Configuring systems verification, validation and testing plan under various constraints and unpredicted events

Verification, Validation and Testing (VVT), are important system engineering activities that need to be exercised continuously during the life cycle of any product. As in reality, the program manager may need to address the VVT strategy during the following two phases: the planning phase, in which different VVT plans are explored to choose an optimal strategy; and the execution phase, in which uncertainty unfolds and the program manager has to deal and also manage unforeseen events. A cost-effective approach to the VVT strategy would emphasise the ability to make tradeoffs and configure a VVT plan by estimating project budget, duration, risk and resources. We present a generalised model for configuring system design and tailor it to generate the optimal VVT methods in the VVT process. We focus both on the sensitivity analysis of the analytical model to the variability of model inputs and also address the uncertainty aspects of the model to demonstrate the robustness of our model. We also discuss the generalised model flexibility to adapt and address other engineering issues; for example, tailoring the model to minimise resources as opposed to maximising quality in the VVT process, or even identifying and managing overspecification in projects.