Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to enabling the realization of successful systems. 1 It focuses on defining customer needs and required functionality early in the development cycle, documenting requirements, then proceeding with design synthesis and system validation while considering the complete problem, including operations, cost and scheduling, performance, training and support, testing, disposal, and manufacturing.

Systems Engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort, forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Systems Engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. The Fellows of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) have reached consensus on the definitions of "System" and "Systems Engineering."

Model-Driven Systems Development (MDSD) supports the INCOSE Consensus statement. It helps manage the complexity of designing a system. Managing the appropriate level of detail for any particular level of the model is an important component of MDSD. Several techniques, which can be described as best practices, are used to do this:

• Decompose systems, not requirements
• Enable both separation and integration of concerns
• Systems and components collaborate; so should development teams
• Specifications flow up and down the architecture
• Base the life cycle on removing risk and adding value
• Development organization should reflect product architecture

Systems are implemented by:

• Modeling the system with the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Use Cases
• Creation of a common vision with Context Workshops
• Use of IBM® Rational® Software Architect tooling and an IBM Rational Unified Process® (RUP®) based methodology
• Working Iteratively focusing upon early risk removal
• Adoption of a program organization that mirrors the intended system architecture
• Ensuring that the architecture and design can be implemented with a technology readiness assessment

Now that an MDSD plug-in is available for RUP, a review of MDSD is in order. This article will explore the basic principles of MDSD, including modeling levels, levels of decomposition, and how MDSD supports the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®) concept.

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