On several programs I've worked there is a phrase for the first 180 days everyone is a systems engineer. The concept of Systems Engineering is missing from most IT projects I've been on. Systems Engineering is a mandatory role on every defense, space, DOE, and similar programs I've on.
The Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (click image to retreive) is the current gudiance to applying SE to projects.
This approach is a critical success factor in ways not always understood in some project domains.
- The source of the story backlog in agile is not well defined. Systems Engineering and Capabilities Based Planning are this source. In agile they come from the customer. But where does the customer get them? Without a method to properly define these capabilities, their related requirements, and the systems elements of the project, the backlog is just a list. The integrity of the list has no way to be verified.
- Projects are systems. Management of the project means managing the elements of the projects - the elements of the system. Here are those elements.
The identification of the needed capabilities is the focus of Systems Engineering. Development of the system is the focus of engineering disciples - software development methods are in this role. Agile Software Development is an instance of the class of development methods. Managing the Systems Engineering and Systems Development processes is the role of project and systems management. My Master is in Systems Management. This was the traditional aerospace and defense management path degree starting in the 1980's at the University of Southern California (USC).
