Beyond spreadsheets: enhancing collaboration and traceability by streamlining systems engineering processes with Atlassian Jira

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory (TIO) project involves complex systems engineering (SE), necessitating efficient tools for the effective management of SE processes and products. This paper explores the utilization of Atlassian Jira whose flexibility surpasses traditional methods like Excel by providing a common, collaborative database for all stakeholders, enabling concurrent updates and facilitating easy search, filter, and reporting capabilities. This paper details the incorporation of SE processes for task tracking, verification, risk management, hazard assessment, CAD issue tracking, and configuration management into Jira. Establishing traceability between related tickets fosters both small group and system-wide collaboration, and ensures that important information is not lost, forgotten, or incorrectly duplicated. Additionally, integrations with embedded apps such as SoftComply Risk Manager and an external tool ConnectALL, which syncs Jira with the IBM DOORS requirements management tool, further enhance Jira's capabilities. Customizing Jira and optimizing its features has contributed to efficient management of TIO systems engineering processes and products. Leveraging its functionalities, we have fostered a more robust and traceable design by enhancing collaboration through greater transparency and accessibility. Jira has proven to be a valuable asset in the comprehensive management of complex projects like TIO.