INCOSE Appendix C - Terms and Definitions Flashcards
Define - Acquirer
The stakeholder that acquires or procures a product or service from a supplier
Define - “-ilities”
The developmental, operational, and support requirements a program must address (named because they typically end in “ility” - availability, maintainability, vulnerability, reliability, etc.)
Define - Acquisition logistics
Technical and management activities conducted to ensure supportability implications are considered early and throughout the acquisition process to minimize support costs and to provide the user with the resources to sustain the system in the field.
Define - Activitiy
A set of cohesive tasks of a process
Define - Agile
Project execution methods can be described on a continuum from “adaptive” to “predictive.” Agile methods exist on the “adaptive” side of this continuum, which is not the same as saying that agile methods are “unplanned” or “undisciplined”
Define - Agreement
The mutual acknowledgment of terms and conditions under which a working relationship is conducted
Define - Architecture
(System) fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment embodied in its elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution.
Define - Baseline
The gate-controlled step-by-step elaboration of business, budget, functional, performance, and physical characteristics, mutually agreed to by buyer and seller, and under formal change control. Baselines can be modified between formal decision gates by mutual consent through the change control process.
Define - Black box/white box
Black box represents an external view of the system (attributes). White box represents an internal view of the system (attributes and structure of the elements).
Define - Capability
An expression of a system, product, function, or process ability to achieve a specific objective under stated conditions.
Define - Commercial off the shelf (COTS)
Commercial items that require no unique acquirer modifications or maintenance over the life cycle of the product to meet the needs of the procuring agency.
Define - Commonality
(Of a product line) refers to functional and nonfunctional characteristics that can be shared with all member products within a product line.
Define - Configuration
A characteristic of a system element, or project artifact, describing their maturity or performance.
Define - Configuration item (CI)
A hardware, software, or composite item at any level in the system hierarchy designated for configuration management. CIs have four common characteristics:
1. Defined functionality
2. Replaceable as an entity
3. Unique specification
4. Formal control of form, fit and function
Define - Decision gate
An approval event (often associated with a review meeting). Entry and exit criteria are established for each decision gate; continuation beyond the decision gate is contingent on the agreement of decision makers.
Define - Derived requirements
Detailed characteristics of the system of interest (SOI) that typically are identified during elicitation of stakeholder requirements, requirements analysis, trade studies, or validation
Define - Design constraints
The boundary conditions, externally or internally imposed, for the SOI within which the organization must remain when executing the processes during the concept and development stages.
Define - Domain asset
Is the output of a subprocess of domain engineering that is reused for producing two or more products in a product line. Domain assets are NOT physical products.
Define - Domain scoping
Identifies and bounds the functional domains that are important to an envisioned product line and provide sufficient reuse potential to justify the product line creation.
Define - Enabling system
A system that supports the SOI during its life cycle stages but does not necessarily contribute directly to its function during operation.
Define - Enterprise
A purposeful combination of interdependent resources that interact with each other to achieve business and operational goals.
Define - Environment
The surroundings (natural or man-made) in which the SOI is utilized and supported or in which the system is being developed, produced, and retired.
Define - Facility
The physical means or equipment for facilitating the performance of an action, for example, buildings, instruments, and tools.
Define - Failure
The event in which any part of an item does not perform as required by its specification. The failure may occur at a value in excess of the minimum required in the specification, that is, past design limits or beyond the margin of safety.
Define - Functional configuration audit
An evaluation to ensure that the product meets baseline functional and performance capabilities.
Define - Human factors
The systematic application of relevant information about human abilities, characteristics, behavior, motivation, and performance.
Define - Human systems integration
The interdisciplinary technical and management processes for integrating human considerations within and across all system elements; an essential enabler to SE practice.
Define - Interface
A shared boundary between two functional units, define by functional characteristics, common physical interconnection characteristics, signal characteristics, or other characteristics, as appropriate.
Define - Integration definition for functional modeling (IDEF)
A family of modeling languages in the fields of systems and software engineering that provide a multiple-page (view) model of a system that depicts functions. Boxes illustrate functions and arrows illustrate information and product flow.
Define - IPO diagram
Figures that provide a high-level view of the process of interest. The diagram summarizes the process activities and their inputs and outputs from/to external actors; some inputs are categorized as controls/enablers.
Define - Life cycle cost (LCC)
The total cost of acquisition and ownership of a system over its entire life. It includes all cost associated with the system and its use during the life cycle.
Define - Life cycle model
A framework of processes and activities concerned with the life cycle, which also acts as a common reference for communication and understanding.
Define - Measures of effectiveness (MOE)
Measures that define the information needs of the decision makers with respect to the system effectiveness to meet operational expectations.
Define - Measure of performance (MOP)
Measures that define the key performance characteristics the system should have when fielded and operated in its intended operating environment.
Define: N^2 diagrams
Graphical representation used to define the internal relationships or external interfaces of the SOI
Define: Operator
An individual who, or an organization that, contributes to the functionality of a system and draws on knowledge, skills, and procedures to contribute the function
Define: Organization
Person or group of people and facilities with an arrangement of responsibilities, authorities, and relationships.
Define: Performance
A quantitative measure characterizing a physical or functional attribute relating to the execution of a process, function, activity, or task including quantity, quality, timeliness, and readiness.
Define: Physical configuration audit
An evaluation to ensure that the operational system or product conforms to the operational and configuration documentation
Define: Process
A set of interrelated or interacting activities that transforms inputs into outputs.
Define: Product line
- Group of products or services sharing a common, managed set of features that satisfy specific needs of a selected market or mission.
- A collection of systems that are potentially derivable from a single domain architecture.
Define: Product line scoping
Define the products that will constitute the product line and the major (externally visible) common and variable features among the products, analyzes the products from an economic point of view, and controls and schedules the development, production, and marketing of the product line and its products.
Define: Project
An endeavor with defined start and finish criteria undertaken to create a product or service in accordance with specified resources and requirements.
Define: Proof of concept
A naive realization of an idea or technology to demonstrate its feasibility
Define: Prototype
A production-ready demonstration model developed under engineering supervision that is specification compliant and represents what manufacturing should replicate.
Define: Qualification limit
Proving that the design will survive in its intended environment within margin.
Define: Requirement
A statement that identifies a system, product, or process characteristic or constraint, which is unambiguous, clear, unique, consistent, stand-alone (not grouped), and verifiable, and is deemed necessary for stakeholder acceptability.
Define: Resource
An asset that is utilized or consumed during the execution of a process
Define: Return on investment
Ratio of revenue from output (product or service) to development and production costs, which determines whether an organization benefits from performing an action to produce something.
Define: Reuse
- The use of an asset in the solution of different problems
- Building a software system at least partly from existing pieces to perform a new application
Define: Specialty engineering
Analysis of specific features of a system that requires special skills to identify requirements and assess their impact on the system life cycle
Define: Stage
A period within the life cycle of an entity that relates to the state of its description or realization
Define: Stakeholder
A party having a right, share, or claim in a system or in its possession of characteristics that meet that party’s needs or expectations.
Define: Supplier
An organization or an individual that enters into an agreement with the acquirer for the supply of a product or service.
Define: System
An integrated set of elements, subsystems, or assemblies that accomplish a define objective.
Define: System element
Member of a set of elements that constitutes a system
Define: System life cycle
The evolution with time of a SOI from conception to retirement
Define: System of interest
The system whose life cycle is under consideration
Define: System of systems
A SOI whose system elements are themselves systems; typically, these entail large-scale interdisciplinary problems with multiple, heterogeneous distributed systems.
Define: Systems Engineering
An interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. SE considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs.
Define: Systems engineering effort
Integrating multiple disciplines and specialty groups into a set of activities that proceed from concept to production and to operation.
Define: Systems engineering management plan (SEMP)
Structured information describing how the systems engineering effort, in the form of tailored processes and activities, for one or more life cycle stages, will be managed and conducted in the organization for the actual project.
Define: Tailoring
The manner in which any selected issue is addressed in a particular project. May be applied to various aspects of the project.
Define: Technical performance measures
Measures that define attributes of a system element to determine how well a system or system element is satisfying or expected to satisfy a technical requirement or goal.
Define: Trade-off
Decision making actions that select from various requirements and alternative solutions on the basis of net benefit to the stakeholders.
Define: User
Individual who or group that benefits from a system during its utilization
Define: Validation
Confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that the requirements for a specific intended use or application have been fulfilled.
Define: Value
A measure of worth (benefit divided by cost) of a specific product or service by a customer.
Define: Variability
Of a product line refers to characteristics that may differ among members of the product line.
Define: Variability constraints
Denotes constraint relationships between a variant and a variation point, between two variants, and between two variation points.
Define: Verification
Confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that specified requirements have been fulfilled.
Define: Waste
Work that adds no value to the product or service in the eyes of the customer.
