Very small entities (VSE); The final systems engineering (SE) frontier

International standards are designed to codify engineering practices for uniformity and consistency. The origin of systems engineering, and software development standards comes out of the development of large systems and targets their use for large enterprises. Many industries in our global economy recognize the contribution of very small organizations to the health and wealth of not only emerging country economies but, their essential contribution to mature countries. Very small entities (VSEs) consist of organizations of five (5) to twenty-five (25) persons and are considered a significant portion of the systems and software developers throughout the world. Large organizations using the Systems Engineering Standard, OSO/IEC 15288, found a need to better qualify the small companies with which they were doing business. There was a strong desire to: 1. Improve or make product development efficient by using Systems Engineering methodology 2. Elaborate tailored practical guidance to apply to VSEs in the context of prime or subcontractor, of commercial products 3. Contribute to standardization The ISO standards, for use by organizations of twenty-five (25) people or less, was perceived as overly complex. In 2005, the first meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 Working Group (WG) 24 was held, and the work on ISO/IEC 29110 series began. At the 2009, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) International Workshop (IW), the Association Françoise pour l'information Scientifique (AFIS) (French INCOSE Chapter) and INCOSE established the Systems Engineering for Very Small and Micro Enterprises (VSMEs) WG. The ISO/IEC 29110 is considered a child of the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, distilled to the perfect essence of Systems Engineering with a complete set of DNA from its parent, ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288. This paper will discuss the intended users, the importance of VSEs, a product development approach, opportunities for VSEs using the ISO/IEC 29110 as a business proposition, and the basic tools provided by the ISO/IWEC 29110 to get a product started. We will introduce the operational framework of the ISO/IEC 29110 Basic Profile Group which includes Project Management Process, System Definition and Realization, Product Development Process (PDP) for limited resources, as well as Roles, Activities, and Tasks to develop a product with as few as 5 people using nine (9) Deployment Packages (DPs). Engaging very small business partners for Systems Engineering projects using an ISO Standard designed just for them is a new frontier with unlimited opportunities for women and minorities to remove barriers to entry into business sectors with an unusually high bar to entry.