Systems Engineers (SEs) are to technology, technical problems and product design as Business
Analysts are to the business aspects of an organization. SE roles vary across companies and
sometimes even within the same company and they are of many different types e.g. SEs in my
previous firm used to be of three types:
Tier-1 SEs: these focus on writing documents that spec out a product release into several
component features. Sometimes they also help product managers and lead architects plan the
release roadmap for a product.
Tier-3 SEs: these SEs work on documenting the design level details of particular features.
This work requires a lot more detailed, in-depth knowledge of underlying protocols, product
components, architecture etc. These SEs work more closely with architects and developers
as their work product more fully fleshes out the design details of an architecture and
provides a document that developers can use as a basis to scope out and actually build into
the product release.
Tier-2 SEs: these are less frequently found in organizations, because sometimes these roles
are also fulfilled by tier-3 SEs. When they do exist in organizations, they function in
roles that document the network level specifications or requirements that tie designs of
several tier-3 SE specified features so that overall system design and architecture is
consistent and stable, particularly for large systems that need to scale to several million
subscribers, have very high availability (e.g. 99.999%) requirements, are mission-critical,
or have very high performance or thruput requirements.
In what follows, we look at the typical day in the life of a tier-3 SE:
0730: get to work, read through email. keep track of release
plan, any impending deadlines, change to project schedules
etc
0800: prepare for morning meeting, go through notes, track
current progress on features being worked, make lists of
work done, work to do, blocking issues etc
0830: attend morning meeting with manager, architecture team and
till developers. discuss issues that impact feature or
1030 surrounding features. identify experts you can tap to
complete feature definition. try to help other SEs,
developers and architects with open issues
1030: work on feature, read up protocol specifications, network
till details, architecture documents etc
1400
1400: attend tier-1 or tier-3 document reviews. these may be
till reviews of your own documents act as scribe capturing
1600 meeting minutes and all defects raised. track owners and
level of criticality to product and release.
1600: meet with various SMEs to clear any gating issues to keep
till your design document on till track. validate design ideas
1800 with developers to ensure they are in scope, and designed
keeping in mind both feasibility and project timelines.
1830: log off and go home
2100: work with teams in other centers (if working in a global
till organization) to help them meet their deadlines and ensure
2300 timely product delivery.
Analysts are to the business aspects of an organization. SE roles vary across companies and
sometimes even within the same company and they are of many different types e.g. SEs in my
previous firm used to be of three types:
Tier-1 SEs: these focus on writing documents that spec out a product release into several
component features. Sometimes they also help product managers and lead architects plan the
release roadmap for a product.
Tier-3 SEs: these SEs work on documenting the design level details of particular features.
This work requires a lot more detailed, in-depth knowledge of underlying protocols, product
components, architecture etc. These SEs work more closely with architects and developers
as their work product more fully fleshes out the design details of an architecture and
provides a document that developers can use as a basis to scope out and actually build into
the product release.
Tier-2 SEs: these are less frequently found in organizations, because sometimes these roles
are also fulfilled by tier-3 SEs. When they do exist in organizations, they function in
roles that document the network level specifications or requirements that tie designs of
several tier-3 SE specified features so that overall system design and architecture is
consistent and stable, particularly for large systems that need to scale to several million
subscribers, have very high availability (e.g. 99.999%) requirements, are mission-critical,
or have very high performance or thruput requirements.
In what follows, we look at the typical day in the life of a tier-3 SE:
0730: get to work, read through email. keep track of release
plan, any impending deadlines, change to project schedules
etc
0800: prepare for morning meeting, go through notes, track
current progress on features being worked, make lists of
work done, work to do, blocking issues etc
0830: attend morning meeting with manager, architecture team and
till developers. discuss issues that impact feature or
1030 surrounding features. identify experts you can tap to
complete feature definition. try to help other SEs,
developers and architects with open issues
1030: work on feature, read up protocol specifications, network
till details, architecture documents etc
1400
1400: attend tier-1 or tier-3 document reviews. these may be
till reviews of your own documents act as scribe capturing
1600 meeting minutes and all defects raised. track owners and
level of criticality to product and release.
1600: meet with various SMEs to clear any gating issues to keep
till your design document on till track. validate design ideas
1800 with developers to ensure they are in scope, and designed
keeping in mind both feasibility and project timelines.
1830: log off and go home
2100: work with teams in other centers (if working in a global
till organization) to help them meet their deadlines and ensure
2300 timely product delivery.
