The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has performed several Independent Technical Assessments (ITAs) on mission-critical/real-time systems for the Department of Defense and other agencies. This paper contains observations, recurring themes, trends, and lessons learned about systems development as derived from real-time/mission-critical programs that have been reviewed over the last three years. It is hoped that the observations contained in this paper will be of value to future program managers and help ensure their success.

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