EPS has created, and is developing, the Statistical Agent-based Model of Development and Evaluation, a quantitative, end-to-end, domain-independent development cycle model that is rooted in fundamental princples. The model objectively reveals the properties and characteristics common to all systems and then allows a development agent to apply those properties to the system under consideration SAbMDE explicitly incorporates the human element that is the intrinsic driver of every system's development. This allows SAbMDE to calculate, among other things, both the effort needed to complete a project and also the project's likelihood of success, i.e., developing the desired end product. Such models have long been sought, even expected; SAbMDE rises to meet those expectations.
No system exists in isolation; every system is actually a sub-system that is a part of a larger whole. While modelling the whole is unreasonable, a sub-system of interest can be modelled by first drawing a well-defined boundary around it, thus clearly distinguishing it from the whole. All the materials, energies, and information that interact with the sub-system flow across that boundary, each through its own interface. Conversely, the union of all the interfaces is the sub-system boundary. Enumerating and characterizing flows and interfaces is not only a sub-system modelling necessity; it also adds rigor to the art of boundary definition. After all, interfaces can be counted and prioritized; their completeness can be evaluated. Missing interfaces eventually make themselves evident. And, interfaces can be quantified. Proper interface enumeration and characterization can define even the most complex boundaries. Conventionally, cross-boundary flows are related to sub-system constitutents (e.g., fluid/heat, WiFi signals, a USB stick, a database item, credit card numbers, etc.) However, the constitutent flows may enable flows of non-functional system attributes (e.g., privacy, resilience, authorization, etc.) that are important to decision-makers. EPS research is developing theoretical underpinnings and tools that enumerate and characterize not only constituent flows and interfaces but also related leaks of the non-functional attributes for which decision-makers are accountable. EPS research answers their question, "Am I safe?"
The Composable Element Capture Interpreter is an interactive tool that eases a developer's capture of the composable elements that are the basis of SAbMDE models. Not only does the tool record details of each CE, it helps developers ensure that the CE set is complete.
The Project Effort Estimation Tool uses a SAbMDE model's composable elements to estimate the effort (e.g., person-hours) needed to complete a development project. The estimate is a ceiling value that is a function of the developer's understanding of the project at the time the estimate is made. The estimation calculation is based entirely on the project under consideration (not similar previous projects); and the calculation takes no more than a handful of minutes.
The Qualitative Attribute Accounting Tool quantifies "soft" system attributes and tracks their development over time. Risk analysis results and technology readiness levels are examples of soft attributes for which QAAT replaces subjective, unreliable, and misleading risk matrices. QAAT does this by treating an on-going attribute assessment as a development project whose desired end product is the ideal value of the attribute being assessed.