Since the beginning of computing, lamenting the increasing complexity of computing systems and the difficulty of delivering quality systems has been a nearly ubiquitous theme in research literature. Yet, there seems to be a consensus in the computer science community that we are truly reaching the tipping point where a revolutionary rather than an evolutionary approach is necessary. In this four-page position paper, the authors highlight the need for interdisciplinary, new foundations for the way we design, deploy, and maintain software-reliant systems. The need for fundamentally new approaches is motivated in particular by the emerging systems of systems (SoSs) that we see in cyber-physical systems and cyber-physical-social systems. These SoSs are composed of independently developed, decisionally autonomous, and often life-critical systems that must collaborate and interoperate to provide global capabilities.

Traditional software development approaches are inadequate on many fronts. The authors of this paper discuss a variety of ways in which current approaches and research do not (yet) address all the issues that are unique to SoSs. They argue that the means to address many of these issues is through novel architectural abstractions and approaches. Architectural decisions are some of the earliest decisions, and they must be informed by the relationships between structure and behavior and by the interplay between the different nonfunctional qualities. Yet, we still lack a good understanding of these relationships, especially for SoSs. The authors conclude by stating that “the needed research agenda is broad and deep.”

Overall, with this paper, the authors join many in the field who believe that we are on the verge of an important turning point in computing. There is a gap between what we know and what we need. From a research point of view, this is a very interesting time.