A method to ensure that IT system designs meet operational performance requirements

Siemens Plessey Defence Systems has been refining its approach to performance assurance. This approach has now been formalised as the `SPDS performance modelling methodology´. This method is now supported by a graphical toolkit called the Performance Assurance Toolkit (PAT) which also provides a configuration control mechanism. This paper outlines the need for a formal performance assessment during the system design lifecycle and presents the approach developed by Siemens Plessey to address system performance. The method is well developed and fully described in Siemens Plessey documents; the paper gives a brief overview of the method along with the benefits that can be achieved through its application during system development