System Integration Work Breakdown Structure
This is a practical guide to building a work breakdown structure for a system integration project — a deliverable-oriented decomposition of the whole scope into manageable work packages, adapted to the realities of integrating multiple systems into a coherent whole.
What a Work Breakdown Structure is
A work breakdown structure is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of the whole scope into manageable work packages. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Work Breakdown Structure. On a system integration project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a System Integration project
System Integration projects live or die on integrating multiple systems into a coherent whole. A well-built work breakdown structure gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how system integration projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Top-level deliverables
- Sub-deliverables
- Work packages (8–80 hours)
- WBS numbering
- WBS dictionary entries
System Integration-specific considerations
Tailor the work breakdown structure to the risks that most often derail system integration projects:
- Interface and API complexity
- Data consistency
- Vendor coordination
Example
On a real system integration project, the work breakdown structure would be shaped by integrating multiple systems into a coherent whole. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — interface and API complexity, data consistency, vendor coordination — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.