🌍 System Engineering with Agile in Azure DevOps (ADO)

 

System engineering has traditionally been a structured, document-heavy discipline focused on requirements, architecture, and verification. While this rigor is essential, it often clashes with the fast-paced, iterative nature of Agile development. The challenge is clear: how do we keep the discipline of systems engineering while still moving at the speed of Agile?

That’s where Azure DevOps (ADO) and the right process design become powerful enablers.

🔑 The Role of Process

A well-defined process is as important as the tools we use. In many organizations, project managers become the central hub for communication, coordination, and reporting. While this seems logical, it can create a bottleneck—all decisions, updates, and tracking pass through a single role. This slows down the team, reduces agility, and limits engineers’ ability to adapt quickly.

By contrast, if systems engineers take on a larger share of responsibility for defining, linking, and managing requirements and dependencies directly in ADO, the process flows more naturally. Engineers remain closer to the data, decisions are faster, and traceability improves without constant PM intervention.

⚙️ Why ADO Helps Remove Bottlenecks

  1. Direct Ownership by Engineers

    • Work items (requirements, features, stories) can be managed directly by systems engineers.

    • This reduces back-and-forth with PMs for updates.

  2. Project Manager as a Tracker, Not a Gatekeeper

    • PMs can use dashboards, burn-down charts, and reports in ADO to track progress.

    • Their role shifts from being a bottleneck in the decision chain to being an enabler of visibility.

  3. System Engineers Driving Process

    • By taking ownership of requirements, architecture, and validation workflows in ADO, engineers ensure the process reflects the actual technical state—not just status updates.

🌟 The Result

  • Faster cycles → No waiting for PM updates to move forward.

  • Better alignment → Engineers connect requirements to implementation directly.

  • Stronger accountability → Everyone sees the traceability chain in ADO.

  • Smarter use of PMs → They focus on tracking, forecasting, and removing blockers instead of micromanaging details.

In short: the process matters as much as the product. By balancing responsibility between systems engineers and project managers—and leveraging ADO as the single source of truth—organizations can unlock the real potential of Agile in complex system development.

Location: San Francisco, CA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hidden Cost of Return-to-Office Mandates: Environment, Employees, and Empty Optics

Image
As major corporations—Boeing among them—push to bring employees back into the office, the real consequences of this decision remain largely ignored. While these policies are often dressed up as efforts to "restore culture" or "improve performance," they increasingly appear to be performative moves aimed at reassuring investors. What’s lost in this maneuvering is a very real cost: environmental damage, wasted time, and deteriorating employee well-being. Environmental Regression: A Step Backwards During the height of the pandemic, remote work significantly reduced pollution. Commutes vanished, cities saw clearer skies, and global carbon emissions dropped. Yet now, forcing employees back into offices brings all of that pollution roaring back—unnecessarily. Daily Commutes = Daily Carbon Millions of employees returning to daily commutes means millions more cars on the road, burning fossil fuels, and choking cities with traffic congestion. The fuel consumption alone i...
Read more

Embedded Systems: The Brain Behind Electric Vehicles

Embedded Systems: The Brain Behind Electric Vehicles By Dr. Hossein Dehnavifard, PhD As we forge ahead into the era of electric vehicles (EVs), it becomes increasingly clear that the true genius of these innovative machines lies within their embedded systems. With a PhD in electric machines and power electronics, and a deep-seated passion for advancing electric vehicle and eVTOL technologies, I've dedicated a significant portion of my career to exploring the intricacies of these systems. Embedded systems, the sophisticated brains behind EVs, are pivotal in revolutionizing automotive performance, safety, and the overall driving experience. Central to EV Innovation Embedded systems are compact, specialized computer systems designed for specific tasks within larger mechanical or electrical systems. In the realm of electric mobility, they serve as the operational core, controlling everything from battery management and motor control to infotainment and advanced driver-assistance system...
Read more

Electric Vehicle Development: A Journey Towards a Greener Future

Electric Vehicle Development: A Journey Towards a Greener Future  By Dr. Hossein Dehnavifard, PhD in Electric Machines and Power Electronics I n our collective endeavor to mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, electric vehicles (EVs) emerge as a pivotal innovation. My work in electric vehicle and eVTOL (electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft) design, rooted in a deep understanding of electric machines and power electronics, reinforces my belief in the transformative power of EVs. This post explores the operational dynamics of electric vehicles, from the utilization of renewable energy to the intricacies of their charging mechanisms, underscoring the profound environmental benefits they offer. Harnessing Renewable Energy The operation of electric vehicles is ingeniously simple yet profoundly impactful. Powered by electricity, EVs can leverage various renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal power. This att...
Read more