A new book, System Architecture: Strategy and Product Development for Complex Systems, by Bruce Cameron, Director of the System Architecture Lab at MIT and a Lecturer in Engineering Systems, focuses on modern complex systems and the science behind them. It is the result of 20 years of research by Cameron and his fellow co-authors Edward F. Crawley, President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow and Daniel Selva, a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell.
At the highest level, Cameron explains how to look at system architecture as a series of decisions that can be actively sorted and managed. Readers are provided with examples of good architectures and the modes of thinking required to analyze system architectures. The case studies presented range from building farm equipment to the International Space Station.
According to the research, good architecture of complex systems meets stakeholder needs and delivers value. The premise is that "systems are more likely to be successful if we are careful about identifying and making the decisions that establish the architecture of a system." The book uses real life, concrete examples and highlights common themes in successful design. In fact, good architectural decisions can "create competitive advantage in difficult markets." And, unfortunately, "bad decisions can hobble large developments from the outset."
By focusing on decisions, Cameron argues, systems architects can "directly trade the choices for each decision, rather than the underlying designs they represent, thus encouraging the broader concept evaluation."
Bruce Cameron is the Director of the System Architecture Lab at MIT and a Lecturer in Engineering Systems. He teaches in the Executive Education program, Managing Product Platforms: Delivering Variety and Realizing Synergies and recently conducted an MIT Executive Education webinar, Product Platforms: A Source of Competitive Advantage.