What do you think of SysML? Survey with 343 answers
SysML v2 has recently overcome another hurdle. The final version was recently accepted by the OMG. More on this shortly. But in keeping with this, today I would like to present the results of a survey on SysML. This was carried out by INCOSE and was answered by 343 participants. The results give a good overview of the perception of SysML in industry and research.
The survey was conducted by Tauany Santos and Michel Soares of the University of Sergipe in Brazil. The article with the title A survey on what users think about SysML was published by Wiley.
The authors attached great importance to reaching the right target group. They took a two-pronged approach: Firstly, they contacted researchers from relevant publications directly. They also used LinkedIn to reach experts from the industry. There, the researchers also reached more than 80% of the participants.
Most participants (81%) became aware of the SysML survey through direct contact via LinkedIn.
A survey on what users think about SysML, page 5
SysML - Systems Modeling Language
Readers of this blog are probably familiar with SysML familiar. As mentioned in the introduction, the new SysML version 2 is about to be released. However, the version of SysML did not play a role in the survey. The article is relatively recent (adopted in December 2022 and published in 2023). However, the survey itself was conducted at the end of 2020.
Since the survey, more and more SysML v2 tools have been entering the market, some of them very unconventional. This will certainly also shift the experts' assessment.
Popular diagrams: A surprise
I would have expected block diagrams (both bdd as well as ibd) are in first place (multiple answers are possible). By no means, these are in 5th place (bdd) and 7th place (ibd). Instead, the Requirements diagram in first place with 78%.
This result is possibly due to the fact that the researchers asked about the diagram types for specific phases of development (Research Question 6). In the first phase, requirements specification, use case diagrams were mentioned in addition to requirements diagrams.
The two block diagram types were mentioned most frequently with regard to software and system architecture, together with activity diagrams.
China is a blind spot
More than half of the participants come from Europe, with France in first place, followed by the USA and India (3rd place).
One blind spot is probably China, as LinkedIn was only available there to a limited extent at the time of the survey, and had finally ceased operations in October 2021. The text mentions that there were responses from China, but so few that they were grouped under "Other".
The majority of participants in the survey on SysML come from France (14%) China is a "blind spot".
A survey on what users think about SysML, page 6
Tools, degrees, training
The question of tools is always interesting. Enterprise Architect continues to lead here with 50%, followed by 40% for Rhapsody. As multiple answers were permitted, this still leaves 36% for Cameo Systems Modeller (including mentions of the old names, MagicDraw and NoMagic).
Many of the results of the survey are not really surprising. For example, not a single participant had a non-technical university degree. Also, at graduation itself, almost 80% of the participants had a Master's degree or better.
It is pleasing to note that 30% of the participants have now learned SysML at the university. An early Education is very effective in establishing a standard in the long term.
Conclusion
Surveys help us to see what is happening beyond our own environment. Especially when it comes to niche topics, we can quickly end up in a "filter bubble". This survey on SysML has a pleasingly large number of participants and thus creates an interesting, scientific picture of the mood. And the results make me optimistic.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
