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2.1.2 Designing Systems for Adaptability by Means of Architecture Options
Author(s) -
Engel Avner,
Browning Tyson R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.2006.tb02740.x
Subject(s) - adaptability , flexibility (engineering) , architecture , stakeholder , computer science , value (mathematics) , field (mathematics) , systems design , systems engineering , risk analysis (engineering) , systems architecture , engineering , software engineering , business , economics , mathematics , art , management , machine learning , pure mathematics , visual arts
Systems provide value through their ability to fulfill stakeholders' needs and wants. These needs evolve over time and may diverge from a fielded system's capabilities. Thus, a system's value to its stakeholders diminishes over time. As a result, systems are replaced or upgraded at substantial cost and disruption. If a system is designed to be changed and upgraded easily, however, this adaptability adds to its lifetime value. How can adaptability be designed into systems so that they will provide maximum value to stakeholders throughout their lifetime? This paper describes the problem and an approach to its mitigation. We adopt the concept of real options from the field of economics and extend it to the field of systems architecture. We coin the term architecture options for this next‐generation method and the associated tools for the design of flexible systems. Architecture options provide a quantitative means of implementing the optimal degree of design flexibility in a system to maximize its lifetime value for varied stakeholders. Based on initial research to date, we believe that implementing this aspect of design for adaptability can increase a system's overall stakeholder value by 15% at a very conservative minimum. We also present an extension of a method for measuring the dynamic value of a system.