PREFACE
Thousands of articles and books are available on earned value management (EVM). Many, if not most, are directed to private industry. In this volume of The Government Manager’s Essential Library, we focus on directing the government manager toward a full understanding of U.S. government–required EVM, from the most basic calculations to how to find the most useful information online. We review the more relevant reports that contractors are required to submit to the federal government. Because the data submitted on reports do not translate automatically into recommendations for actions to be taken, we include information on how to analyze and evaluate contractor reports.
Our focus is the federal government’s use of the ANSI/EIA-748 standard for earned value in all of its versions—A, B, and the 2013 748-C, as well as the government’s supplemental data requirements. The standard contains 32 earned value management system (EVMS) guidelines, common terminology, and other sections that provide application and implementation principles that were originally adopted by the federal government in 1999. (Please note that we use the older term criteria and the newer term guidelines interchangeably when referring to the ANSI/EIA-748 standards.)
While the basic requirements of EVM have remained stable since 1999, implementation and intent guides have resulted in some subtle and some not-so-subtle changes in the 32 criteria. With the goal of improving project transparency and success, government and industry have expanded EVMS requirements through their respective contract management processes, recommendations, and guides.
Some of the information in this guide, updated for recent developments, is taken from our 2010 book, A Practical Guide to Earned Value Project Management, Second Edition, published by Management Concepts. That book is a comprehensive rendition of EVM and is a good reference for those who are interested in additional grounding in the subject.
Although EVM is a project management “system,” we do not focus on project management basics. Instead, we have targeted this text to government managers who oversee contracted projects or are seeking to expand their understanding of earned value management.
Because both industry and government entities are concerned with the EVM standard, the volume of data grows almost daily. Fortunately, most of this information can be found online. Unfortunately, much of the information is overlapping and intertwined. In this book, we provide the basic principles of EVM along with the additional detail government managers will need to analyze EVM reports. Throughout, we note the websites that we believe offer significant information and requirements.
Trying to document government procedures and policies at one point in time is rather like trying to compose a realistic painting of a colorful and fast-moving train. The EVM “standard” continues to evolve and grow more complex as government and industry components add varying interpretations for its use. Following all these evolving interpretations is traveling a long and tortuous highway; our intent is to provide some clear road signs along the way for the government manager.
If you read this guidebook straight through from beginning to end, you may notice that some material is repeated. Because the chapters are designed to be read individually as the reader requires EVM information, critical information required for full understanding is either repeated or referenced in a specific chapter.
We hope you find the information you need on earned value management in your role as a government manager in this volume of The Government Manager’s Essential Library.
—Charles I. Budd
chuck@buddmanagementsystems.com
—Charlene S. Budd
charlene_spoede@baylor.edu