There's a difference between the project and product life cycles although the two will interact with one another.
Whether it is SDLC, design build in construction, or some other product/service/result delivery life cycle, chances are, there is quite a bit of info "out there" on how to align those with the project life cycle.
They are separate disciplines that can be used in conjunction with each other, but can also be used separately (not everything is a project). Likewise, MBSE, which is considered a Lean tool, can be used on projects, but Lean was not originally a project management methodology. You can apply Lean Manufacturing principles to project management. SAFe, DA, and others borrow Lean principles in their approach.
I feel it is important to note that today's systems engineering and project management are not identical to the practices from 20 years ago, in part because they borrow from each other. They are, in a sense, tied to each other, but it's a loose connection. Historically, it seems like there's an ebb and flow (it's not a predictable cycle) to separate disciplines endorsing concepts and practices that merge and diverge. Saving Changes...
I consider Project Management almost a subset of systems engineering where the system of interest includes the project team in addition to the product. The classic systems engineering management model is tightly coupled with PM and advanced SE degrees include a mixture of both systems theory related subjects, and business management including PM. If you look at the PMBOK (V6) and the SEBOK, you will see a lot of overlap, and that the PMBOK looks like it was organized by someone with a SE background.
Companies are absolutely using SE concepts like MBSE applied to PM. As a SE, I have been part of the development efforts. Saving Changes...
Most of my career revolved around highly complex design-build projects, each with disparate systems (incl. IT) but working in unison, and requiring a fair amount of internal R&D and modeling. So when we developed our own program management software (www.projectcontexts.com) we used to define it as systems based. In our marketing, we very quickly found out that most of potential users didn't have a clue what that meant. Roland
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1 reply by Keith Novak
Apr 11, 2022 2:05 PM
Keith Novak
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Unfortunately I'm not really surprised that most had no clue what that meant. Most job postings I've seen regarding SE show they don't know that it even exists as a formal discipline outside of IT. Ironically, I myself was introduced to SE many years ago back in my undergrad days, thinking it was Controls Systems Engineering. I was very disappointed at the time when I realized I registered for the wrong class. Now it's my career. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was even once assigned as a SE expert on an enterprise-wide MBSE centered transformation project where the director didn't understand the value of a systems architecture, and nobody was interested in benchmarking current technologies before re-inventing the wheel.
I left that job before the non-functional wheels they invented eventually fell-off.
Most of my career revolved around highly complex design-build projects, each with disparate systems (incl. IT) but working in unison, and requiring a fair amount of internal R&D and modeling. So when we developed our own program management software (www.projectcontexts.com) we used to define it as systems based. In our marketing, we very quickly found out that most of potential users didn't have a clue what that meant. Roland
Unfortunately I'm not really surprised that most had no clue what that meant. Most job postings I've seen regarding SE show they don't know that it even exists as a formal discipline outside of IT. Ironically, I myself was introduced to SE many years ago back in my undergrad days, thinking it was Controls Systems Engineering. I was very disappointed at the time when I realized I registered for the wrong class. Now it's my career. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was even once assigned as a SE expert on an enterprise-wide MBSE centered transformation project where the director didn't understand the value of a systems architecture, and nobody was interested in benchmarking current technologies before re-inventing the wheel.
I left that job before the non-functional wheels they invented eventually fell-off. Saving Changes...
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