STEEL FAQ

What is STEEL?

System and Technology Effectiveness Evaluation Levels (STEEL) are a way of assessing the effectiveness of a system across its various design functions. STEEL is both an evaluation scheme and a methodology for performing the evaluation. It distils all this into a simple and easy approach that anybody can apply.

What does STEEL do?

STEEL provides an easy way of assessing the effectiveness of a system by breaking down the system into its key functions and assessing the level of performance for each function. It then provides a simple way to give an aggregate performance for the whole system.

What is STEEL used for?

STEEL applies to many complex systems, especially those incorporating IT or communications (ICT) functions. It is used to assess the effectiveness of a system (or, if you like, the ineffectiveness) in order to guide further effort and resources in the most cost-effective direction.

Who is STEEL for?

Anybody who puts complex systems “out there”, including:

• Business people and user communities who know nothing of Systems Engineering but want to know if a system is meeting their needs and bringing value to them.
• Project Managers who want to know if the outcome is on track and where any danger signs might lie, at any stage in the project lifecycle.
• Auditors and other quality professionals whose job it is to assess the system for all sorts of reasons.
• Systems Engineers who are planning or testing a new system.
• SE software and service providers who want to include an independent and trustworthy methodology into their products and services.

When should I use STEEL?

You can use STEEL at any time during the system's delivery lifecycle, from inception through to operational evaluation:

• In the early planning and definition stages, STEEL helps your business get organised. It helps ensure that you have thought of everything and will not get a nasty surprise down the line.
• In the requirements gathering, esign and development stages, STEEL helps the delivery teams communicate their progress and concerns to the rest of the business in a structured and understandable way. Equally, it hels the wider business assess the progress and concerns of the delivery teams.
• In the validation, verification, audit and other assessment stages, STEEL provides a framework to help ensure that the assessor has covered all relevant aspects of a complex system (not necessarily just those they were told about!) and to communicate the key results of that assessment across the wider business.
• In the operational evaluation stage and down the line, STEEL tells the business whether it is getting value out of all the effort invested and whether further effort might pay dividends.

How can STEEL help my business?

A STEEL assessment will tell you whether your system is effectively delivering the business needs it set out to, and whether it is robust enough to keep going. It will highlight areas where your system is not delivering or is at risk of failing.

How does STEEL differ from standard Project Management tools?

STEEL needs no special software or expertise. It can be applied by untrained business and maganement staff. Where project tools focus on the mechanics of delivery, STEEL focuses on the business effectiveness of the outcome.

How can STEEL help me assess or audit the financial, legal, safety, information security and other aspects of a system?

Assessment of a complex system can be hard for a specialist, as key aspects can be hidden away in the design details. It can also be difficult to get your findings across to busy professionals with other things on their minds. STEEL helps you to draw out and communicate the key indicators and to relate them to those working on other aspects of the system outside your area of expertise.

It sounds a bit simple-minded for my level of expertise. Can it really help me?

In a way, it is simple-minded - and deliberately so. It is little more than codified common sense. STEEL extracts the key indicators of your work, that you probably already know perfectly well, and puts them into a framework that people in other areas of work can easily relate to and understand. If you are inexperienced, it provides a valuable checklist of areas you might need to address.

How deep does STEEL go?

Not very. Every area of business and technology has its own expertise and ways of doing things. STEEL does not try to replace anything that you do already. Rather, it provides a common framework and language for pulling it all together into a coherent and manageable picture. It doesn't so much provide deep answers, as show you the things you need to think about. For example if you use an SE tool such as MOOD, it will help focus your effort on the design aspects that matter most.

How do I get started?

Download the STEEL checksheet from here.

Updated 14 July 2015