Systems of Systems

Today’s operational environments are dominated by complex Systems of Systems. We now create unprecedented scope and complexity. Extended life cycles, legacy systems and ongoing re-architecting add to the difficulty. Success requires sound methods to manage complexity while maintaining the integrity of the design and supporting shifting operational priorities.

When you think your systems should be working together better than they are, this two-day workshop presents detailed, useful techniques to develop effective systems of systems and to manage the engineering activities associated with them.

Course Added Value

This course will help deal with the complexity and scope impact of systems of systems with modern tools and approaches.

• Capabilities engineering methods
• Architecture frameworks
• Practical uses of complexity theory
• Integration strategies to achieve higher-level capabilities
• Effective collaboration methods
• T&E for large-scale architectures

1. Systems of Systems (SoS) Concepts. What SoS can achieve. Capabilities engineering vs. requirements engineering. Operational issues: geographic distribution, concurrent operations. Development issues: evolutionary, large scale, distributed. Interoperability and synergy in C4ISR. Roles of a project leader in relation to integration and scope control.
2. Complexity Concepts. Complexity and chaos; scale-free networks; complex adaptive systems; small worlds; synchronization; strange attraction; emergent behaviors. Introduction to the theories and how to work with them in a practical world.
3. Architecture. Design strategies for large scale architectures. Architectural Frameworks including the DOD Architectural Framework (DODAF), TOGAF, Zachman Framework, and FEAF. How to use design patterns, constitutions, synergy. Re-Architecting in an evolutionary environment. Working with legacy systems. Robustness and graceful degradation at the design limits. Optimization and measurement of quality.
4. Integration. Integration strategies for SoS with systems that originated outside the immediate control of the project staff, the difficulty of shifting SoS priorities over the operating life of the systems. Loose coupling integration strategies, the design of open systems, integration planning and implementation, interface design, use of legacy systems and COTS.
5. Collaboration. The SoS environment and its special demands on systems engineering. Collaborative efforts that extend over long periods of time and require effort across organizations. Collaboration occurring explicitly or implicitly, at the same time or at disjoint times, even over decades. Responsibilities from the SoS side and from the component systems side, strategies for managing collaboration, concurrent and disjoint systems engineering; building on the past to meet the future. Strategies for maintaining integrity of systems engineering efforts over long periods of time when working in independent organizations.
6. Testing and Evaluation. Testing and evaluation in the SoS environment with unique challenges in the evolutionary development. Multiple levels of T&E, why the usual success criteria no longer suffice. Why interface testing is necessary but isn’t enough. Operational definitions for evaluation. Testing for chaotic behavior and emergent behavior. Testing responsibilities in the SoS environment.

Glen Francisco (CSEP, PMP) received his Engineering Bachelor’s degree Aero/Astro Engineering from RPI (Troy NY) in ‘75, Engineering MS Aero/Astro Engineering from MIT (Cambridge MA) in ‘76 and MBA Information & Business Technology from FIT (Melbourne FL) in ‘86. Mr. Francisco’s professional work career began in 1976 working for McDonnell Aircraft Company (Boeing) in St. Louis as a GN&C Engineer, in 1980 for Martin Marietta (Lockheed) in Orlando as a Systems Engineer and then in 1995 for TI DSEG in Dallas as a Systems Project Engineer. Mr. Francisco then worked for Raytheon SAS & NCS from 1999 – 2005, L-3 Communications from 2005 – 2008 in Dallas TX as a Systems Project Manager and then from 2008 – 2013 at DRS in Dallas as a Senior Project Engineering Director. Mr. Francisco worked for Knight Enterprises in Titusville FL from 2013 – 2018 as Director of Programs with Program Management Office and Senior Leadership responsibilities. Glen currently works for BAE Systems in Austin TX as Systems Engineering Chief responsible for managing an EO/IR team.

William “Bill” Fournier is Principal Acquisition Systems Engineering with over 40 years of experience. Mr. Fournier taught DoD Systems Engineering full time for over three years at DSMC/DAU as a Professor of Engineering Management. Mr. Fournier has taught Systems Engineering at least part time for more than the last 30 years. Mr. Fournier holds an MBA 1984 and BS Industrial Engineering / Operations Research 1979 and is DOORS trained. He is a certified ESEP, CSEP, CSEP DoD Acquisition, LSS GB and XPMP. He is a contributor to DAU/DSMC, a defense contractor internal Systems Engineering Courses and Process, and INCOSE publications. Currently, He Is currently working to support national security systems.

Program managers, project managers, systems engineers, technical team leaders, logistic support leaders, and others who take part in developing today’s complex systems. Note: This course assumes basic understanding of traditional Systems Engineering.