Explicit capacity allocation
A stated fraction of capacity for platform, reliability and debt, written down, agreed with the product partner and held under pressure. When it changes, it changes explicitly and for a stated period, and never by erosion.
Evidence grade: practice A widely adopted practitioner model with clear provenance.
Use it when
Every team's roadmap; the moment someone asks whether the platform work can wait just this once.
Where it stops working
The number depends on context. The discipline is that a number exists and is defended. Zero is a decision with a date on which it fails.
Where the standard uses it
- SV-3RoadmappingBalancing product delivery against platform and quality investment.
Used alongside it
- Staged bets and checkpoints practice
- Sunk-cost discipline research
- The three horizons practice
Cite this model
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Explicit capacity allocation. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, TEC.explicit-capacity-allocation). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/techniques/explicit-capacity-allocation