OMB says that only your EVM results can tell you for sure
Earned-value management will no longer be just another requirement for agencies to check off halfheartedly when planning major IT projects. It will be the process by which IT projects will either advance or be revamped for a better chance of success.
The Office of Management and Budget in a recent memo to CIOs broadened its prescription for agencies to better manage IT projects’ cost, schedule and performance by applying EVM.
“As we continue to realize the value of good project management, room for improvement remains in the execution of our IT projects,” said Karen Evans, OMB’s administrator for e-government and IT, in the memo. “With the right tools and qualifications, managers will be better equipped to make decisions and carry out their missions.”
Earned-value management measures the value of work on a project against its cost. It integrates cost, schedule and technical performance measures in order to monitor and control project resources and compare a project’s results with one set of metrics.
“Having OMB’s additional instruction and emphasis on earned-value management really moves the federal government in the right direction, because it’s been proven that this can be an effective tool for managing cost, schedule and performance,” said David Powner, director of IT management issues for the Government Accountability Office.
Previously, OMB directed agencies to use EVM in planning major IT projects in Exhibit 300 cases and making plans to come within 10 percent of baseline goals for cost, schedule and performance. Now agencies must apply EVM to all IT projects, during implementation as well as planning, and so must their major contractors, Evans said.
And CIOs must apply EVM through a set of special templates to help improve high-risk IT projects.
Agencies also must independently validate their baseline goals for cost, schedule and performance before obligating fiscal 2006 funds to a project. Validations should be completed by March 31, 2006.
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