Systems Engineering

Resent and not so resent reports out of the Defense Department have blamed a “lack of systems engineering” as a major cause of program failures. These failures range the field of program cancellation to large cost and schedule overruns. The question is whose fault is it that there is a lack of  systems engineering on a program.

Blame can and should fall on both sides of the fence here. Customers should insist on it and Contractors need to insist on it. It is good for  both sides. Yes there is an up front cost but its better to build that cost in and know that your  success rate is much higher.