Breakdowns in Controls in Automated Systems

Breakdowns in Controls in Automated Systems considers the problem of failing to satisfy organizational control requirements (control requirements) in automated systems. The significant economic, social, and political consequences of failing to satisfy control requirements are discussed for background, using examples from well-publicized failures in government, business, and the military. A solution to the problem, called the Meta-Artifact Process (MAP) is discussed in detail, with comparisons to existing processes. MAP adds three extensions to Object-Oriented Domain Analysis, and uses knowledge management techniques to make tacit knowledge explicit in the Meta-Artifact, one of the extensions. Domain rules, which characterize a domain, form the basis of MAP''s second extension, Domain Rules Analysis. The Bifurcated Architecture, the third extension, allocates aspects of the system likely to change frequently, such as business rules, to an external repository as data, rather than to software code. Managing the most frequently changed aspects of the system through an external repository reduces maintenance costs and improves reliability.

Wayne O''Brien has been with his current employer for sixteen years, with a focus on software systems architecture for the past nine years. His prior employment included more than twenty-five years in systems development and management. He is the inventor on multiple patent applications and one granted patent.