Interface management

Technology has grown so complex and specialized that no one person possesses the necessary knowledge and experience to know all that is needed. Those professionals that are tasked with managing the design and life-cycle development of today´s complex systems and products can only achieve their goal by managing at the interface of both people and technology. These interface experts are known as systems engineers. Systems engineering is the interdisciplinary practice used to design and build complex systems. One of the most powerful tools of this discipline is the management of interfaces. Managing the design of complex technical systems at the interface requires an understanding of many topics, including interface-related issues, resource margin allocation, and technical performance measurement (TPM) techniques. Each of these topics is discussed in the article. The challenges in managing complex hardware-software systems can best be met by paying attention to what happens at the system and subsystem interface. Using the tools and techniques presented here, both project engineers and program managers can readily gauge the health of their development system or product.