To prove the value of systems engineering, NASA’s Chief Cost & Economics Analysis Werner Gruhl plotted the percentage of project budget spent on systems engineering against the percentage of project budget overruns of many projects. The plot, seen below, clearly shows that investments in systems engineering are returned by a much greater decrease in cost overruns. Note that one can achieve the highest return-on-investment ratio by spending between 10 to 15 percent of the budget on systems engineering.