The overarching objective of this Working Group is to generate actionable work products for INCOSE’s Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) members and the global community, in response to their high priority systems-software interface challenges and in alignment with the INCOSE Vision. The CAB has over 100 members, spanning 38+ nations and includes organizations from industry , government and academia.
Current era software teams – spanning digital, data, and cyberphysical systems - are critical to the success of any organization and constantly face the need to implement significant changes, whether product pivots, transformations or major infrastructure modernizations.
Such initiatives are often fraught with challenges. A staggering two-thirds fail, translating into stifled growth, increased cost, imperiled business pivots, poor decision-making and workforce frustration and turnover:
- 70% of digital transformation efforts fall short of targets (BCG),
- 66% of software projects fail (Standish CHAOS report),
- Unsuccessful development projects cost around $260B in the US alone, with operational costs from poor quality software reaching approximately $1.56 trillion (CISQ).
- A lack of alignment between business and project results in failure for 44% of projects (Teamstage).
- The potential revenue lost to competitors due to insufficiently relevant offerings is estimated at $1Trillion in the US (Accenture).
Underlying issues span technical systems (e.g., interfaces and interoperability), process systems (e.g., workflows, role accountabilities, team dynamics), organizational systems (business models, partnerships) and the ecosystems in which products and organizations exist (e.g., multisided platforms, partnerships).
These are systems problems, well aligned with Deming’s quote, “94% of problems in business are system driven.”
Unfortunately, many software organizations in these situations do not embrace Systems Engineering as a path to success, whether lacking awareness or perceiving it too onerous for value delivered.
SaSIWG was founded to address these “wicked problems” by confronting the interfaces and gaps between these professional disciplines, their teams and organizations, and the systems, products and services they create. It has evolved to include data intensive systems (which are digital), and to foster a breakthrough mindset that Systems Engineering is the keystone to success, to ensuring functioning and relevant products, services and solutions and to unleashing business and end-user value.