INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, 5th Edition

HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK

PURPOSE

This handbook defines the “state-of-the-good-practice” for the discipline of Systems Engineering (SE) and provides an authoritative reference to understand the SE discipline in terms of content and practice.

APPLICATION

This handbook is consistent with ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 (2023), Systems and software engineering—System life cycle processes, hereafter referred to as ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, to ensure its usefulness across a wide range of application domains for engineered systems and products, as well as services. ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 is an international standard that provides system life cycle process outcomes, activities, and tasks, whereas this handbook further elaborates on the activities and practices necessary to execute the processes.

This handbook is also consistent with the Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge, hereafter referred to as the SEBoK (2023), to the extent practicable. In many places, this handbook points readers to the SEBoK for more detailed coverage of the related topics, including a current and vetted set of references. The SEBoK also includes coverage of “state-of-the-art” in SE.

For organizations that do not follow the principles of ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 or the SEBoK to specify their life cycle processes, this handbook can serve as a reference to practices and methods that have proven beneficial to the SE community at large and that can add significant value in new domains, if appropriately selected, tailored, ...