Methods

Content

• Systems Engineering
• Enterprise Architecture
• Agile Projects
• Interaction Room Workshop
• Concept Campaign

Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering (SE) is an interdisciplinary approach to design, build and operate a system. Goal is to devise its structure and behavior as well as to apply engineering disciplines to realize its features and functions such that it is safe, cost-effective and meets its purpose (NASA).

We help you to introduce SE in your organization, to teach and coach your team. We know various notations and authoring tools, consult which ones to apply in a given situation. We show you how to integrate data in different formats and from different sources for effective collaboration, review and reporting. Perhaps you want to use our open-source tools towards this end.

Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is concerned with the structure and behaviour of a business or organization. Beginning with the desired capabilities of the unit, business functions, processes and roles are derived, IT applications with its interfaces are selected to best support those processes and finally the infrastructure to run the IT applications is optimized.

As described in the context of SE above, we help to adopt EA in your organization. The notations and authoring tools are different, however the same open-source tools can be applied to integrate, review and publish the results.

Agile Projects

Agile projects are user-centered, team-based and collaborative. Results are shared periodically to obtain frequent feedback from customers or users. Next steps are decided considering the latest insights, external as well as internal. Roles and responsibilities differ largely from traditional projects. Agile projects encourage commitment and focus.

We help you to apply agile principles to your organization. There are proven frameworks and templates, but a well accepted approach must take into account your current situation to form a new culture … avoiding a mere relabelling of existing roles and structures, which can be seen all too often.

Interaction Room Workshop

The Interaction Room is a very effective workshop format to identify the needs and potentials of a system to develop or to innovate an IT application landscape. Representatives from business, engineering and management meet to analyze the needs and to sketch solutions taking complementary points of view. Notations understood by the participants are used, whereas formal considerations are applied later on. Interaction Room workshops are best organized on-site, but can also be held online.

We organize and lead Interaction Room workshops, we document the results … and we are happy to show your team how to do it. It’s very effective, but no rocket science.

Concept Campaign

A concept campaign concentrates the activities towards a desired system analysis or design in a short time. Workshops and interviews are scheduled in the morning and the afternoon is used to document the results. Every night a new revision of the concept document is published to the partipants for review. Any additions or corrections may be brought forward in a feedback hour after the lunch break. Any of the participants should arrange for about three time slots of 2-4h each in a period of one to three weeks depending on the project size. Interaction Room workshops are very well integrated in a concept campaign.

Few organizations or managers think they can meet the prerequisites, but those who make it possible are rewarded with quick results that usually would take many months.