Integration of Program Management and Systems Engineering
Eric Rebentisch’ book Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering: Methods, Tools, and Organizational Systems for Improving Performance offers great and meaningful insights on how to integrate program management and systems engineering. The book is quite detailed and illustrated with great examples that make it easier for readers to comprehend the significance of this integration. Having read the text, I have understood the integration of program management and systems engineering can help improve the efficiency of engineering systems. Program management brings new roles into the engineering systems, which makes them more responsive, efficient, and resulting in better performance outcomes. However, it is important to note that when integrating the program management and systems engineering, the process has to be seamless in order to streamline the project workflow. It is important to adhere to best practices to ensure good management of costs, the project schedule, and the project’s technical performance.
Based on this understanding, I believe that the Program Management Office (PMO) at Alipay will benefit a great deal from the integration of various program management elements based on the program that I have presented in my project. For example, one of the program management systems that can be integrated into the PMO is risk management systems. These two systems will go a long way in improving the performance of the PMO in relation to the needs of the organization. With the help of a risk management system, the PMO of a company will be improved along with the development of a proper day to day balance atmosphere.
Integrating Risk Management
Risk Management involves identifying, managing, and monitoring perils that affect the performance of the PMO at various phases of implementation. The integration will be based on five main steps namely identifying the risk, analyzing the risk, evaluating the risk, managing or treating the risk, and finally reviewing and monitoring the risk. In the first step, identifying the risk, the project management team analyzes each step of the PMO to determine the challenges that each step may be exposed to, which can affect its performance. Keeping in view the diverse culture of Alipay, there are different types of risks that need to be examined. These include legal risks, market risks, environmental risks, and regulatory risks among others. Therefore, in identifying the risks, the team must use a holistic approach to examine the level of exposure to each of the risks since Alipay is a diverse organization.
The next step is to analyze the risk. This entails determining the scope of the risk, its nature, and the extent to which it can affect the entire system. It entails evaluating the severity of the perils in terms of how they can affect the organization. In case of Alipay, the scope of risk may range from minor to severe one, hence the scope needs to be defined prior.
The next step is ranking or evaluating the risk to prioritize the attention that each of the identified risks need. Risks that can result in catastrophic losses are usually ranked first while those with minimal losses are ranked lower. In case of Alipay, technological failure will be one of the major causes of losses.
The next step of the integration process is treating the risk. This entails instituting measures that can help eliminate the risk. In some instances, experts in the various fields in which the risk emanated may be called upon to treat the risk. For example, in case of Alipay if the risk is of a legal nature, the legal experts may be brought on board to address the legal issues that could affect the performance of the system.
Once the risk has been treated, the next step is monitoring or reviewing the risk. This entails constantly evaluating the system to determine if there are various instances of the risks or new similar or unrelated risks that may be in the system. Hence, keeping in view this perspective, Alipay’s integration management will lead to a sustainable PMO of the company.