Enabling Systems Engineering

SE activities that support an organization's needs and deliver intended value are enabled by many factors such as the organization's culture, SE workforce competencies, and how the organization grows and deploys its workforce armed with those competencies. There are as many different ways to enable SE performance as there are organizations - every organization's approach is, in detail, unique. Nevertheless, there are many common practices, methods, and considerations that organizations use, providing a framework to structure the relevant knowledge.

Beyond individuals, there are two levels of organizations defined in the SEBoK: team (which includes projects and programs among other types of teams) and business /enterprise (BE). Teams are usually formed for a specific limited duration purpose, such as creating a new system or upgrading an existing service or product. Once the new system has been created and delivered or the existing service or product has been upgraded and fielded, the team responsible for that effort is usually disbanded and the resources associated with that effort go on to new tasks. For example, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration formed a team in the last decade to create a new enterprise resource planning system for its operations and dispersed the team after the system was fielded. However, there are exceptions; e.g., the U.S. Air Force's SE Center of Excellence persists indefinitely. On the other hand, BEs typically have permanence. They usually offer a portfolio of products and services, introducing new ones, retiring old ones, and otherwise taking steps to grow the value of the business or enterprise, however value is defined. Sometimes a single product or service has such value and longevity that it spawns a BE just for its creation, maintenance, and support; e.g., the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft was developed by a consortium of three companies that formed a holding company specifically for this purpose. That holding company is expected to persist throughout the in-service life of the aircraft, providing support and upgrade services to the operators.

The primary structure of this Part is around BEs, teams, and individuals, with a fourth section at the beginning of the Part that articulates the overall strategy to enable SE to be performed well by a BE composed of teams and individuals.

Knowledge Areas in Part 5

Concept map showing key relationships in Part 5

The web of relationships among the key concepts in this Part is illustrated in the next diagram.

References

Please make sure all references are listed alphabetically and are formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed). See the BKCASE Reference Guidance for additional information.

Citations

List all references cited in the article. Note: SEBoK 0.5 uses Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed). See the BKCASE Reference Guidance for additional information.

Primary References

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