Transforming fragmented designs into a unified, effective, defence-grade security system.
As the London 2012 Olympic Park approached completion, multiple siloed teams were designing the security systems:
Each specialist had built their solution independently. Taken together, these systems formed a complex, unaffordable, unintegrated, and operationally incoherent security architecture.
Costs had spiralled. The design didn't meet operational requirements. And with rapidly approaching deadlines, there was no unified plan to secure a site designed to host millions of people under intense global scrutiny.
I was initially brought in to manage construction-phase risk — but quickly identified that the real threat lay in the system-level incoherence of the security solution.
This became a high-stakes systems engineering challenge involving safety, security, cost, procurement, politics, and coordination of diverse experts.
Independent sub-systems designed in isolation
No integrated concept of operations
Costs far beyond budget
Conflicting operational assumptions
High political pressure and intense media scrutiny
Multiple engineering and security disciplines with entrenched positions
Imminent deadlines with no time for a long redesign
A requirement for world-class security that still had to be deliverable
This was a classic "big system, many designers, no architect" problem.
Using Combined Operational Effectiveness and Investment Appraisal (COEIA) — a methodology normally reserved for defence procurement — I brought together:
For the first time, everyone saw the entire problem laid out clearly.
We clarified:
Many design elements had no operational value. Others were duplicated across disciplines. By stripping away unnecessary complexity, the design became far more effective and far more affordable.
The team agreed — for the first time — on:
With clarity came confidence. Now procurement could proceed using a single, unified specification grounded in reality, not theory.
A coherent security architecture
All subsystems now worked as one.
£358m of security systems aligned with a single concept
No waste, no duplication, no contradictory assumptions.
Massive cost reduction compared to original plans
Savings created by eliminating unnecessary and conflicting designs.
Operational effectiveness dramatically improved
Clearer responsibilities, smoother command-and-control, better detection and response.
Political and stakeholder confidence restored
A clear plan that everyone understood — and could execute.
Procurement accelerated with fewer risks
A unified specification reduced uncertainty and cost.
This was a textbook example of systems engineering applied to a high-pressure, multi-stakeholder civilian environment — with global visibility and no margin for error.
If you need help aligning experts around a coherent, affordable and effective solution, let's discuss how systems engineering can cut through complexity.