ABSTRACT
Competition in architectural terms can be defined as an attempt by one system or organization to equal or surpass others to gain something of value. It can properly be viewed as a system of competing systems and, therefore, one that can bring the powerful tools of systems architecting to bear on it. As examples: The leverage, risk, danger, and opportunities are at the interfaces. The efficient competitor looks for mismatches and tries to exploit or eliminate them. The system architectural perspective of competition as a system of systems is less understood and, consequently, the competitive advantage it offers is easily missed. This chapter shows that the outside world is one of systems, of symmetric and asymmetric competition, and of a variety of interacting cycles and responses to events. It indicates the importance of long-lived architectures in a continually changing world and of sharing with others the value added to the end applications.
