Iterative and Incremental System Lifecycle Development

Abstract

One of the fundamental changes in our technologically advanced society is the breadth of technologies available and the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets of the many inventors and developers. Traditional forms of systems engineering limit flexibility and the ability to react to emerging requirements by selecting one alternative to serve as a system, then committing to improving that technology until it can be all things, to all people. Often, years later, budgets have failed and the useful life of the technology is almost over. This paper suggests an iterative and incremental development approach that takes widely varying technologies and systems into account, nests them together to create a series of systems that are progressively more advanced and refined for usability, and that takes advantage of what is available now, all while planning development for future technologies. In order to test this process, a case study was conducted. It serves as a practical example of the proposed iterative and incremental system lifecycle approach. It was found that this method could save lives, drastically shorten fielding time for new capabilities, and increase user refinement of current systems as well as future alternatives.