SSM as an aid to requirements definition

A discussion is given on how soft systems methodology (SSM) can aid requirements definition in a complex organisation. The discussion is illustrated with examples from the army´s command, control and communication information system (CIS) programme. Whether requirements definition is a problem in a complex organisation depends on where in that organisation you are. In the army, if one tells a Royal Artillery officer to `get a better 155 mm howitzer´ the production of a statement of operational requirement (OR) is not too difficult. But ask a member of the army resources and plans staff to approve that 155 mm howitzer requirement when it is in contention for funding with an improved CIS and it is likely that the relative cost effectiveness of both will be scrutinised much more fully than they would have been if not in contention for funds and probably their ORs subjected to considerable revision. It is this interplay of technical aspiration with the constraints of available funding which makes the task of producing an OR so difficult. Nowhere in the army is this more so than in the CIS area. The author focuses specifically on CIS, but many of the principles which are discussed apply across the board of requirements definition work