Systems teams, development projects, and organizations, who are involved in product development, are often faced with the question as to whether they should adapt agile systems practices into their programs and processes. In trying to answer this question these groups are almost immediately confronted with the problem of determining what is motivating the decision, where should agile principles be applied, and how much agility is necessary. There are several interrelated systems involved in this inquiry and the development of a proper understanding around these considerations is not a trivial exercise. A method of inquiry and decision making that is in itself agile and that can produce actionable results needs to guide the development of this understanding. The purpose of this paper is to present work accomplished to date on the definition, prototyping, and evaluation of a decision guidance system to help a development team or organization achieve a necessary understanding that can lead to useful actionable decisions regarding agile adoption.
University CubeSat projects become popular in recent decades, and face challenges that include both technical and sociotechnical aspects. However, these teams often lack the infrastructure and resources for having effective systems engineering or project management which are beneficial for addressing these challenges and developing complex systems, such as satellites. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory case study of a university CubeSat team developing an Earth Observation satellite. The Agile Decision Guidance method was applied to pinpoint parts of the project organization that could benefit from agile methods in three specific areas: customer problem space, solution space, and product development space. The results drew attention to areas such as; stakeholder management, knowledge and information management, and the support environment, that could benefit from an agile approach. We outline some of the plans to move forward and how the team responded to the analysis. We also discuss if the method was appropriate for academic small satellite organizations and adaptations of the method made during the assessment.
A model of organization and management of Space Shuttle data is proposed. Shuttle avionics software is parametrically altered by a reconfiguration process for each flight. As the flight rate approaches an operational level, current methods of data management would become increasingly complex. An alternative method is introduced, using modularized standard data, and its implications for data collection, integration, validation, and reconfiguration processes are explored. Information modules are cataloged for later use, and may be combined in several levels for maintenance. For each flight, information modules can then be selected from the catalog at a high level. These concepts take advantage of the reusability of Space Shuttle information to reduce the cost of reconfiguration as flight experience increases.
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