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Strategy Bridge

Systems Engineering Glossary

Term Definition
Earned Value

The association of effort (cost) to the accomplishment of technical objectives.

Earned Value Management (EVM)

A methodology to assess and measure project performance against a baseline plan that details technical results against a schedule of activities and their associated costs.

Element

A part of a system that can be implemented to fulfill its respective specified requirements.

Emergence

Macro-level behaviors that cannot be predicted from studying the micro-level behaviors in isolation.

End Item

The final production product that when assembled or completed is ready for deployment

Engineering Change Proposal (ECP)

A proposal made by the seller to the acquirer recommending a change to the existing contract.

Engineering Change Request (ECR)

A technical change request to the technical baseline submitted to the Configuration Control Board (CCB).

Engineering Design Heuristics

Statements, often derived from experience, about what makes a design better.

Engineering Gate Review

An engineering life cycle technical review that confirms that the developed engineering products are sufficiently correct and mature to continue the development to the next phase/ step.

Engineering Review Board (ERB)

The highest-level engineering forum convened to provide technical oversight to assist the Project Manager.  Engineering Change Requests (ECR) are reviewed to determine their impact and necessity to prior consideration for incorporation into a system baseline.

Enhanced Functional Flow Block Diagram

A block diagram that represents control flows and data flows as well as system functions and flow.

Enterprise Architecture

A holistic view and a way for enabling design, development, and communication and understanding of the enterprise.  It helps manage the complexity of the enterprise by aligning business strategies and implementations, and facilitating rapid change.

Enterprise Decision Model (EDM)

A process that separates business rules from programming code to improve decision-making.  It is maintained by business users, rather than software developers.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

A software architecture model used to design and implement communications between interacting software applications in a Service-Based Architecture (SBA).

Entity

A generic reference to any part of the system of interest at any level of the system hierarchy (e.g., a component, element, segment, or even the system itself).

Entry Criteria

The minimum accomplishments necessary to enter into the next life cycle phase or level of technical maturity.

Evaluation Criteria

The standards by which accomplishments of required technical performance may be assessed.

Event Stream Processing (ESP)

The event detection triggers that activate Service-Based Architecture (SBA) services.  This is helpful when an anomaly or an opportunity occurs.

Evolutionary Development

A product life cycle that relies on existing technology and enhances system capabilities as new technologies become available.

Exit Criteria

The accomplishments that must be demonstrated before an effort can progress further.  The criteria usually are selected to monitor progress on technical, schedule, or risk areas.