to improved communication, reduced errors, and faster cycle times. However, although there are many benefits from standardization, there are also some limitations or hinderances that can come from standardization. Table 1 provides a look at the Pros and Cons of standardization. For most projects and organizations, the Pros tend to outweigh the Cons. The use of the term standardization in this KA includes the definition, adaptation, tailoring, usage, assessment and improvement of standards.

**Table 1. Pros and Cons of SE Standardization** (G. Roedler, Used with Permission)
Focus	Pros	Cons
Timing & Effectivness	Can help incorporate broad lessons learned and proven practices. Can help ensure technologies are not only effective, but also secure and safe for users.	Potential immaturity of a topic for standardization; i.e., standard can be developed too early. It can take a long time to create an effective standard; it may continue to trail the focus methods, technology, etc.
Innovation	Can provide a baseline for tool development, methods and applications allowing engineers to focus on innovation for new solutions, rather than reinventing the wheel for performing basic tasks on projects. As innovation occurs, the standardization generally helps to spread the knowledge.	Can somewhat stifle innovation when new approaches are needed due to novel situations.
Quality and Consistency	Standardized processes and system elements can help ensure that products and systems are built consistently, reducing variations and improving overall quality. Process standards aim to help ensure consistency in the performance of processes and their outputs, regardless of the location or personnel involved.	In some cases, standardized processes can challenge responsiveness or agility.
Communication & Collaboration	Can help converge practices, which aids communication, teaming/collaboration, knowledge management. Standardized processes, practices, formats, symbols, and conventions can facilitate clear and efficient communication among engineers and other stakeholders.	Can drive communication paths or workflows that are not optimal, if not properly tailored for the project or organizational situation.
Efficiency & Productivity	Standardized designs and processes can promote faster product development cycles, as engineers can reuse existing, pre-approved elements and methods. Streamlined processes generally improve efficiency by reducing waste: time and resources. Time and resources then can be focused on the solution or business requirements rather than on how to perform the engineering.	In cases with high levels of uncertainty and/or change, agility in the engineering processes and design can be needed. This can be more difficult if appropriate tailoring of the standards is not proactively considered. Also, all projects are not the same. So, if tailoring for the project specific characteristics is not done, it can lead to inefficiencies.
Knowledge Management	Standards can help to document lessons learned for processes and products. For engineering, standards can help provide the memory that could otherwise be lost. When people leave an organization or project, they take their knowledge with them. So, these entities need to capture the “memory”. Documenting knowledge assets using standards or standard references can improve searches for specific information.	When there is a high likelihood of change (technology, processes, environments, etc.), especially in short intervals, standards as a means of capturing the “memory” can lead to obsolescence of the knowledge assets shortly after the documentation.
Costs	Standardization can lead to lower material costs for product lines and designs with more stability. Standardization can also help reduce the cost of training, tools, and knowledge transfer.	When there is a high likelihood of change, standardization will not necessarily reduce the cost of materials, training, etc. If the change has not been accounted for due to the standardization, there can be an additional level of resistance to overcome. Adaptability becomes more important.
Scalability	Easier to scale engineering processes and services, as common practices and tools can be reused across multiple projects
Interoperability	Standardization can help ensure that different systems and elements can work together, promoting interoperability and reducing integration challenges.

Considerations for standardization

Implementing standards with a full life cycle approach:

When an organization or project implements a standard, it should be a full life cycle approach with respect to the standard in order to gain the greatest benefit. This includes the evaluation of alternative standards, selection, adaptation or tailoring, assessment of results, and improvement actions. ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-1 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-2 provide guidance on life cycle management, process tailoring, and other life cycle process topics that can help in the implementation of standards.

Assessing the readiness of a technical topic for the definition or usage of standards:

For the definition of a new topic for standardization, it is good to perform a study of the readiness for standards based on the maturity of the concepts, convergence of the principles and theory, and acceptance of proven practices. The study includes an assessment of the industry consensus on the topic. It is also useful to assess the relevance and maturity of a standard with respect to the project application of the topic of the standard. For example, if the project is using a technology covered by a standard, but the project’s implementation of the technology is beyond that of the standard, then it could be an impediment to try to use the standard.

Agility and standardization:

These two things are not necessarily counter to each other. Engineering organizations or projects can tailor and adapt the standards, such as ISO/IEC/IEC 15288, to help define their processes and approaches considering agility necessary for situations with more uncertainty and likelihood for change. A paper from the NDIA SED and INCOSE titled "ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 Meets Lean Agile." details the use of 15288 in an agile approach in the defense environment. However, much of the content applies to projects and systems in any environment. It describes the use of 15288 in a lean agile approach focusing on lean agile principles, such as customer centricity, systems thinking, multiple horizons of planning, assuming variability and preserving options, iterative development with incremental deliveries and rapid feedback loops, data-driven decisions, decentralized decisions, and more. ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-1 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-2 provide guidance on life cycle management, process tailoring, and other life cycle process topics that can help in adapting standards for project specific needs, such as agility.

The balance between standardization and project specific needs:

As pointed out in the preceding subsections and Table 1, for the standardization to be most effective, there is usually a need to determine the project specific needs and tailor the standardized elements (process, design, tools, methods, etc.) to best meet the needs of the project. There is no one-size fits all for all projects, and typically, copy and paste or boilerplates don‘t work as the context and many variables are different. However, it is also important to avoid the “not invented here” mindset for the use standards. Finally, it is important, yet even more challenging, to find the right balance when many organizations are involved in the project.

Perspectives from key stakeholders

The following are a couple quotes regarding the importance and use of standards from ISO and IEEE, two key engineering standards development organizations (SDOs).

Per ISO:

Standards ensure consistency of essential features of goods and services, such as quality, ecology, safety, economy, reliability, compatibility, interoperability, efficiency and effectiveness.
Standards codify ... technology and facilitate its transfer. Standards are therefore an invaluable source of knowledge.
(https://www.iso.org/sites/ConsumersStandards/1_standards.html#:~:text=How%20do%20standards%20help?,are%20aligned%20in%20this%20way. 20250331)

Per IEEE:

Standards help fuel compatibility and interoperability and simplifies product development, and speeds time-to-market. Standards also make it easier to understand and compare competing products. As standards are globally adopted and applied in many markets, they also fuel international trade. (https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/what-are-standards-why-are-they-important/#:~:text=This%20helps%20fuel%20compatibility%20and,they%20also%20fuel%20international%20trade. 20250331)

And finally, a quote the sums up the importance from a government project and contractor perspective:

“Technical standards provide the corporate process memory needed for a disciplined systems engineering approach and help ensure that the government and its contractors understand the critical processes and practices necessary to take a system from design to production, and through sustainment.” (Welby, S. 2013)

Evolution of SE standards

Systems engineering related standards have evolved over the past few decades as the SE discipline has matured and evolved. These references have continued to incorporate the lessons learned and changes in approaches and methods to ensure they reflect current, proven practices. Along this evolution path, there has been collaboration to help align the references across the industry associations and standards development organizations (more is discussed on this in Alignment and Comparison of Systems Engineering Standards. Figure 1 provides a graphical view of the evolution of a subset of the key SE related standards.

Figure 1. Evolution of Key SE Standards and References (Roedler, adapted from Roedler 2023). Reprinted with permission of Garry Roedler. All other rights are reserved by the copyright owner.

In the early 1990’s, MIL-STD-499 was the first SE standard to be developed. In 1994, it transitioned to an industry standard, EIA/IS 632. Around the same time, INCOSE started development of its Systems Engineering Handbook (SEH). Figure 1 shows the ongoing evolution of these documents, as well as the publication of ISO/IEC 15288, which later also became a joint standard with the IEEE. With the dramatic uptake of 15288, the latest revision of ANSI/EIA 632 was fully aligned with 15288 with a scope change and published as SAE 1001. Finally, the SEBoK, started its development in 2009 and was first published in 2012, as a broader reference that serves as a guide to the SE Body of Knowledge.

References

Works Cited

Roedler, G. 2023. "SE Standards and Guidance – Revisions and Trends." International Council on Systems Engineering, Boston, MA, USA.

https://www.iso.org/sites/ConsumersStandards/1_standards.html#:~:text=How%20do%20standards%20help?,are%20aligned%20in%20this%20way. 20250331

https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/what-are-standards-why-are-they-important/#:~:text=This%20helps%20fuel%20compatibility%20and,they%20also%20fuel%20international%20trade. 20250331

Welby, S. 2013. Guest Editorial, M&S Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring 2013), Modeling and Simulation Coordination

Office, Alexandria, VA (http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2013system/TH15992_Konwin.pdf, chart 3).

NDIA. 2025. "ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 Meets Lean Agile: Integrating Lean and Agile Principles with Systems Engineering Processes for Modern Defense Acquisition“. National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Arlington, VA. May 2025.

INCOSE. 2023. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook 5th Edition. International Council on Systems Engineering. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. INCOSE SE Handbook.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2023. Systems and Software Engineering -- System Life Cycle Processes. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organisation for Standardisation / International Electrotechnical Commissions / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 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 (IEC)/ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-1:2024.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2024. Systems and Software Engineering -- Life Cycle Management – Part 2: Guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 (system life cycle processes). Geneva, Switzerland: International Organisation for Standardisation / International Electrotechnical Commissions / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-2:2024.

SAE. 2018. Integrated Project Processes for Engineering a System. Warrendale, PA, USA: SAE International. SAE 1001.

Primary References

Roedler, G. 2023. " SE Standards and Guidance – Revisions and Trends." International Council on Systems Engineering, Boston, MA, USA.

NDIA. 2025. "ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 Meets Lean Agile: Integrating Lean and Agile Principles with Systems Engineering Processes for Modern Defense Acquisition“.

Roedler, G. 2015. "Evolution of SE Standards and Practices – ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 Based Harmonization." National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Conference, Springfield, VA, USA.

Roedler, G; Shaw, B.; Davis, D. 2015. "Extending Industry Standards to Meet the Systems Engineering Needs of Defense Programs." Defense Standardization Program Journal, Arlington, VA. March 2015.

INCOSE. 2023. INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook 5th Edition. International Council on Systems Engineering. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons. INCOSE SE Handbook.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2023. Systems and Software Engineering -- System Life Cycle Processes. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organisation for Standardisation / International Electrotechnical Commissions / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288: 2023.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 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 (IEC)/ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-1:2024.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2024. Systems and Software Engineering -- Life Cycle Management – Part 2: Guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 (system life cycle processes). Geneva, Switzerland: International Organisation for Standardisation / International Electrotechnical Commissions / Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ISO/IEC/IEEE 24748-2:2024.

ISO/IEC/IEEE. 2017. Systems and Software Engineering - Vocabulary (SEVocab). Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765:2017.