Systems engineering of computer based systems: status and future perspectives

There are many ways in which we can describe systems engineering. It can be described according to structure, function, and purpose. It may be described in terms of efforts needed at the level of systems management, systems methodology, and systems engineering methods and tools. We can speak of systems engineering organizations in terms of their organizational management facets, in terms of their business processes or product lines, or in terms of their products or service. We can speak of systems engineering in terms of the knowledge principles, knowledge practices, and knowledge perspectives necessary for present and future success in systems engineering. This paper takes a multifaceted view of systems engineering. It attempts to describe systems engineering in terms of this relatively large number of trilogies. The process view of systems engineering is expanded on in some detail. Within this, a large number of necessary roles for systems engineering are described. We present a brief discussion of systems engineering from the perspective of each of these necessary roles as it applies to the systems engineering of computer based systems, including some 21st century projections.