Why MBSE matters?

Why MBSE matters?

Many companies deal with the challenge to introduce MBSE. As a consultant for MBSE I often ask my customer about their objectives to apply MBSE techniques. The answers are more or less the same: the systems are getting more complex and at the same time we must decrease costs and time-to-market and increase the quality.

These are good arguments to change development processes and to apply MBSE. However these arguments are not new. I would had heard the same arguments 20 years ago. Today something is different. There is an enormous pressure on the companies that require major changes.

We are at the beginning of a new era characterized by global cooperations, networking, and global markets with customers, users, and competitors from different cultures with completely different mindsets. We develop complex systems with complex development organizations for complex markets.

The methods & tools to develop these systems must follow the systems challenge curve. The curve for the methods & tools is below the system curve. The gap is filled by the intelligence of the engineers (“project heroes”). Of course we are always better than our methods & tools allow. But the gap is getting wider and wider. Many organisations already feel the pain from the gap.

Systems Challenge Curve

Systems Challenge Curve

I think there are two fundamental techniques to shorten the gap. Agile methods and Modeling. Agile methods focus on the – often home made – complexity of the organisation to develop a system. Modeling focus on the inherent complexity of the system itself. That’s why I believe that it is important for many companies to introduce MBSE.

 

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