ASEP Prep #1 - Achieving System Objectives with a Holistic, Balanced, Life Cycle Approach
Understanding the key concepts and terminologies in system engineering is crucial for effectively managing and optimizing complex systems. This series of article aims to break down some of the important and complex sentences from INCOSE Handbook making them easier to grasp. This helps to understand the concepts and also act as a tips to the ASEP certification exam.
Holistic, Balanced, Life Cycle Approach
SE practitioners work within a project team and take a holistic, balanced, life cycle approach to support the successful completion of system projects
This sentense is from INCOSE Handbook, Page 1: Section 1.1
Lets breakdown the sentense.
Holistic Approach
When we say “taking a holistic approach,” we mean looking at the whole system rather than just focusing on individual parts. It’s like when a doctor examines your overall health instead of just treating a specific symptom.
Imagine you are designing a new smartphone. A holistic approach means considering not only the hardware (like the screen, battery, and processor) but also the software, user experience, customer support, and even how it will be recycled after its life cycle ends.
Life Cycle Approach
The “life cycle approach” involves thinking about the entire life span of the system, from the initial idea to its retirement and disposal. This includes design, development, production, operation, maintenance, and eventually, decommissioning.
Continuing with the smartphone example, the life cycle approach would mean planning from the very start how you will design the phone, produce it, market it, support it while it’s in use, update its software, and eventually recycle or dispose of it when it’s no longer useful.
Approach to Support the successful completion of projects
The ultimate goal of these approaches is to make sure the system achieves its intended objectives. This means meeting the needs and expectations of all stakeholders, including users, manufacturers, and regulators, throughout the system’s life.
For the smartphone, the system objectives could include high performance, user satisfaction, low environmental impact, and profitability. By taking a holistic and life cycle approach, you ensure that all these objectives are considered and met from the initial design phase through to the end of the phone’s life.
Putting It All Together
In system engineering, “Take a Holistic, Balanced, Life Cycle Approach to Support the successful completion of projects” means considering every aspect of the system and its entire life span to make sure it performs well and satisfies all requirements. This comprehensive view helps in creating systems that are efficient, reliable, and sustainable.
INCOSE Handbook: https://portal.incose.org/commerce/store