4.1.2 Reconciling Systems and Software Architecture

Large, complex systems are increasingly software-intensive or even information-centric. As a result, the total cost and development effort associated with software is an increasing fraction of the whole system, indeed a dominant fraction. The techniques of architecting, system and software, are one method for dealing with large and complex systems. Unfortunately, the techniques and models of systems engineering commonly used in systems architecture descriptions are not well suited to enabling effective software architecting. This paper discusses the mismatches and suggests tools for reconciling their needs.