ABSTRACT
An excellent point of departure for examining the systems approach is the definition provided by NASA, namely: the systems approach is the application of a systematic, disciplined engineering approach that is quantifiable, recursive, iterative and repeatable for the development, operation and maintenance of systems integrated into a whole throughout the life cycle of a project or program. A review of several sources dealing with “systems thinking” has led to the following list of features of such an approach : Holistic, Integrated, System wide, Inclusive, Expansive, Fusion, Top level, Broader, and Lateral. Two ways in which the notions have been used in formulating the notion for system architecting in this treatise have to do with functional decomposition and the consideration, from the beginning, of alternative architectures. Perhaps this helps to define a new heuristic, something like “when at an impasse, look sideways instead of down.”.
