Enabling Enterprise Transformation Using Systems Principles and Concepts

Abstract

Systems Engineering as a profession is failing to keep pace with the rapidly changing world situation, and we need to embrace enterprise transformation as a way to address these challenges. Enterprise Systems Engineering (ESE) processes and methods can provide the ways and means that are essential for helping us manage increasing complexity, as well as improve the quality and timeliness of key decisions regarding enterprise capabilities, and adjust the portfolios of programs, projects, systems, services, and organizations that underpin those capabilities. Enabling the cost-effective and timely resolution of strategic and operational capability gaps and shortfalls will ensure more efficient use of limited time and resources and it will increase the likelihood of achieving enterprise goals and objectives.

An ESE-enabled enterprise is better able to conduct trades across competing concerns about strategy, policy, capability, operations, and implementation, in a similar way that traditional SE practice performs tradeoff analyses among the functions, performance, physical parameters and structure to help realize more effective systems. This approach will result in more robust business and mission analyses, more balanced plans and deliveries, and more highly integrated collections of systems, products, and services to rapidly meet evolving enterprise objectives. This paper explores the nature of Enterprise Systems Engineering, the various roles that ESE can play in enterprise transformation, and the value and application of Enterprise Architecture at the Enterprise level.