Evaluating the effectiveness of systems and software engineering methods, processes and tools for use in defense programs

The Systems Engineering Research Center University Affiliated Research Center (SERC-UARC) at Stevens Institute has been tasked to evaluate the effectiveness of the systems and software engineering processes, methods and tools (MPTs) used in US Department of Defense acquisition and development programs. This paper presents the selection and evaluation process, describes its evolution based on changing sponsor needs, and presents additional information on the characterization of MPTs for evaluation.