View: System Environment (Context)

A system-of-interest is situated in its environment and interacts with other systems or objects in the environment. The system-of-interest fulfils its purpose and delivers value to the other systems.

The system-of-interest interacts with the environment in a number of ways:

  • expected and desired (typically through system properties)

  • unexpected and not desired (possibly emergent unidentified properties)

  • Impacted by the other systems in the environment in unexpected ways: Weather, Earthquakes.

The following definitions are used for Environment:

  • ISO 42010: 2011 and ISO 15288:2015: Environment: (system) context determining the setting and circumstances of all influences upon a system
  • ISO 9000:2015: Context of the Organization: combination of internal and external issues that can have an effect on an organization’s approach to developing and achieving its objectives

Russell Ackoff describes the environment as:

Definition: Environment: The environment of a system consists of those things that can affect the properties and performance of that system, but over which it has no control.

That part of its environment that a system can influence, but not control, is said to be transactional. Consumers and suppliers, for example are part of a corporation's transactional environment.

That part of a system's environment that can neither be influenced nor controlled is said to be contextual, for example, the weather and other natural events, such as floods and earthquakes, and in the case of a corporation, at least come competitive behavior.

The environment and the potential impacts on the system-of-interest.

this section includes

  • Transactional
  • Contextual
  • Regulatory

The concept of the "Boundary" is used to identify the aspects of the system-of-interest that are inside the system or are outside of the system.

This section describes any systems that the system-of-interest interacts with and any other emergent conditions that could impact the system.