Opportunities for DoD Systems Engineering (SE) Transformation via SE Effectiveness Measures (EMs) and Evidence-Based Reviews

Section III summarizes the overall methods, assumptions, and procedures used in the EM task. Section IV begins with an analysis of the DoD needs, opportunities, and business case for the use of SE EM methods, process, and tools (MPTs). It finds that the business case is very strong for large MDAPs, and
not very strong for ad-hoc, quick-response system development. It then elaborates the detail of the SE EM framework and tools, the concepts of operation for their use, their use on pilot projects, and their analysis in comparison with the Defense Acquisition Program Support (DAPS) Methodology and its Systemic Analysis Database (SADB) of DAPS assessment results. It concludes that the evidence of utility and business-case return on investment is sufficient to proceed toward enabling their broad DoD use, subject to performing further research on the factors necessary to ensure the EM MPTs’ scalability, extendability, and adaptability to change, and to performing the resulting improvements to the EM MPTs. It recommends a two-phase approach for achieving an initial operational capability and transitioning it to a sustaining organization. This would begin with research on approaches to the key
issues, and continue with incremental elaboration, experimentation, and refinement of the preferred approaches.