The learning objectives for this chapter include: To explain what a socio-technical system is and the distinction between this and a computer-based system, to introduce the concept of emergent system properties such as reliability and security, to explain system engineering and system procurement processes, to explain why the organisational context of a system affects its design and use, to discuss legacy systems and why these are critical to many businesses. | Socio-technical Systems Objectives To explain what a socio-technical system is and the distinction between this and a computer-based system To introduce the concept of emergent system properties such as reliability and security To explain system engineering and system procurement processes To explain why the organisational context of a system affects its design and use To discuss legacy systems and why these are critical to many businesses Topics covered Emergent system properties Systems engineering Organizations, people and computer systems Legacy systems What is a system? A purposeful collection of inter-related components working together to achieve some common objective. A system may include software, mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware and be operated by people. System components are dependent on other system components The properties and behaviour of system components are inextricably inter-mingled System categories Technical computer-based systems Systems that . | Socio-technical Systems Objectives To explain what a socio-technical system is and the distinction between this and a computer-based system To introduce the concept of emergent system properties such as reliability and security To explain system engineering and system procurement processes To explain why the organisational context of a system affects its design and use To discuss legacy systems and why these are critical to many businesses Topics covered Emergent system properties Systems engineering Organizations, people and computer systems Legacy systems What is a system? A purposeful collection of inter-related components working together to achieve some common objective. A system may include software, mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware and be operated by people. System components are dependent on other system components The properties and behaviour of system components are inextricably inter-mingled System categories Technical computer-based systems Systems that include hardware and software but where the operators and operational processes are not normally considered to be part of the system. The system is not self-aware. Socio-technical systems Systems that include technical systems but also operational processes and people who use and interact with the technical system. Socio-technical systems are governed by organisational policies and rules. Socio-technical system characteristics Emergent properties Properties of the system of a whole that depend on the system components and their relationships. Non-deterministic They do not always produce the same output when presented with the same input because the systems’s behaviour is partially dependent on human operators. Complex relationships with organisational objectives The extent to which the system supports organisational objectives does not just depend on the system itself. Emergent properties Properties of the system as a whole rather than properties that can be derived from the properties of
