Systems Engineering at the Enterprise Level

The principles of systems and software engineering can be re-applied beyond the range of the individual project. Traditional enterprise-wide tasks such as technology management, decision-making, organizational objectives, reuse, innovation and outsourcing are amenable to systems engineering. Examples of all of these areas will be presented. The rewards from a disciplined approach are clearly higher when applied at this level. Indeed some aspects (such as re-use) are only possible across projects. The problem of introducing this change is primarily cultural, because of the wide range of skills (including non-technical areas) involved in this coordination. Moreover the time-scales and commitment needed are higher than for individual projects. Shaping systems processes around traditional tasks and terminology helps convince management of the need for system engineering.