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Managing ICS Complexity

Managing ICS Complexity. Professor Mark Haselkorn TC 520. Standing Technical Communication on its Head. From particular instance of communication out To Communication systems and environment in ------------ View these systems as an information product. Overview.

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Managing ICS Complexity

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  1. Managing ICS Complexity Professor Mark Haselkorn TC 520

  2. Standing Technical Communication on its Head From particular instance of communication out To Communication systems and environment in ------------ View these systems as an information product

  3. Overview • General background on ICS complexity • Specific situational issues (an organizational example) • Lessons for managing ICS complexity

  4. ICS Complexity ICS versus a Roof

  5. ICS Complexity • ICS is Pervasive • ICS is Multi-Purpose • ICS Elements are Diverse and Dynamic • ICS is Less Reliable than Traditional Infrastructure • ICS Elements are Interdependent

  6. ICS is Pervasive • Everywhere yet not anywhere in particular • People see/touch small piece of overall system • People usually seek to control their piece • When there are problems, reverse is true • Confusion over ownership and responsibility • More an environment than a discrete machine

  7. ICS is Multi-Purpose • Not obvious who is using it or what they are using it for • True at many levels (e.g. content, management) • Honest differences of perspective as to the most desirable features

  8. ICS Elements are Diverse and Dynamic • Consists of a wide diversity of levels and elements, each with unique attributes and issues • For example, • rate of change • PC environments • organizational diversity

  9. The System Rollover • Hardware (RTC) • BIOS • Operating System • I/O devices, peripherals, etc. ------------------------------------------------------- • Application Software • Data/Databases/DBMS ------------------------------------------------------- • Users • Policies & Practice • Organizations • Economic Sectors • Society Representation Processing Sharing Co-evolution © Mark P. Haselkorn, 1998

  10. ICS is Less Reliable than Traditional Infrastructure • High-reliability vs. COTS • Programming as an art • Incredible complexity • Historical perspective

  11. ICS Elements are Interdependent • Compatibility • System of systems • Funding

  12. Situational Issues • Like documents, ICS management is situational • Tied to, for example, an organization’s • Mission • Strategic objectives • Environment • Culture

  13. Mission and Functional Objectives • For example • National security • Information superiority • Flexible capability • Multi-functional • Increase response capability by detaching logistics from operations • Highest demand for security and information assurance

  14. Security and Information Assurance • Information value has accompanying risk • Holds for all ICS levels • e.g. communications, data, practice • Risk TO systems from the outside versus risk FROM internal system complexities • Functional strength versus security • Integration of IA and CIP

  15. Organization, Policy and Decision-making • Organizational “homes” of ICS and how they contribute to policy and practice • For example, Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 • “executive agency” versus distributed, frontline operational management and use • Functional (stovepipe) versus cross-functional • Acquisition and fielding versus use and maintenance

  16. Personnel and Training • Most important element? • Market competition • Job classifications and work conditions • Reliance on informal training and experience • Turnover

  17. Geographic and Organizational Dispersion • CONUS versus OCONUS • Organizational attachments • Autonomy • Resources • Mission-related issues • International differences

  18. Lessons for Managing ICS Complexity • “Modern technology and society have become so complex that traditional ways and means are not sufficient any more but approaches of a holistic or systems, and generalist or inter-disciplinary nature become necessary.” • Bertalanffy, Ludwig Von, General System Theory (Revised Edition), New York, 1998. • Consider ICS management under stress—Y2K

  19. Need for New ICS Management Strategies • ICS cannot be understood and managed independent of interactions with other systems and with the environment. • Increased awareness of interdependencies and shared responsibilities across and outside of an organization • Manage as an organized whole

  20. New Considerations in Problem Definition and Stratification • Breakdowns in traditional management begin at the most basic, definitional levels • Failure of efforts to stratify the problem • Not only does technical complexity make it difficult to identify the boundaries of a given issue, but even more importantly the interplay between technical systems and their non-technical environment dynamically affect basic notion of key definitions like “critical.”

  21. Shift in Focus from Technology to Data, Knowledge, and Mission • “Computer-centric” perspective • Use of data seen as separate from system • But databases do many things • Changes to data drive changes to technology • Data problems can have disastrous implications independent of whether or not hardware and software are performing as intended • “Data-centric” perspective

  22. Aligning Operational and Strategic Management with ICS Management • “Data-centric” impact not only on ICS professionals but also strategic managers • Many difficulties from differences • “Correct” based on technical knowledge versus “best” based on negotiated consensus • Tolerance for risk • But necessary to bridge the gap

  23. Many Others • Manage cross-functionally • Can’t just manage what you understand • Fund differently • Manage people before technology • More about balancing competing “goods” than choosing between right and wrong • Don’t return to business as usual

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