Systems Engineering Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition

5SYSTEMS ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

5.1 MANAGING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND RISKS

As noted in the first chapter, systems engineering is an integral part of the management of a system development project. The part that systems engineering plays in the project management function is pictured in the Venn diagram of Figure 5.1. The ovals in the diagram represent the domain of project management and those of its principal constituents: systems engineering and project planning and control. It is seen that both constituents are wholly contained within the project management domain, with technical guidance being the province of systems engineering, while program, financial, and contract guidance are the province of project planning and control. The allocation of resources and the definition of tasks are necessarily shared functions.

Figure 5.1. Systems engineering as a part of project management.

To better understand the many different functions of systems engineering, this chapter describes some of the main features of the project management framework, such as the work breakdown structure (WBS), project organization, and the systems engineering management plan (SEMP). It also discusses the subject of risk management, the organization of systems engineering effort, and the capability maturity model integrated as it applies to systems engineering.

The engineering of a complex system requires ...