This document discusses the complexity of systems integration. It notes that while integration is when many problems are discovered, it has not received as much research attention as other phases. The document uses information from an Israeli systems integration working group to explore different integration processes used in various organizations. It finds there is no single best method and companies use diverse engineering and managerial techniques suited to their culture and projects. Integration involves combining system components while managing interdependencies between components, developers and other stakeholders.
Slides from a webinar that I did recently for TIBCO. Full webinar replay with audio available at http://www.tibco.com/mk/2007/bpm-bpm11-jul-07usarc.jsp
Brief introduction to Open ERP for international students of the International Bachelor in Information Management Programa. Deusto University is taking part in that program, besides of Tilburg University in Netherlands and Bentley University in Boston, MA, USA.
Slides supporting the book "Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance, and Enhancement of Business Processes" by Wil van der Aalst. See also http://springer.com/978-3-642-19344-6 (ISBN 978-3-642-19344-6) and the website http://www.processmining.org/book/start providing sample logs.
Slides from a webinar that I did recently for TIBCO. Full webinar replay with audio available at http://www.tibco.com/mk/2007/bpm-bpm11-jul-07usarc.jsp
Brief introduction to Open ERP for international students of the International Bachelor in Information Management Programa. Deusto University is taking part in that program, besides of Tilburg University in Netherlands and Bentley University in Boston, MA, USA.
Slides supporting the book "Process Mining: Discovery, Conformance, and Enhancement of Business Processes" by Wil van der Aalst. See also http://springer.com/978-3-642-19344-6 (ISBN 978-3-642-19344-6) and the website http://www.processmining.org/book/start providing sample logs.
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)Peter R. Egli
Overview of Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) language for modeling business processes.
When implementing business processes, there is usually a large gap between the business semantics (process, activity, participant, orchestration, choreography, data items etc.) and the technical implementation languages (REST, WSDL, transport protocol, message bus etc.). BPMN has the goal of bridging this gap by providing a standard notation for describing business processes plus a standard mapping of this notation into an executable description language like WSBPEL. The BPMN 2.0 standard even allows executing BPMN business models directly without the need of a translation.
The core notation elements of BPMN are flow objects to model activities and events, data objects to model pieces of information, connecting objects to model information and control flow, and swimlanes to model process participants. Four different diagram types allow the modeling of processes, process choreographies, collaboration between participants and conversations.
This presentation provides you with an overview of Business Process Management (BPM). The slides are from AIIM's BPM Certificate Program, which is a training program designed from global best practices among AIIM's 65,000 Associate and Professional members. The BPM program covers concepts and technologies for process streamlining and re-engineering; requirements gathering and analysis; application integration; process design and modelling; monitoring and process analysis; and managing change. For more information visit www.aiim.org/training
ISO/IEC 27701, GDPR, and ePrivacy: How Do They Map?PECB
Due to an increase in the collection of consumer data, high-profile data breaches have become common.
Currently, there are 128 countries all over the world that have already put in place regulations to secure the protection of data and privacy.
The webinar covers:
Data protection, a global development
Introduction to the GDPR, ePrivacy & ISO/IEC 27701
GDPR & ISO/IEC 27701mapping
ePrivacy & ISO/IEC 27701 mapping
Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/oVhIoHAGGwk
Find out more about ISO training and certification services
Training: https://pecb.com/whitepaper/iso-27001-information-technology--security-techniques-information-security--management-systems---requirements
https://pecb.com/en/education-and-certification-for-individuals/iso-iec-27701
Webinars: https://pecb.com/webinars
Articles: https://pecb.com/article
Whitepapers: https://pecb.com/whitepaper
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about PECB:
Website: https://pecb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pecb/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PECBInternational/
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/PECBCERTIFICATION
[EN] Records Management: Definitions, Principles, Standards and Trends |
Presentation by Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer |
Stuttgart, Germany, 26.10.2012 |
Contents |
# Definitions: Records and Records Management
# Principles: The 8 GARP General Accepted Principles of Record Keeping
# Standards: ISO 30300, ISO 30301, ISO 16175, MoReq2010, OMG and the rest of the bunch
# Trends: Challenges for records management and the new role of the records manager
Video on Youtube: http://bit.ly/DMS-RM
Structured Approach to Solution ArchitectureAlan McSweeney
The role of solution architecture is to identify answer to a business problem and set of solution options and their components. There will be many potential solutions to a problem with varying degrees of suitability to the underlying business need. Solution options are derived from a combination of Solution Architecture Dimensions/Views which describe characteristics, features, qualities, requirements and Solution Design Factors, Limitations And Boundaries which delineate limitations. Use of structured approach can assist with solution design to create consistency. The TOGAF approach to enterprise architecture can be adapted to perform some of the analysis and design for elements of Solution Architecture Dimensions/Views.
Fundamentals of Business Process Management: A Quick Introduction to Value-Dr...Marlon Dumas
Marlon Dumas of University of Tartu gives an introduction and quick tour of the business process management lifecycle. Seminar given at the Estonian BPM Roundtable, 10 October 2013.
This is a summary of Control Objectives for Information and related Technology audit framework. Anyone can understand COBIT-19 framework within few slides. COBIT was published by ITGI, a nonprofit research entity created by ISACA
Selecting and Working with a Systems IntegratorControlEng
With plant staffs stretched thin at a time of continuing manufacturing growth, system integrators have come into increasing prominence. Understanding what should you expect from your SI—and what he should expect from you—is critical to ensuring that your project is achieved on time, on budget and up and running on Day 1.
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)Peter R. Egli
Overview of Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) language for modeling business processes.
When implementing business processes, there is usually a large gap between the business semantics (process, activity, participant, orchestration, choreography, data items etc.) and the technical implementation languages (REST, WSDL, transport protocol, message bus etc.). BPMN has the goal of bridging this gap by providing a standard notation for describing business processes plus a standard mapping of this notation into an executable description language like WSBPEL. The BPMN 2.0 standard even allows executing BPMN business models directly without the need of a translation.
The core notation elements of BPMN are flow objects to model activities and events, data objects to model pieces of information, connecting objects to model information and control flow, and swimlanes to model process participants. Four different diagram types allow the modeling of processes, process choreographies, collaboration between participants and conversations.
This presentation provides you with an overview of Business Process Management (BPM). The slides are from AIIM's BPM Certificate Program, which is a training program designed from global best practices among AIIM's 65,000 Associate and Professional members. The BPM program covers concepts and technologies for process streamlining and re-engineering; requirements gathering and analysis; application integration; process design and modelling; monitoring and process analysis; and managing change. For more information visit www.aiim.org/training
ISO/IEC 27701, GDPR, and ePrivacy: How Do They Map?PECB
Due to an increase in the collection of consumer data, high-profile data breaches have become common.
Currently, there are 128 countries all over the world that have already put in place regulations to secure the protection of data and privacy.
The webinar covers:
Data protection, a global development
Introduction to the GDPR, ePrivacy & ISO/IEC 27701
GDPR & ISO/IEC 27701mapping
ePrivacy & ISO/IEC 27701 mapping
Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/oVhIoHAGGwk
Find out more about ISO training and certification services
Training: https://pecb.com/whitepaper/iso-27001-information-technology--security-techniques-information-security--management-systems---requirements
https://pecb.com/en/education-and-certification-for-individuals/iso-iec-27701
Webinars: https://pecb.com/webinars
Articles: https://pecb.com/article
Whitepapers: https://pecb.com/whitepaper
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information about PECB:
Website: https://pecb.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pecb/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PECBInternational/
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/PECBCERTIFICATION
[EN] Records Management: Definitions, Principles, Standards and Trends |
Presentation by Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer |
Stuttgart, Germany, 26.10.2012 |
Contents |
# Definitions: Records and Records Management
# Principles: The 8 GARP General Accepted Principles of Record Keeping
# Standards: ISO 30300, ISO 30301, ISO 16175, MoReq2010, OMG and the rest of the bunch
# Trends: Challenges for records management and the new role of the records manager
Video on Youtube: http://bit.ly/DMS-RM
Structured Approach to Solution ArchitectureAlan McSweeney
The role of solution architecture is to identify answer to a business problem and set of solution options and their components. There will be many potential solutions to a problem with varying degrees of suitability to the underlying business need. Solution options are derived from a combination of Solution Architecture Dimensions/Views which describe characteristics, features, qualities, requirements and Solution Design Factors, Limitations And Boundaries which delineate limitations. Use of structured approach can assist with solution design to create consistency. The TOGAF approach to enterprise architecture can be adapted to perform some of the analysis and design for elements of Solution Architecture Dimensions/Views.
Fundamentals of Business Process Management: A Quick Introduction to Value-Dr...Marlon Dumas
Marlon Dumas of University of Tartu gives an introduction and quick tour of the business process management lifecycle. Seminar given at the Estonian BPM Roundtable, 10 October 2013.
This is a summary of Control Objectives for Information and related Technology audit framework. Anyone can understand COBIT-19 framework within few slides. COBIT was published by ITGI, a nonprofit research entity created by ISACA
Selecting and Working with a Systems IntegratorControlEng
With plant staffs stretched thin at a time of continuing manufacturing growth, system integrators have come into increasing prominence. Understanding what should you expect from your SI—and what he should expect from you—is critical to ensuring that your project is achieved on time, on budget and up and running on Day 1.
System Integration testing must be executed on combined individual software modules to validate functional, performance and reliability.
It’s often assumed that if Unit Testing completes successfully, individual components can be combined without issue into a working system. Unfortunately, one component that functions incorrectly can affect another component and, if undetected at a later stage of development, could lead to serious issues with the delivery. This reinforces the need for in-depth system-level analysis performed before moving to the next step in the quality assurance lifecycle.
When done right, System Integration Testing ensures that interrelated systems exchange data flawlessly. It also verifies that all connecting applications operate as designed in a single controlled environment. A successful integration test cycle requires careful coordination across multiple applications to validate that all systems have been integrated successfully. It validates that runs between systems and sub-systems produce expected results. Our System Integration testers can help you.
Only 20% of mergers succeed. Many assumptions are made during the due diligence phase, and many things go wrong during execution. Our method helps you maximise your chances of success, and mitigate most of the classical risks during the first 100 days especially.
Top 14 Integration Challenges I’ve seen in the Past 14 YearsBizTalk360
Stephen W. Thomas been working with BizTalk Server and Integration using Microsoft products since Tuesday February 27th, 2001. Since then he has worked on over 21 different client projects all over the world. Clients range in size from small companies to large Fortune 500 powerhouses. This session will take a look at the top 14 client challenges that Stephen has run into in the past 14 years of working in the field and how to address them.
QA Testing: How to Overcome Third-Party Integration ChallengesQASource
Third-party applications can add efficiency and value to your collaboration product. Learn how to resolve three common challenges that arise during integration.
"IMS Challenges: Integration, Migration and creation of Sustainable business" presented at the ETSI workshop on "IMS Implementation, Deployment & Testing" in Sophia Antipolis, November 2010.
AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING FRAMEWORKS FOR INTEGRATING FRAGMENTED INFORMATION SYS...ijistjournal
Literatures show that there are several structured integration frameworks which emerged with the aim of facilitating pplication integration. But weakness and strength of these frameworks are not known. This
paper aimed at reviewing these frameworks with the focus on identifying their weakness and strength. Toaccomplish this, recommended comparison factors were identified and used to compare these frameworks.Findings shows that most of these structure frameworks are custom based on their motives. They focus onintegrating applications from different sectors within an organization for the purpose of eliminating communication inefficiencies. There is no framework which guides pplication’s integrators on goals of integrations, outcomes of integration, outputs of integration and skills which will be required for
types of applications expected to be integrated. The study recommended further study on integration
framework especial on designing unstructured framework which will support and guide application’s
integrators with consideration on consumer’s surrounding environment.
AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING FRAMEWORKS FOR INTEGRATING FRAGMENTED INFORMATION SYS...ijistjournal
Literatures show that there are several structured integration frameworks which emerged with the aim of facilitating application integration. But weakness and strength of these frameworks are not known. This paper aimed at reviewing these frameworks with the focus on identifying their weakness and strength. To accomplish this, recommended comparison factors were identified and used to compare these frameworks. Findings shows that most of these structure frameworks are custom based on their motives. They focus on integrating applications from different sectors within an organization for the purpose of eliminating communication inefficiencies. There is no framework which guides application’s integrators on goals of integrations, outcomes of integration, outputs of integration and skills which will be required for types of applications expected to be integrated. The study recommended further study on integration framework especial on designing unstructured framework which will support and guide application’s integrators with consideration on consumer’s surrounding environment.
Ijcsit12REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING OF A WEB PORTAL USING ORGANIZATIONAL SEMIOTI...ijcsit
The requirements of software are key elements that contribute to the quality and users satisfaction of the
final system. In this work, Requirements Engineering (RE) of web sites is presented using an organizational
semiotics perspective. They are shown as being part of an organization, with particular practices, rules
and views considering stakeholders several differences and opinions. The main contribution of this paper is
to relate an experience, from elicitation to validation, showing how organizational semiotics artifacts were
exploited in a collaborative and participatory way to RE of a web portal. A case study is described in order
to demonstrate the feasibility of using such artifacts to RE when we think about the system as being part of
a social organization.
Agent Assisted Methodologies have become an
important subject of research in advance Software Engineering.
Several methodologies have been proposed as, a theoretical
approach, to facilitate and support the development of complex
distributed systems. An important question when facing the
construction of Agent Applications is deciding which
methodology to follow. Trying to answer this question, a
framework with several criteria is applied in this paper for the
comparative analysis of existing multiagent system
methodologies. The results of the comparative over two of them,
conclude that those methodologies have not reached a sufficient
maturity level to be used by the software industry. The
framework has also proved its utility for the evaluation of any
kind of Agent Assisted Software Engineering Methodology.
Information system project management (IT - project) is a complex iterative process. An important role for the development of complex IT projects plays records of the development lifecycle (LC). The article presents an analysis of the effectiveness of the work on the creation of IT - projects based on two modified models of the life cycle: cascade and spiral. Analysis of the effectiveness of the management of the IT project was implemented on the basis of simulation. The modeling was carried out on the basis of Any Ljgic tools on the example of development of geoinformation system (GIS). It is shown that it is advisable to design GIS on the basis of a modified spiral LC with splitting of the flow of requirements at the input. The peculiarity of the proposed study is to take into account the requirements in the form of communicative interactions of different types. Under the communicative interactions are understood all the interactions between the subjects of the process of creating an IT-project: verbal and non - verbal, carried out on the basis of CASE-means.
Information system project management (IT - project) is a complex iterative process. An important role for the development of complex IT projects plays records of the development lifecycle (LC). The article presents an analysis of the effectiveness of the work on the creation of IT - projects based on two modified models of the life cycle: cascade and spiral. Analysis of the effectiveness of the management of the IT project was implemented on the basis of simulation. The modeling was carried out on the basis of Any Ljgic tools on the example of development of geoinformation system (GIS). It is shown that it is advisable to design GIS on the basis of a modified spiral LC with splitting of the flow of requirements at the input. The peculiarity of the proposed study is to take into account the requirements in the form of communicative interactions of different types. Under the communicative interactions are understood all the interactions between the subjects of the process of creating an IT-project: verbal and non - verbal, carried out on the basis of CASE-means
Testing the Component Based Adoption Techniques during Runtime Configurationijtsrd
Component based Software Engineering is the most common term nowadays in the field of software development. The CBSE approach is actually based on the principle of ‘Select and Use’ rather than ‘Design and Test’ as in traditional software development methods. Since this trend of using and ‘reusing’ components is in its developing stage, there are many advantages and problems as well that occur while use of components. Here is presented a series of papers that cover various important and integral issues in the field concerned. This paper is an introductory research on the approaches, development process, various phases and assessment available in commercialized models in CBD. Dr. R. Saradha | Dr. X. Mary Jesintha "Testing the Component Based Adoption Techniques during Runtime Configuration" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-4 , June 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.compapers/ijtsrd42334.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.comcomputer-science/other/42334/testing-the-component-based-adoption-techniques-during-runtime-configuration/dr-r-saradha
Analysis and Design of Information Systems Financial Reports with Object Orie...ijceronline
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a group effort proved resistant to a wide range of economic crisis shocks. But in the operation of their business financial management is still not transparent and are also still mixed between business finance and personal finance. So that needs to be done with good financial management. In this research, analysis and information system design financial reports as a basis for the development of the system. Software development life cycle (SDLC) using the model of the object oriented approach. With object-oriented approach, the tools used by the notation Unified Modelling Language (UML). In object-oriented approach all systems applications are Viewed as a collection of objects that allow organisasi interloking and end users to Easily understand logical entities. Object-oriented approach Provides the benefits of the reuse of codes and saves the time for developing quality product.
Systems Engineering and Software Engineering develop side-by-side for several decades, starting from a need for coping with increasing complexity of physical engineering and computation, both struggling separately to become accepted disciplines. Strangely, there is little collaboration.
In reality, software-system problem is similar to the body-mind problem. As a mind cannot exist without a body, software cannot exist without a system it embedded in. Software is a Ghost in the Machine.
Increasing complexity blurs boundaries between engineering, computation and management and fuses them into unified Integrative Engineering. Practically, we have single engineering, looking for technological solutions for human problems.
The Academy keeps exact sciences worlds apart from human and social studies. The applied disciplines of engineering and management follow the lead of the theoretical studies. In practice, mediating professions of systems engineers, business analysts, IT implementers and systems integrators emerged to bridge the gap.
Mediator business is intrinsically risky, and their practice is in dire need for scientific support. This emerging socio-technical science must realize that engineered artifacts are not the same as perceived artifacts. As a map is not the territory it describes, the technology as engineered is not the tool as used. The engineered artifacts actually disappear when used - engineers make technology, people use tools, and the mediators much guide the transformation of the technology in the lab to the tools in the field.
Design is never complex, people and nature make technology complex. The mediators must manage and limit the complexity emerging from human-nature-technology interactions.
How should we proceed? By understanding that systems are wholes - there is no Mind-Body-Hardware-Software problem. By teaching one unified Engineering - multiple technologies do not multiple "engineerings" make.By focusing on both development and use of technology. By developing "mediation science" and "integrative engineering", starting with exploring how people "put system to use".
Pcdf framework for teaching practicing professionalsSergey Tozik
Complex system behavior intertwines operational routines and technological system processes, and system capability development has to integrate human skills with engineered system functions. To be successful in modern system design, integration and fielding, systems and software engineers need to acquire non-technological "soft skills" needed to successfully apply their technological knowledge. These skills are generally overlooked in engineering curricula, and they usually develop with work experience.
For a long time, instructional design borrowed systems design models, and ADDIE curriculum development model reminds the INCOSE fellows' SIMILAR model of systems development. While both instruction and systems development models promise development of useful capabilities, their real world implementations usually suffer from integration and fielding problems, especially in "brown field" settings of system modifications and continuing education of experienced professionals.
The four-stage Personal Capability Development Framework (PCDF) exploits conceptual similarities of Ring's Systems Value Cycle Model, Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology, Nonaka's SECI knowledge development model and Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory to design a process model for teaching non-technological skills to experienced engineers. The framework constructs classroom experience around externalization and modelling of learners' current work routines, modification of the models with new skills and tools and internalization of the modified models in each learner's personal work routines, and provides a basis for transforming expert- or customer-centered instructional design into user-centered personal capability integration.
Test & evaluation = the knowledge factorySergey Tozik
Test & Evaluation (T&E) is presented in the prespective of knowledge creation, distribution, absorbtion and management. Possible "soft tools" are derived from the insight of the sciences of learning and knowledge management.
A need for creativity in systems integrationSergey Tozik
This presentation was gived during the 2011 Israeli Systems Engineering Conference. The presentation argues that the complexity of Systems Integration call for creative Systems Integrators.
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Generating a custom Ruby SDK for your web service or Rails API using Smithyg2nightmarescribd
Have you ever wanted a Ruby client API to communicate with your web service? Smithy is a protocol-agnostic language for defining services and SDKs. Smithy Ruby is an implementation of Smithy that generates a Ruby SDK using a Smithy model. In this talk, we will explore Smithy and Smithy Ruby to learn how to generate custom feature-rich SDKs that can communicate with any web service, such as a Rails JSON API.
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 preview
System integration complexity
1. Complexity of the Systems Integration
Sergey Tozik, Gordon Center for Systems Engineering, Technion
http://www.gordon-se.technion.ac.il/
Summary
Systems Integration is one of the important stages of the life cycle of any man-made system.During this
stage, realized instances of the system's components are combined to create a complete system. Despite
widespread recognition that during the Integration the discovery of the problems is most
frequent, this phase in the lifecycle has not received much attention in comparison with other
stages such as Requirement Elicitation or System Architecture. The research that does deal with the
Integration focuses primarily on the planning processes and optimization, or on case studies that describe
the development of the integration facilities.
This paper uses the information gathered during the meetings of Systems Integration Working Group
organized by the Israeli chapter of INCOSE (INCOSE_IL) as well as several papers that are published on
the subject to gain an insight into the peculiarities of the Systems Integration.
As may be expected, companies and organizations use a variety of engineering and managerial techniques
and approaches to perform integration during the projects and other activities. The mere existence of such
variety points that there cannot be found "the winning method" of Systems Integration but rather that
there is a "toolbox" of methods and techniques. The effectiveness and efficiency of application of these
techniques are highly dependent on their suitability to both the nature of the products and projects of each
organization and the culture prevailing in these organizations.
Systems Integration is a complex process. This complexity emerges from the interdependencies between
the components inside the system, between the components and their developers, and most of all between
the multitude of people involved in the development and integration of the system, everyone with her own
experience, training, engineering disciplines and the technologies. More than that, there is never-ending
mutual adaptation of the evolving system, the supporting organization, the users and their organizational
processes.
The Integration happens on multiple levels of hierarchy. Essentially, three types of integration may be
discerned - the Product Integration that focuses on the integration of the artificial elements of the system
and of the system with other artificial systems, the Human Integration that is focused on the mutual
adaptation of the system and its ultimate users and the Operational Integration that is focused on the
incorporation of the system (and its users) into the fabric of the operational processes in the acquiring
organization and beyond it.
Research community offers many solutions for dealing with the complexity of the systems,and the
processes of the development and integration. But this community focuses elsewhere and doesn't look too
deep into the human side of the "integration business" and doing so leaves much room for new interesting
research. Adaptability of people may certainly be the "missing ingredient" in the coping with the
1
2. complexities of the development projects especially during the integration, in the attempts to reduce the
complexity of the project in its last stages and thus reduce costs, shorten development time and increase
the likelihood that the system will succeed in the complex operational environment.
Introduction
Despite widespread recognition that during the Integration the discovery of the problems is most frequent,
this phase in the lifecycle has not received much attention in comparison with other stages such as
Requirement Elicitation or System Architecture. The research that does deal with the Integration focuses
primarily on the planning processes and optimization, or on case studies that describe the development of
the integration facilities.
Deep interest in Systems Integration in the community of the practitioners led to the establishment of
Systems Integration Working group by the Israeli chapter of INCOSE (INCOSE_IL) with the
representation of various companies and organization in both commercial and government sector. As part
of the Work Group activities the representatives of several organizations presented their Systems
Integration processes and techniques, among them Rafael, the Israel Electric Company, ECI, Motorola,
Phillips Healthcare, Biosense Webster, Orbotech, Israeli Air Force, HP and others. The presentations and
discussions revealed a lot of information about how the Systems Integration process is actually performed
in these organizations.
This paper uses the information gathered during the meetings of Systems Integration Working Group
organized by the Israeli chapter of INCOSE (INCOSE_IL) as well as relevant publications to gain an
insight into the peculiarities of the Systems Integration and point out promising research topics.
Characteristics of the integration process
In one of the meetings, the Work Group endeavored to list activities that are relevant to the Systems
Integration. As expected, in the center of the Integration stand engineering activities of preparing and
performing the integration testing events - writing integration plans, establishing integration facilities,
development of the tools including the tools for modeling and simulation, conducting the tests and writing
the reports. In addition it became clear that the implementation of the integration process requires other
activities as well that are as important to the success of the whole process.
Organization of integration events requires considerable logistical support including acquisition,
transportation and installation of the system's components and supporting equipment, configuration
management of both integration laboratories and the interim configurations of the system, establishing an
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3. infrastructure of communication between the participants and transportation of people between the
different integration sites.
Management of the integration process includes planning, measurement of the progress, preparation for
design and managements reviews, organization of integration and test readiness reviews, establishing of
the integration teams, management of these teams including encouragement and appreciation of the team
members.
The integration process is a resource-intensive process but not always perceived as such during project
planning stages. Part of the responsibilities of the integration leader is to secure and manage the
resources, including the preparation of budgets, justification of need for resources, fighting for
preservation of the allocation of resources and also reporting on resource utilization.
During the integration process there exist quite a few activities identified with the systems engineering
including analysis of the changes in the needs and demands of stakeholders that take place during the
project, systems analysis, and problems investigation, design of remedial actions and system's
improvements and the management of their implementation.
The integration process is characterized by the flow of information and knowledge among the project
participants, sometimes the increased information flow during integration compensates for the inadequate
information exchange and documentation at the earlier stages of the project. Accordingly, the integrators
must manage the flow of knowledge and information within and without the project and to manage
information flow to the various stakeholders, including the use of techniques borrowed from the public
relations.
Variety of processes and approaches
As more members of the Work Group presented their integration processes in their companies, it became
apparent that there is a very wide variety of integration processes used by different companies and there
are even differences between the different divisions of the same company. In some companies (especially
in the defense sector) there are highly structured processes and procedures to perform the integration that
even serve as a "skeleton" for planning the entire project not just the integration stages. In other
companies the integration processes were tailored separately for each project and in other companies the
integration "just happened" in pure ad-hoc fashion. The variety of the integration processes was as large
as the variety of systems engineering processes in particular and organizational cultures in general.
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4. Overall consensus was reached that the process of integration starts early in the project (when there are at
least two components to integrate) and finishes very late in the project (when the product are transferred
to the customers and even far beyond the project end, during production and support).
As the participants presented their technical approaches to design and execution of the integration, the
wide variety emerged as well. The systems were integrated functionally, hierarchically, by user-visible
features, by the leading engineering disciplines (software, physical, mechanical, electrical, electronic etc)
or by user types.
Although in most companies, the concept of internal and external is the element that defines the approach
to integration (and expressed in formal interface specifications) some of the companies didn't emphasize
interfaces but rather used terms like "fitting components to each other", without documenting specific pair
wise interfaces but rather documenting the overall design that shows how the components "fit together".
Diversity of approaches to integration also includes a variety of approaches to organizing the teams
involved in the integration. Although the topic of organizing integration teams was not the focus of the of
companies' presentations, but during the discussions it became clear that there is a range of options for
teams structure starting with the organic integration teams, through task teams led by systems engineers,
to the ad-hoc integration team consisting of representatives of various development teams without an
official manager (integration was led by the representative from the team which has more responsibility
for the success of the integration event).
In the companies that emphasized the need for the professionalism in the integration by organizaing
dedicated integration departments, these departments may be assigned additional responsibility for the
customer support, field engineering or detailed design of the interfaces. On the one hand the above
responsibilities are not usually identified with the systems integration and on the other hand this is a sign
that there is a strong association between these areas and the systems integration.
From the aforementioned findings one can assume that the quality, the effectiveness and the efficiency of
the integration process do not depend on the choice of the universal best practices on the amalgam of the
approaches and adapted to the type of products and organizational culture in the company. There may
well be a "toolbox" of methods and approaches to choose from but not the "best-of-breed" comprehensive
methodology.
Systems Integration as part of Risk Management
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5. There is an inherent difference between the activities of System Integration and those of Systems Design.
During the integration the physical artifacts are interconnected to form larger assemblies, whether in
design one works primarily with information artifacts and abstractions. The interaction between real-
world artifacts is always richer than what are predicted using abstract descriptions or models. During the
integration the unexpected assembly-level properties and behaviors gradually emerge. These behaviors
may still appear exhibited in the final configuration of the system or many disappear or change. The latter
"false attributes" may further complicate the integration process but can't be avoided due to
incompleteness of the integration configurations and the low fidelity of the representation of the operating
environment.
Gerrit Muller states in his (Muller 2007) that "The goal of integration is to reduce the project risk of being
late or the risk of creating an ill performing system". He argues that the integration plays a major role in
risk reduction because the integrators are focused on finding unforeseen problems and solve them as early
as possible.
There is no way to avoid integration challenges - in course of building any sufficiently complicated
system there is always aomebody that has to assume responsibility for the proper functioning of the
systems and for solving the problems during the assembly, installation, transition to use and the actual
operation. Couper, Emes and Smith (Couper et al 2005) point out that when no one consciously accepts
the responsibility for integration, the responsibility will by default be assigned to the end users or on the
engineers that represent the users making them "by-default Systems Integrators". These "by-default
Systems Integrators" will bear the risk that the system will be inadequate for the operational use either
due to exhibition of unacceptable emergent properties, or due to change in user's needs, or due to low
reliability.
Most projects reach the stage of integration both with depleted resources and with a host of unsolved
proplems .Since during the integration the actual physical configurations are assembled and activated for
the first time, it's impossible to deny those problems and the need to solve them becomes more tangible
for the development team, and what is more important, to the management and for the customers.
According to the article (Sheard 2000) by Sarah A. Sheard the Systems Engineer has to perform the role
she called "the Glue" - the role of active problem seeker and solver. She didn't use the term "Systems
Integrator" in order to prevent the confusion with the "Lead Systems Integrator" definition used in the
contracts.
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6. She emphasized that the Systems Engineer in her "Glue" role has to be "proactive troubleshooter, looking
for the problems and arranging to prevent them". She emphasizes that the designers of the subsystems are
focused on making "their subsystems do what they are supposed to do, while the systems integrator has to
focus on the interfaces and the interrelationships between the subsystems, looking for the mutual
interference.
Three levels of system integration complexity
Systems Integration is a complex process. It is not apparent when one considers only the integration
between artificial components of the system, so I would like to distinguish between three levels of
Systems Integration - Artifact or Product Integration, System Integration and Operational Integration.
In the course of the Artifact Integration the artificial components of the system is brought together to form
partial configurations, the interfaces are mated and the configurations are stimulated to elecitate
responses. The actual responses are judged against the expected ones documented as system's
requirements. Artifact Integration is probably what most engineers imagine when they think about
systems integration. For most purposes the Systems Integration and the Artefact Integration are
considered synonymous.
Most systems cannot function by themselves without the interaction with humans. In most cases, the
operators or users are considered a part of the system's environment integration with the machines
through human-machine interfaces that are treated as external. On the other hand in order to put the
machines to use, the users and the machines has to adapt to each other. This mutual adaptation is the
second level of the Systems Integration - the Human-Machine Integration. Humans are not components
that may be produced according to specifications (even when one talks about training) and therefore free
to change their behavior depending on personal preferences, accumulated experience in operating similar
systems and a gradual adaptation to the new system they work with. People are complex creatures and
their integration with the artificial components of the system raises the level of the complexity that are not
considered during the Artifact Integration.
Still another level of integration increases the complexity even more - the Operational Integration. During
the Operational Integration the artificial systems and its users are integrated into the their organization's
business or operational processes and into the "enterprise ecosystem". Operational Integration is seldom
identified as Systems Integration but those that are involved in putting the systems into operational use
may testify that this process has many characteristics of integration. In the light of the above one could
consider the Operational Integration as the third and the most complex level of Systems Integration.
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7. When looking at the integration process in the various organizations it can be seen that the organizations
that represent the ultimate users focus more on Operational Integration and the companies that are
suppliers of systems focus more on Artifacts Integration. The Human-Machine Integration is frequently
under-emphasized and is allocated to be a part of the training. There are also companies that create a
partnership with clients and take responsibility for all three levels of integration, bridging the gaps
between them. It's interesting thet the companies involved in all three levels of integration have more
influence on customers' requirements specification and thus have more control of the costs and profits.
The human side of the systemic integration
Much of the complexity in the integration process is due to interactions between people that participate in
this process. According to the opinion of the Working Group participants the Systems Integration is
characterized by intense social dynamics, that emerges from the encounters (sometimes for the first time)
between the representatives of the different development teams thas has worked fairly independently on
the system components right until the start of the integration. Despite the importance of human aspect to
the success of the integration process it is not getting much attention in the publications or discourse
between the practitioners who rather prefer to focus on the engineering and managerial side of their work.
One can find references to the human aspect of the integration edge in the papers that deal with other
aspects of the integration, such as the article by Scott A. Hyer (Hyer, 1997) that writes:
"When defining integration, the human side must also be considered. The development of any
complex system involves many specialists and at least a few coordinators (managers and systems
engineers) ... The activity's principle drivers are communication among the development team
members and advance planning ... The only way to achieve this is through effective
communication which comes from strong leadership and coordination ...
Thus, at a very basic level, integration can be viewed from at least two perspectives: (1) as a
technical challenge to system designers and (2) as a team coordination activity to managers. It
must be a distributed effort which influences every project team member but, at the same time,
remains centrally monitored and controlled. Simply stated, this is the challenge "
Not only communication and cooperation between the people is important to the success of integration,
but also the ways of each person that participates in the process. In his article (Ring 2007) on the subject
of "intelligent enterprises" Jack Ring states that the need for "interpersonal integration derives from the
inherent limitations of the human mind:
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8. "... People are the key ingredient, A minimum of two are required because the single brain
cannot discriminate illusion from reality.
Each person in or associated with the enterprise has a mental model of a) purpose and intended
outcomes, b) what behaviors are and are not acceptable and c) ways their enterprise can pursue
purpose. In the intelligent enterprise, these mental models are coherent. In the intelligent
enterprise with a high mode of intelligence, the mental models reinforce and amplify one
another. Likewise, each person has a sufficient level of enthusiasm to help one another overcome
fear, ideally transforming that energy into more enthusiasm thus innovation. "
Summary
Systems Integration is a complex process. Complexity of the integration process is greater than that of the
Systems Design of the development of system components and that for a number of reasons: when
implemented, the components and their interactions are more complex than any description or
specification, the systems are used by people that adapt to the systems they operate, the changes in the
operational processes that the use of the new systems triggers. The complexity of the integration process
makes it a major source of risks in projects, with significant impact on the schedule, costs and
performance of the systems.
Research community offers many solutions for dealing with the complexity of the systems, the
development and integration processes. On the other hand this community does not focus on the impact of
the human side of the integration on its success and thus leaves much room for new research on this topic.
Adaptability of people may certainly be the "missing ingredient" in the coping with the complexities of
the development projects especially during the integration, in the attempts to reduce the complexity of the
project in its last stages and thus reduce costs, shorten time and increase the likelihood that the system
will succeed in the complex operational environment.
Control of complexity may be based on regulation of diversity by implementation of standards and
procedures or by giving "free rein" to the creative integration teams, by regulation of adaptation by
training of the users and the preparation of the business environment to the absorption of new systems and
by regulation of interdependence by controlling the flow of information and knowledge between the
participants by means of facilitating or even prevention or disruption of communication.
Sources:
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9. Cowper, D., Emes, M. and Smith, A, "... is en in Heaven or in hell is en That Illusive Systems
Integrator - Who's Looking After Your Systems Integration", INCOSE Publication Database (
Https://www.incose.org/ipub/ ), 2005
Hyer, Scott, A, "An Effective Approach To System Integration: A Comprehensive Checklist",
INCOSE Publication Database, 1997
Muller, Gerrit, "Coping with System Integration Challenges in Large Complex Environment",
INCOSE Publication Database), 2007
Ring, Jack, "About Intelligent Enterprises: A Collection of Knowledge Claims", INCOSE
Technical Document, INCOSE-TD-2007-001-01, 2007
Sheard, Sarah A., "Twelve Systems Engineering Roles", INCOSE Publication Database, 1996
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