SDM 5001 SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE

LECTURE 11.1
SOCIAL TECHNICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

© LGChan
SOCIAL SYSTEMS

2
© LGChan
Socio-technical engineering systems refers to the
Social Technical Systems
interaction between society complex technology,
infrastructures and human behaviour

Society and engineering structures and human support

Support System
combined to make complex sociotechnical systems

3
© LGChan
 Socio Technical System
Environment

Hardware Software
Society

Liveware

Components in Socio Technical System

Hardware Any physical and non living element, eg buildings, machines, equipment, workspace

Software Non material elements, eg computer software, work procedures, practices, norms

Live-ware Human elements (Support), eg workers, operators, service staff, third parties, teams

Society Community, government, cities, countries, management

Environment Internal and external environment

4
© LGChan
 Evolution of Socio Technical Systems

Machine Human Level Artificial Intelligence

Community Level Social Technical Technology

Evolution

Personal Level Human Computer Interface

Information Level Information Technology

Machine Level Engineering Technology

5
© LGChan
 Social Systems
Characteristics
Socio-technical systems are technical works involving the participation of groups of people in
ways that significantly affect the architectures and design of those works
(Rechtin Maier 2009)

Main Features of Socio-Technical Systems

1. They are collective operational tasks
2. They contain social and technical sub-systems
3. They are open systems (strongly interacting with their environments)
4. Non deterministic (changing human environment) and emergent properties (evolving)
5. Concept of the system being an unfinished system

Examples
intelligent transport system, telecommunications system, public health systems,
education systems, electrical power distribution system, Toyota production systems

6
© LGChan
 Complexity in Socio Technical Systems
Local Interests, Global Outcomes
o Operational and managerial independence of sub systems have different objectives,
especially social systems with changing values
This makes it difficult to optimize the overall socio technical systems

Component Systems
o Difficulty in identifying all components in the society
Some components may be invisible and, others may only be active at a late stage

Interactions
o Interactions are complex and result in unexpected emergent behavior

Complexity
o Many agents with different behaviour and states
o Interactions between agents in a complex environment
o Lots of interconnections between agents
o Communicating in parallel and instantaneously
7
© LGChan
 Managing in Socio Technical Systems
Stakeholders
o Who benefits? Who pays? Who provides? Who loses?
o In social system quality, there is a case-by-case trade off, and the quality depends on the
system to be provided

Client vs User
o Client in socio-technical system is frequently not the end user of the system
o End users are usually groups of people who have diverse needs and expectations
o Client manages this problem by
(1) setting standards and licensing to contractors
(2) segmenting the market to different groups of users

Systems Architecture for Socio Technical Systems

o An open system architecture should allow for easy improvement and update of system
capabilities by adding or changing components in the design for socio technical system
o Open system architecture is an open specification of the architecture of a system or systems
of systems for the expanding specified capabilities

8
© LGChan
 Strategies in Managing Socio-Technical Issues
Key consideration: How power or decision making is dispersed among the stakeholders?

Strategy Method Advantages Disadvantages

Authoritative Solution provided by a few Potential missing out

selected people Efficiency and Timeliness important issues
Strategy (eg board of directors) Lost opportunity for learning

Use opposing parties

Competitive Creation of new ideas and Conflict and stalemates
points of view to come up
innovation Consume resources
Strategy with preferred solutions
Provision of choice (time wasting)
(eg open TV debate)

Higher stakeholder
Engage all parties to find Increased transaction costs
commitment
Collaborative the best possible solution dialogue can turn into
Comprehensive and
agreed by all conflict, hardened positions
Strategy effective solutions
(eg dialogue, town hall and stalemate causing poor
Fewer resources used by
meeting) results
stakeholder

9
© LGChan
 Five Key Characteristics of Open Socio-Technical Systems
1. Systems should have inter-dependent sub-systems which allow various users to
interact and design solutions to satisfy their different requirements

2. Systems should adapt to and pursue goals in external environments

3. Systems have an internal environment comprising separate but inter-dependent

technical and social subsystems

4. Systems have equi-finality

Meaning : systems goals can be achieved by more than one means.
This implies that there are many possibilities and design choices to be made during
system development

5. System performance relies on the joint optimisation of the technical and social
subsystems
Focusing on one of these systems to the exclusion of the other is likely to lead to
degraded system performance and utility
Source : Baxter Sommerville 2011 Socio-technical systems-From design methods to systems engineering. Interacting with Computers 10
© LGChan
 Socio-Technical Systems Design Approaches
Soft Systems Methodology
An action oriented and organized process of inquiry into problematical situations (using a systemic process)
a) to identify the what the business is trying to achieve
b) what are the problem areas, and
c) how is the solution going to affect the business and people involved in it

Contextual Design
Designing products directly from understanding how the user actually performs his work

Cognitive Systems Engineering

Observing and analysing work in context, and uses abstraction on the results to identify patterns in the
observations that occur across work settings and situations

Human-centred Design
Designing upon an explicit understanding of users, their tasks, and the environments in which those tasks are
carried out

11
© LGChan
 Example : Car Sharing Service (UBER and GrabCar)
Car Ride-Sharing P2P System
It is an alternate to hailing public taxis on the road
It pairs drivers (private and taxis) and ride-seekers with each other

Relevant Systems Architectures

o Social Systems
• Both clients (driver and passenger) are end users of the system
• Matches people who make their cars available, and passengers who are in need of convenient
transportation
o Collaborative Systems
• Requires people who willing to be drivers at a specific time, and passengers who will use the service of their
choice
• No central body to control allocation of assets and services, many drivers can respond to the same request
o Intelligent system
• uses GPS make information available to both driver and passenger, recommends drivers who are nearest to
the caller

12
© LGChan
EXAMPLE : DIGITAL PLATFORM

13
© LGChan
 Platform Businesses: Definition and Chicken-and-Egg Problem
Definition and Network Effects
o A platform business model creates value by facilitating
interactions between the different customer segments
(eg matchmaking and transaction including search cost
reduction)
o Platform business models are “two-sided markets” or
”multi-sided markets”
o The value of the platform grows to attract more users
• Direct/same side network effects:
the more users in one customer segment will
attract more users in that customer segment
(users of Microsoft office software;
users of an instant messaging system)
• Indirect/cross-side network effects:
the more users in one customer segment will
attract more users in the other customer segment
(users of videogames with game developers)
Key Success Factors
o Attract both customers to platform at the same time
through a subsidized price mechanism
• Generally, need to subsidize the more price
sensitive segment and charge the side that
increases its demand more strongly as a result of
the other side growth. Eg subsidized Xbox, PSP
machines, but charge more for games
• In markets with high sensitivity to quality, need to
charge more the side that has to supply quality, so
as to attract providers of high quality products.
Eg charge more for games in order to produce
quality games
o Acquiring new customers at a low cost
o Retain customers for a long period of time
o Attract “lead” users, with lower joining prices or
agreements not to join rival platforms in order to build
initial momentum
14
© LGChan
 Platform Development

Which Side to Develop First?

Module
Developer
User

Start with the Side with the weaker demand for

the goods/services supplied by other Side

© LGChan
Traditional Supply Chain SUPPLIERS RETAILER CUSTOMERS

CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
Platform Supply Chain
SEGMENT 1 SEGMENT 2

Example of Platform Business PLATFORM

o Apple iPod/iTunes system
o Windows Operating System
o Android PlayStore Platform
o Ebay
o E-Commerce
o Uber/Grab
16
© LGChan
Two-Sided Markets provide a Springboard for Innovation
Networked market Side 1 Side 2 Platform Providers

17
© LGChan
END OF LECTURE 1.1
SOCIAL TECHNICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

18
© LGChan
 SDM 5001 SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE

LECTURE 11.2
ARCHITECTING COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS

© LGChan
 Collaborative Systems
Characteristics
o Systems with no central control either in their conception, development, or operation
o Voluntary participation and contribution by large number of individuals
o Examples
Open Source Software (Linux, R), World Wide Web (Wikipedia), Open Source Ecology,
Mumbai Box Wallah (Dabbawala), Intelligent Transportation System,
Joint Air Defence System, Urban City Planning

Types of Collaborative Systems

o Closed Collaborative Systems
o There is a central authority which can act but it has delegated its authority to other groups
Example: joint ventures, national defence
o Open Collaborative Systems
o There is no central authority and no overall authority to decide on anything
Voluntary participation is necessary
Overall system depends on some invisible mechanism to maintain the goals and purposes
Example: R- Statistics, Wikipedia, Crypto currency
2
© LGChan
 Example of Collaborative Systems
Centrally Directed

Management during Systems Development

Large Public
Product Systems
Families
Corporate IT
Urban
Planning
Military
Network Ops
Collaborative
Core Internet

Consumer
Electronics
Web Based IT

Unconstrained Collaborative Centrally Directed

Management during Operation

3
© LGChan
 Architecting Collaborative Systems 1
1 Stable Intermediate Forms
o Intermediate forms should be technically, economically, and politically self supporting
o Able to fulfil some useful purpose, has sufficient revenue to maintain operations, and a
body to oversee policies

2 Policy Decision Making Process (Triage)

o Guidelines to assign priority order to projects on the basis of where efforts, funds and
other resources can be best used, are most needed, or are most likely to achieve success

3 Leverage at Interfaces
o Focus on architecting of interfaces of the sub-systems (independent) which allow many
people to participate, and to create emergent capability of system of interest
o Well defined interfaces enable participants to easily integrate their contribution to existing
work
4
© LGChan
 Architecting Collaborative Systems 2

4 Ensuring Co-operation (Win Win)

o Overall cost and benefits of collaboration should be more than the sum of independent
costs and benefit for each participant
o Make each participant’s well being to be partially dependent on the well being of other
participants

5 Problems with Collaborative Systems

o Standards:
o Lack of organization to formalize market standards
o Motivation:
o Lack of Monetary Incentives
o Depends on active participation to maintain the systems
o Differing goal and motivation of participants

5
© LGChan
 Collaborative Online Social Media Platforms
Collaborative Network Application Examples
Social networks Connect with people Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Media Sharing networks Share photos, videos YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat
Discussion forums Share news and ideas reddit, Quora, Digg
Bookmarking, Content Curation Discover, save, and share new content Pinterest, Flipboard
Consumer Review Find and review businesses TripAdvisor, Yelp, Zomato
Blogging and Publishing Publish content online WordPress, Tumblr, Medium
Social Shopping Shop online Polyvore, Etsy, Fancy
Sharing Economy Trade goods and services Airbnb, Grab, Uber, Taskrabbit

Facebook 2,072 million users

YouTube 1,500 million users
Instagram 800 million users
LinkedIn 500 million users
Twitter 330 million users

6
Source : https://blog.hootsuite.com/types-of-social-media/
© LGChan
END OF LECTURE 11.2
ARCHITECTING COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS

7
© LGChan
SDM 5001 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

LECTURE 11.3
BUILDER ARCHITECT SYSTEMS

© LGChan
 Builder Architected Systems
Characteristics
o Architect produces a pre-conceived “form first” architecture in mind based on his
own ideas and assumptions without full knowledge of the requirements of the
users and market

o Architect is mainly technical staff (company’s research and development)

Client is company who sells the product or system in the market

o Examples of Builder Architect Systems

Aerospace (Satellites, Space Mission)
Aircrafts
Military Defence Systems
Infrastructure Projects (New Towns, Airports, Highways, Transportation, Power Plants)

2
© LGChan
Leveraging Architectures in Innovative Builder Systems
1 Incremental Development for Existing Customer
o Using existing architectures to produce variations and extensions of existing customers
o Low risk because of proven architecture
o Adopt Platform Design
(Example: coffee makers, electric shavers, vacuum cleaners)
(Iridium Example: use technology for high-speed data satellites, M-Star)

2 New Markets for Existing Products

o Using existing architectures to enter new or uncertain markets
o New applications of existing products in new markets
(Example: GoPro camera – camera for action photography)
(Iridium Example: unserved markets in Africa, disaster relief operators)

3 New Products and New Markets

o Novel architectures looking for new markets
o Creating Disruptive Technology
(Example: new computer hardware creates newer and better software applications)
block chain technology creates crypto currency to replace bank transactions)
3
© LGChan
Leveraging Architectures in Innovative Builder Systems
4 Technology Substitution within Existing Systems
o Upgrading old technology in existing system
o Easy for software systems (using update patches released online)
o Difficult for hardware systems required making changes in production or assembly

Penetration/

New
Disruptive
Substitution

Markets

Existing
Platform/
NA
Substitution

Existing New
Products

5 Uncertainty of End Purpose

o Architecture solutions looking for a problem
Example: Google “moon shot projects”
Mars mission
4
© LGChan
 Managing Uncertainty and Risks
1 Build In Flexibility and Maintain Options
o Design for Flexibility: Architectural options that allow changes or additions later
o Real Options “IN” projects concern design elements by incorporating in the architecture a range of
possible future performance or behaviour
Examples: API in software, airport runways designed for airport terminal expansions

2 Use Open Architecture

o Maintain control over the key standards that characterize the system
o Make them available to others (licensing) who have complementary skills (markets, technology, etc) so
that everyone benefits
Example: console video game machines, IBM PC and Microsoft

3 Modular Architecture
o strategic design of components and assembly to enable efficient changes/modifications
o changes in one component do not affect other components (loose coupling)
Example: add-on accessories, software extension packages (R)

4 Late Point of Differentiation

o postponement of final assembly of critical functions
Example: external paint coloring, CPU and RAM chips on motherboards
5
© LGChan
 Market Strategies in Builder Architect Systems
1 Disrupt and Dominate
o Create systems that disrupt existing operational patterns or markets, and
building barriers to prevent others from taking advantage of those disruptions
– Quality of architecture must be excellent as it must create beyond boundaries of current systems
– Protect system architecture to create high barrier of entry for competitors
(Example: intellectual property rights, supply chain advantage)

2 Agile Response
o Capability to react more quickly and effectively than competition without disrupting existing market
– Implement strategy effectively: able to rapidly conceive, develop and deliver new systems
– Architecture designed such that changes could be made quickly
(Example: embedded architecture designs, changes made in final stages of production)
– Rapid prototyping to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using 3D computer aided
design or 3D printing

3 Attrition
o Based on ability to sustain and out last competitors in the same market
Low tech strategy
– Assess to low cost capital, low pricing, labour and large distribution network.
– Acquired and buyout markets and competitors 6
(Example: ebay auctions, format wars (VHS vs Betamax, Blue ray vs HD DVD, EXCEL vs Lotus 123) © LGChan
END OF LECTURE 11.3
ARCHITECTING BUILDER ARCHITECT SYSTEM

7
© LGChan