How to Get the Most from Your IMS: What Makes an IMS Useful?

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How to Get the Most from Your IMS: What Makes an IMS Useful?

A major challenge with an Integrated Master Scheule (IMS) is making the most out of this powerful project management tool. Large and even not-so-large projects are required to have an IMS which adheres to the requirements of the Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) or Integrated Program Management Data and Analysis Report (IPMDAR) Data Item Description (DID) and meets the schedule data quality checks available. But having met the DID requirements and passing the quality checks does not mean the IMS is being used to get the most information into the hands of decision makers on the project. 

The IPMR or IPMDAR DID, even though detailed and thorough, is generic. The same DID is used on a contract whether it is for an important new hardware-based system, a new software system, or some other goal. The DID misses the point that the type of product on the contract means that unique topics may be the most important. There is no focus in the DID; it is high level and comprehensive. What’s missing are the special interest or special focus schedules that can be drawn from the IMS with good coding, grouping, filtering, and sorting techniques.

Remember that the statement of work (SOW) for the project is really comprised of promises made in the various plans submitted in the proposal and updated after contract award. The System Engineering Management Plan (SEMP), the Software Development Plan (SDP), Make/Buy Plan, Procurement Plan, Test and Evaluation Management Plan (TEMP), and others all contain commitments that should be translated into actions in the IMS. There should be access to the portions of the IMS that show how these commitments will be accomplished.

Examples of Special Interest Schedules

On a new hardware-based project, key pieces of information revolve around getting designs done and into a form to plan for the procurement of the various things needed to build the end items. This information often resides in the IMS but must be pulled out into a “drawing release” schedule. That is a schedule showing the transition from design to 3-D models or drawings. Pinpointing the times and links in the IMS where design becomes actionable for procurement enables the project team and their suppliers to be prepared to execute the procurements. The teams or engineers (designers) and procurement people should be focused on the drawing release schedule with frequent, at least weekly meetings to coordinate.  

One of the serious issues I witnessed on a project was the lack of preparedness in having trained and qualified drawing checkers who could sign-off and release drawings. Because of the need for flight safety considerations, the drawing checker position could only be filled by qualified people. Instead of preparing months ahead for the wave of drawings, the waves were allowed to crash into the far-too-few checkers. What was supposed to be a short cycle became weeks long as drawings sat waiting for release.

As the transition is made from design to production, then the procurement schedule becomes another focused schedule which should show the information about what is being procured, from whom, and when it will be delivered. This information is used by the engineers, procurement, and inventory control people including receiving to understand the timing and volume of inbound items. Frequent coordination with suppliers and internal team members using this focused schedule helps to ensure a smooth process. Will the factory be ready to receive, inspect, process, and store all the inbound items?

What about software development as a special topic focus schedule? This is often needed. The project personnel must be able to quickly understand where in the cycle the software is and when releases will be made as well as what the release is needed for in the overall project. 

Think about all the other important focus areas that could exist on a project. For example, the training effort should be in a focused schedule showing the development of the training material (courseware), training aids, facilities, instructor preparation and anything else needed to execute the statement of work related to training.

Testing is possibly more complicated than training. This includes development of test plans and procedures, as well as the creation of test fixtures and tools. The preparation of test personnel capable of performing complicated tests should be in the focused schedule.

By now you get the idea. The IMS is the combination of all these schedules, the thing that coordinates between and among them. But the focused schedules are the real bread-and-butter of the schedule discipline. It is shocking to see a project where these do not exist. Maybe the managers don’t know they are needed or possibly that they are available. Maybe the schedule team did not prepare for these extractions from the IMS.

If your project does not have focused schedules and does not use them, the project is in jeopardy. These schedules should be generated and used frequently; weekly at least.  Even if the IMS itself is only undergoing a monthly update, the detailed schedules should be much more alive and part of the weekly communication between work teams on the project.

Tips and Suggestions

  • How to get started. Begin with the source documents and their authors, the SEMP, the TEMP, and so on. Make a list of the likely focused schedules that need to be drawn from the IMS. Read them and extract the information you need to build your IMS. If you are just starting the IMS, you could build individual schedules with the authors and then integrate them into the IMS. If you already have built the IMS, you can find the tasks you need and code them so they will appear on the focused schedule. Once coded, extract the focused schedule from the IMS using the applicable coding filters and verify it matches the commitments that were made in the source documents from the various authors. 
  • Hold “report court.” Rather than reading and sorting through all the various plans, schedule a project meeting with the key team members and ask them what reports and what schedules they need to do their jobs. Remind them of the commitments they made in the plans. They can bring or provide a list and description to you, and you can decide “in court” which items you can or cannot incorporate into the IMS. That can help to streamline what is included in the IMS and who is responsible for what. 
  • Create a schedule data dictionary if you haven’t already done so. This is essential to identify standard as well as project unique activity, milestone, or resource coding and how the coding is used so there is a common understanding of the content. The customer will need this information as well as when the IMS is provided as a monthly performance reporting data deliverable (see the IPMDAR Section 2.4.2.20, Data Dictionary for Native Schedule File). It is a prerequisite to ensure consistency in use as well as to establish a level of discipline throughout the IMS development and maintenance process. Ensure tasks always include the necessary coding. Ideally, you did your homework on the likely special topic schedules you need to draw from the IMS before starting to build the IMS. Otherwise you may need to determine various sorting and filter techniques to identify the tasks that require additional coding details. As noted above, once the tasks are coded, you or other project personnel will be able to extract the various special interest schedules from the IMS as needed. 

Need help?

Building a useful IMS for complex projects is not easy. Up front planning for the development of the IMS can help to identify the necessary outline codes and other coding to be able to group, filter, or sort the activities to extract the special topic or special focus details from the IMS. The IMS is an essential communication tool for everyone on the project. How the schedule is constructed and coded makes a difference. H&A scheduling subject matter experts (SMEs) have decades of experience in a variety of complex project environments and can help you avoid common pitfalls. Contact us today.

How to Get the Most from Your IMS: What Makes an IMS Useful? Read Post »

Why We Updated Our Most Popular Posts on Material Management in an EVMS Environment

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Material Management Update Wy we updated our most popular posts about EVMS Material Managment

Earned value management of materials has many dimensions and can be challenging on development or production contracts.  This includes planning, scheduling, budgeting, calculating earned value, properly aligning the actual cost of work performed (ACWP), and maintaining the estimate to complete (ETC)/estimate at completion (EAC) for performance reporting. A recent uptick in requests from contractors asking for help with resolving material management issues with their Earned Value Management System (EVMS) highlights this continues to be a major challenge. 

For many government funded contracts, the material content represents a significant percentage of the entire contract. Any cost or schedule variances associated with material may dwarf the variances for labor and other direct costs along with the associated indirect costs. Corrective actions taken to address cost or schedule variances are commonly prioritized by their relative dollar value. The government customer will expect the contractor to pay attention to the highest-cost portion of the contract, underscoring the need for accurate and effective EVM for material.

We have updated and added content to our previous series of blogs on material management in an EVMS environment. These blogs address common issues our earned value consultants are observing on client engagements and focus on the basic requirements. The updated blogs include:

Observations from Recent Engagements 

  1. Enterprise systems and personnel’s ability to use those systems effectively.
    For some contracts, the sheer volume of material acquired and managed by the contractor can be very large. A control account manager (CAM) might be responsible for many different part numbers, and dozens, hundreds or even thousands of individual parts. As the quantity of parts increases, the need for robust, highly automated and integrated enterprise systems used to manage material increases. 

    Company-wide commitment to business management systems that support the EIA-748 Standard for EVMS guideline requirements is critical. For some companies, implementation of the EVMS is not well understood or considered as their enterprise systems are selected and implemented, and they find that the systems do not support EVM well. This can become a significant and expensive problem. Attempting to support EVM using enterprise systems that are antiquated or not well integrated is difficult and may result in a need for inefficient manual data tracking activity that is expensive and prone to data entry errors. 

    Contractors that either already have, or anticipate winning, large government contracts are well-served to carefully examine their existing processes, research the available enterprise software systems, and conduct the appropriate training to ensure project personnel are equipped to support EVM.

    CAMs with material elements of cost in their control accounts must be familiar with the enterprise systems that manage material, which differ from those used to track labor. Some examples of the enterprise tools that are critical for successful EVM of material include:
  • The product data management tool that maintains the bills of materials.
  • Systems that track material purchase order placement, material receipt, and supplier invoices.
  • M/ERP system and the associated accounting reports used to track material demand, allocation, and residual material. This includes the grouping, pegging, and distribution (GPD) processes.  
  • Project integrated master schedules (IMS).
  • The configuration management/change process. 
  • Quality reports (to track scrap and rework). 

Key Points: 

  • Material EVM is critically important because of the high percentage of the contract value associated with material.
  • Material EVM can be a complex process that requires a family of enterprise tools and processes within the company infrastructure. CAMs and other project personnel must understand and know how to use the output from those tools.
  • Company-wide commitment to effective EVMS implementations that support the EIA-748 guideline requirements is extremely important to support successful EVM.
  1. EVMS process and procedures provide the necessary guidance to project teams. 

    Another challenge is ensuring the EVM System Description and related processes, procedures, and training materials provides the necessary guidance to project teams on how to implement the EVMS on contracts with significant material content. It is essential project personnel have clear, specific guidance and recurring training to ensure they are following a standard, repeatable process that support your enterprise systems and unique business environment. 

    Ensure the EVMS guidance addresses these topics:
  • What is considered material, subcontract, or other direct cost (ODC) elements of cost. 
  • Material categories. This could be very simple for a non-production environment such as “receipt type material” and “inventory type material.” Material categories tend to be more specific for production environments and must be defined in alignment with the corporate enterprise systems. Applicable earned value methods or techniques to be used for a given category as well as BCWP and ACWP alignment is also a consideration.  
  • Material classifications. Material is typically classified as “high value,” “critical,” or “low value” materials. The material classifications as well as category are useful to state the applicable earned value technique to use. High value and critical materials must always use objective discrete earned value techniques. 
  • Material planning, performance measurement, and ACWP. Material requirements should be planned, scheduled, and budgeted to reflect a defined need date and how earned value will be claimed to ensure the budgeted cost for work scheduled (BCWS), BCWP, and ACWP can be consistently compared in the EVM cost tool for the same accounting/reporting period. Define the points for planning and claiming earned value as well as the accounting recognition points and how they are aligned for claiming earned value in the same accounting/reporting period for the various material categories.  
  • Approach for interfacing the IMS with the production schedules. Material processes affect the IMS such that the wrong methodology can increase the size and complexity of the IMS with little or no payback.
  • Variance Analysis Reporting (VAR). A recurring request for H&A Earned Value training includes how to analyze the EVM metrics, perform a root cause analysis, and produce a useful VAR narrative. For control accounts with material elements of cost, the CAM should know how to perform a price versus usage variance analysis. The narrative should clearly describe the problem, the root cause, the scope of the impact to the control account or work effort, and recommended corrective action with sufficient backup information to substantiate the analysis.  

The list of blogs at the beginning provide more information on most of these topics. 

Key Points:

  • Project personnel must know the difference between what is considered a material, subcontract, or ODC element of cost and how they are handled. 
  • Ensure your EVM System Description and related materials provide clear, specific guidance on how to plan, schedule, budget, claim BCWP, align ACWP, and maintain the ETC/EAC for the different categories and classifications of material. 
  • Conduct recurring training to ensure project personnel know how to use the applicable software tools to plan, schedule, budget, determine schedule status, claim earned value, use estimated actuals, and maintain their ETC/EAC for work effort that includes material elements of cost. 

Need help?

Material management can be one of the most complex subsystems to incorporate into an EVMS. As the “911” for EVMS, H&A has worked with numerous contractors to sort through their unique material requirements and enterprise business systems to resolve their EVMS issues. Call us today at (714) 685-1730 to get started.

Why We Updated Our Most Popular Posts on Material Management in an EVMS Environment Read Post »

Planning Ahead for the EIA-748 Standard for EVMS Revision E

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EIA-748 Revision E is here! Streamlined, clarified, and ready for action. Planning Ahead IA-748 Standard for EVMS Revision E

For anyone following the process to update the SAE EIA-748 Standard for EVMS Revision D to Revision E, the NDIA Integrated Program Management Division (IPMD) EIA-748 Committee is getting closer to the finish line. As the author and steward of the EIA-748 Standard for EVMS, the IPMD is responsible for working with the SAE International standards organization to maintain the EIA-748 following SAE’s protocols.

At the March 2025 IPMD meeting, the EIA-748 Committee briefed membership on the coming Revision E publication. A summary of the scope of the Revision E changes follows.

  • Section 1, Scope of EVMS. General refresh of the Revision D content.
  • Section 2, EVMS Guidelines. There are now 27 guidelines that were agreed upon and adjudicated with the joint government and industry team. This also included a general refresh of content in Section 2.6 Common Terminology.
  • Section 3, EVMS Process Discussion. Mostly unchanged from Revision D with minor updates. The NDIA IPMD EIA-748 Intent Guide provides additional context to the guidelines in Section 2.
  • Sections 4, System Documentation and Section 5, System Evaluation. General refresh of the Revision D content.

Following the current schedule, any comments for Revision E will be adjudicated by May 31, 2025 and finalized for publication. Revision E will then be available on the SAE web site for purchase. The next step for the NDIA IPMD EIA-748 Committee is to update and publish the IPMD EIA-748 Intent Guide for the Revision E set of 27 guidelines. This guide will be available for download from the NDIA IPMD Guides and Resources page once completed and approved by IPMD membership.

What’s the same and what’s different in the set of guidelines?

The guidelines are organized into the same five process categories with an update to the name of one category to improve clarity. As part of the guideline updates, the order of some of the guidelines changed to more accurately follow the typical project life cycle process, others were merged. Four guidelines were deleted. Two were added resulting in final set of 27 guidelines. In some instances, the guideline text was modified to improve clarity. A summary of these changes along with an impact assessment by category follows.

NOTE: The final order and/or text of the guidelines are subject to change as a result of the SAE comment and adjudication process. Refer to the published EIA-748-E for the official set of guidelines and text. The NDIA IPMD March presentation is available for download at the end of this blog. This presentation includes the full text for the revised set of guidelines.
Guideline Map Process Category: Organization
748 D 748 E Guideline
D 1 E 1 2.1a Decompose Scope Using a Work Breakdown Structure
D 2 E 2 2.1b Identify Organizational Responsibilities for the Work
D 5 E 3 2.1c Integrate WBS/OBS to Create Control Accounts
D 3 E 4 2.1d Integrate Management Processes Using the WBS and OBS

D Guideline 4, Identify Overhead Management was deleted.

Assessment: No impact as E Guidelines 1 to 4 reflect the same requirements as D Guidelines 1, 2, 3, and 5.

Guideline Map Process Category: Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting
748 D 748 E Guideline Description
D 6 E 5 2.2a Schedule the Authorized Work
D 7 E 6 2.2b Identify Indicators to Measure Progress
D 8 E 7 2.2c Establish and Maintain a Time Phased Budget Baseline
D 9 E 8 2.2d Authorize Scope, Schedule and Budget by Cost Elements
D 10 E 9 2.2e Plan Scope, Schedule and Budget into WP/PPs
D 10, 12 E 10 2.2f Establish Work Package Performance Measurement Criteria
D 13 E 11 2.2g Develop/Apply Indirect Rates to Determine Indirect Budgets
D 14 E 12 2.2h Identify any Undistributed Budget and Management Reserve
D 11, 15 E 13 2.2i Reconcile to Target Cost Goals

D Guidelines 10 (Determine Discrete Work) and 12 (LOE) were merged/modified and became E Guideline 10. D Guidelines 11 (Sum Detail Budgets to Control Accounts) and 15 (Reconcile to Target Cost) were merged/modified and became E Guideline 13. The text for E Guidelines 9 and 11 were modified.

Assessment: Minimal impact as E Guidelines 5 to 13 reflect the same requirements as D Guidelines 6 to 15.

Guideline Map Process Category: Progress Assessment and Data Collection
748 D 748 E Guideline Description
ADD E 14 2.3a Measure Progress and Determine Earned Value
D 16, 19 E 15 2.3b Collect Actual Costs by Cost Elements
D 21 E 16 2.3c Account for Purchased Material

The title for the process category changed to more accurately reflect the guideline requirements. E Guideline 14 was added to explicitly state the requirement to measure progress and calculate earned value. D Guidelines 16 (Record Direct Costs) and 19 (Record/Allocate Indirect Costs) were merged into E Guideline 15. D Guidelines 17 and 18 on summarizing direct costs by WBS/OBS were deleted as cost management software does this automatically. D Guideline 20 on identifying unit and lot costs was deleted; this is a separate business system function.

Assessment: Minimal impact. Clarified and streamlined requirements. One potential exception is text add to E Guideline 15 that states: “Where actual costs are not available for comparison, estimated costs will be entered into the EVMS.”

Guideline Map Process Category: Analysis and Management Reports
748 D 748 E Guideline Description
D 22 E 17 2.4a Generate Schedule and Cost Variances
D 23 E 18 2.4b Identify and Evaluate Significant Variances
D 24 E 19 2.4c Evaluate Indirect Cost Variances
ADD E 20 2.4d Update Control Account Estimates at Completion
D 25 E 21 2.4e Summarize, Review, Evaluate Performance Data and Variances
D 26 E 22 2.4f Implement Management Actions in Response to EVM Data
D 27 E 23 2.4g Develop Revised Program Estimate at Completion

D Guideline 27 was split into two E guidelines to highlight the difference and purpose of the control account and program level EACs. E Guideline 20 was added to explicitly state the requirement to maintain control account level ETCs and EACs. E Guideline 23 text was modified for clarity and scope of the EAC at the program level.

Assessment: Minimal impact. Clarified requirements.

Guideline Map Process Category: Revisions and Data Maintenance
748 D 748 E Guideline Description
D 28 E 24 2.5a Incorporate Customer Directed Changes
D 29, 32 E 25 2.5b Document and Reconcile Internal Replanning Changes
D 30 E 26 2.5c Control Retroactive Changes
D 31 E 27 2.5d Over Target Budget or Over Target Schedule

This process category was significantly improved to eliminate redundancy and to clearly separate out the types of changes: 1) customer directed, 2) internal replanning (merged D Guidelines 29 and 32), or 3) OTB/OTS situation. In all instances, retroactive changes must be controlled.

Assessment: Minimal impact. Clarified requirements.

What is the impact to EVM System Descriptions?

If your EVM System Description is organized somewhat in alignment with the EIA-748 five guideline process categories or the nine process groups as illustrated in the following table, there should be minimal impact. In general, the requirements are the same.

EIA-748 Five Guideline Process Categories Nine Process Groups
Organization Organization
Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting Planning and Scheduling
Work Authorization and Budgeting
Accounting Considerations Accounting Considerations
Indirect Management
Analysis and Management Reporting Analysis and Management Reporting
Change Management Change Management
Material Management
Subcontract Management

With the publication of the EIA-748-E, use this opportunity to make EVM System Description content improvements. In particular, review content related to:

  • Use of estimated costs (Guideline 15). Verify this is addressed in your EVM System Description.
  • Managing changes. Potentially align with the types of changes identified in Revision E.
  • ETC/EAC process. Verify content is clear on purpose/requirements at the control account level versus the program level.
  • Discussion on unit/lot costs as a result of the Revision D Guideline 20 deletion. This is often dependent upon whether your business environment includes production. Your EVM System Description may include content about supporting other contractual reporting requirements for production such the Contractor Cost and Data Reporting (CCDR) DIDs.

What will require an update is mapping the EVM System Description sections to the EIA-748-E set of guidelines. Also remember to review the content in your self-surveillance or self-governance section to see what may need to be updated.

Caveats

Note that the Cognizant Federal Agencies (CFAs) such as DCMA, NASA, DOE, and others will need to update their EVMS compliance or surveillance processes and materials to reflect the EIA-748-E once it is published. Timing is unknown, however, representatives from the various agencies participated in the IPMD joint government and industry team that produced the final set of guidelines. They are aware of the changes and have been planning to make the necessary updates to documents such as the DoD EVMS Interpretation Guide (EVMSIG). The updates to these agency documents have the potential to impact a contractor’s EVM System Description.

Note that government agency regulations (FAR, DFARS) refer to the EIA-748 guideline requirements (Section 2 only), not the entire standard. They ignore the rest of the standard as they define their process for evaluating whether a contractor complies with the Section 2 guidelines; an example is the DoD EVMSIG.

Planning Ahead

This is a good time to consider updates to improve or streamline your EVM System Description or related processes as industry and government both need to digest the EIA-748-E. Likely your training materials will need a refresh as well. Hopefully, your EVM System Description was not organized by Guideline. In that case, you may have significant work ahead. If you have a CFA approved EVMS, be sure to coordinate with them on the updates to your EVM System Description as they will need to review your changes.

H&A earned value consultants often review and assess EVM System Descriptions. If you need an independent third party to assess your EVMS documentation and provide recommendations on what could be improved, simplified, or clarified, give us a call today at (714) 685-1730.

NDIA IPMD presentation PDF

Planning Ahead for the EIA-748 Standard for EVMS Revision E Read Post »

Implementing an Earned Value Management System (EVMS) Training Program

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A previous blog titled “Retaining EVMS Talent” provided a list of essential components of a successful training and retention program. This blog elaborates on establishing a defined training program as part of a mentoring process. The intent is to guide employees in the technical, schedule, cost estimating, cost analysis, or risk disciplines to become skilled control account managers (CAMs) as a stepping stone to become a project manager or high level manager. This reinforces a commitment to excellence in project management and helps to ensure a high level of EVMS proficiency. 

As noted in the Retaining EVMS Talent blog, a good approach is to chart a path for someone starting with a planning and scheduling role on a smaller project and then advancing them through various project types, different project control roles, and then on to larger more complex projects. The objective is to help employees broaden their experience and knowledge base, mature their skill sets, and build an internal professional network. This is illustrated in the following image from the Retaining EVMS Talent blog.

The goal for establishing a training program is to support this process of guiding and mentoring personnel as well as maturing their expertise to maintain a level of excellence in EVMS. Like any other training or education program, there should be a foundation of basic training courses that progress to more advanced and targeted training.

What is the Challenge?

A common situation H&A earned value consultants encounter is that companies often lack the internal resources to produce and maintain a library of training courses, especially for clients that are new to earned value management. Creating a training program appears to be a daunting task; they need help figuring out a training program. They also need help producing their training materials.

For other clients, as noted in another blog titled “Earned Value Management (EVM): How Much is Enough?”, DCMA may have pointed out that their EVMS project control practices have atrophied. DCMA is questioning whether their EVMS is providing timely, accurate, reliable, and auditable data. Maintaining the EVMS status quo often regresses toward non-compliance. These clients often request H&A earned value consultants to review their training materials and provide recommendations. A frequent finding is that the training content is limited to a few days of training, woefully out of date, or ineffective.

Begin with Defining the Training Program

Whether for a company that is new to EVM or needs to revamp their current approach, a good place to start is to develop and implement a formal training program. This training should focus not only on excellence in planning, scheduling, and EVM practices, but also how to effectively implement the EVMS on a project. Project personnel should have a good understanding of how to use the applicable schedule, cost, analysis, and risk tools to manage a project in alignment with their EVM System Description requirements.

Companies with an EVMS self-governance process in place are also better informed about areas where targeted training may be needed. The training program should be routinely updated to quickly address recent internal findings. For example, perhaps the internal team is finding that project control teams are having difficulty producing their Variance Analysis Reports (VARs). They could add a hands-on training workshop on how to perform in-depth analysis and produce useful narrative content for these reports using the project control tools of choice. Project personnel should know how to concisely describe the issue, the root cause, the potential scope and impact of the problem, and best options for corrective actions to mitigate the issue. They should have the knowledge base to substantiate their analysis and corrective action.

We also recommend including a path for project personnel to become certified to demonstrate they have the experience and expertise to successfully handle various project control issues.

The following table provides a basic training program framework. 

Basic Advanced Example Training Workshops
EVMS Concepts Advanced Earned Value Techniques*
  • Performing EVM Data Quality Assessments*
  • Completing VARs*
  • Developing an Estimate to Complete (ETC) and Estimate at Completion (EAC)*
Scheduling* Advanced Scheduling Techniques*
  • Performing Schedule Data Quality Assessments*
  • Performing Schedule Risk Assessments (SRA)*
  Additional workshops tailored to environment or event preparation
  • Agile and EVM Integration*
  • CAM Mentoring with Data Traces*
  • IBR Preparation*
  • Surveillance or Compliance Review Preparation*
  Discipline Certifications
  • Control Account Manager (CAM)
  • Project Controls/Analyst (PC/A)

* Where possible, the training should incorporate the schedule, cost, analysis, data quality assessment, or risk tools and artifacts (inputs or outputs) as part of the hands-on workshop case studies or exercises. Project personnel should know how to use the tools to view, sort, filter, and analyze data. 

Quick Start Options for Producing and Maintaining Training Content

A quick start option we offer companies setting up or updating their training content is to license the H&A training materials for use as part of their EVMS training curriculum. The license includes all files associated with the workshop including PowerPoint files with speaker notes, case study files in various formats, Desired Learning Objectives, Agenda, Table of Contents, and a hard copy of the workshop. Commonly licensed workshops include the H&A Three-Day EVMS and Three-Day Project Scheduling for Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project courses as a foundation. Companies typically tailor these source materials to include artifacts used in their business environment. 

Licensing H&A training materials reduces the time needed to produce and maintain quality training materials. H&A earned value consultants actively maintain our training materials to reflect current industry best practices, DCMA Business Practices or DOE EVMS Compliance Review Standard Operating Procedures as well as DoD or DOE EVM policy, guides, and requirements. The annual license fee includes updates to the H&A training materials.

To ensure companies licensing our materials are able to conduct the training on demand internally, we recommend completing at least one Train the Trainer session for each workshop with the company’s training team. These sessions provide insight into the intent and training objective of each slide. The H&A instructors work with the company’s training team to review the instructor notes as well as to provide feedback and mentoring as needed highlighting key concepts as the training team learns to present the material. Where applicable, this session also identifies where the standard H&A training material may need to be tailored to reflect the company’s EVMS.

Another option is to leverage the H&A online EVMS Virtual Learning Lab (VLL) or Scheduling VLL. These VLLs provide an intensive 21 hours of instruction. The VLLs cover the principles of earned value management or project scheduling along with case studies, exercises, and examples. The student’s knowledge is tested so they obtain immediate feedback with scored quizzes, case studies, and exams. The courses can be used as a refresher or for personnel who want to learn the basics at their own pace. The VLLs can also be part of an overall training initiative to track course progress with certificates for completion. A number of H&A clients use this feature of the H&A online training to track a student’s progress or level of knowledge. Other clients have incorporated the H&A VLLs into their standard internal training curriculum as the following A&D contractor did. 

“Several years ago, we made the strategic decision to invest in the H&A Scheduling and EVMS Virtual Learning Lab modules, which have since become the cornerstone of our in-house training program. These modules offer a comprehensive and exhaustive guide to Program Management, catering to a wide range of professions involved in the development and maintenance of Integrated Master Schedules (IMSs) and using Earned Value to plan, track, analyze, and report program performance. This audience includes Program Managers, Finance Analysts, Scheduling Analysts, Business Managers, and Control Account Managers (CAMs).”
— Director, Program Process & Services, A&D Contractor

Discipline Certifications

Another component of successful training programs is encouraging employees to pursue industry professional certifications. Common project control related professional certifications include the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) or the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) International Certified Cost Professional (CCP) and Earned Value Professional (EVP). PMI and ACCE International encourage those who have earned their certifications to actively maintain them by completing additional training or attending conference sessions to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Units (PDUs).

A number of our clients also incorporate the H&A CAM Certification or Project Controls/Analyst (PC/A) Certification into their advanced training curriculum to ensure they have highly proficient project personnel. Both certification workshops culminate with an in-person examination similar to PMI or AACE International. Either the client or H&A proctors and grades the exam. H&A is an Authorized Training Partner (ATP) for PMI and an approved education provider for AACE International.  H&A is also registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of Continuing Professional Education (CPE).

The H&A Five Day CAM Certification course is ideal for anyone already a part of a project management team. The course work spans the five EVMS guideline process areas in the EIA-748-D Standard for EVMS: 1) Organization, 2) Planning, Scheduling and Budgeting, 3) Accounting Considerations, 4) Analysis and Management Reports, and 5) Revisions and Data Maintenance. Risk and opportunity management topics are also incorporated with an emphasis on data quality, integrity, and traceability. EVM best practices and the use of EVMS data are highlighted along with insights, methods, and approaches that result in better management and decision making.

The H&A Five Day Project Controls/Analyst (PC/A) Certification course is an intensive workshop that focuses on analyzing problems and determining appropriate actions to resolve them. It is intended to build upon a student’s basic EVM skills with wide-ranging advanced EVM and project analysis coursework to develop insightful analytical skills in various areas of project controls.

Next Steps

Need help developing an EVMS training program or producing effective training content? As the preeminent leader in EVMS training, H&A actively maintains a vast library of materials and offers various course options that can help shorten the time to implement an EVMS training program. Our professional instructors have extensive experience in evaluating training requirements, designing comprehensive training plans, developing client-specific instructional material using our library of training materials, and presenting training workshops. Call us today at (714) 685-1730 to get started.

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Strategy for Implementing an Earned Value Management System (EVMS) on a New Project

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H&A is often called in to help our clients resolve a myriad of issues with the design or implementation of their EVMS on a project. This is typically during the project’s execution phase when they belatedly realize the project work organization and planning approach was not adequately defined. Project personnel often lack sufficient direction during the project definition and start-up phase. The root cause was the lack of an integrated program/project plan produced immediately following contract award that would have provided the necessary guidance to the project team on how to implement the EVMS using the project control tools of choice to fit the unique requirements of the project.

The advantage of working with a wide range of clients for over four decades is that H&A has the benefit of observing strategies that companies with a commitment to excellence in project management have implemented. The goal of these companies is to ensure project teams have the necessary guidance they need immediately following contract award or authorization to proceed.

Common Components

One of the best strategies H&A earned value consultants have observed at client sites included establishing a core support team whose charter was to ensure the efficient implementation of standard integrated project management practices and tools on all projects. This began with the decision to bid on a contract and flowed through the processes of producing the proposal, initiating the start up activities immediately following contract award, transitioning to the execution phase, supporting the execution phase business rhythm, and conducting self-surveillance. This core team eliminated the functional, process, resource, and data silos that typically exist between new business development, bid and proposal, and project execution. They provided the single focus on the underlying project management approach to ensure project success and a happy customer as well as to meet target profit goals. They also ensured the EVMS was actively maintained to reflect advances in processes, managing data, and software tools. 

There are a few common attributes to this approach. For example, these companies:

  1. Have a proven and established standard, repeatable processes in place. Project personnel are continuously trained on these processes and standard practices using a standard set of schedule, cost, analysis, and risk tools. This may also include standard Agile tools.
  2. Have established a cross-functional core team whose roles and responsibilities are focused on providing targeted support to proposal and project teams when needed. The composition of the core team reflected the products or services unique to the client. The core team members included subject matter experts (SMEs) from systems engineering, technical disciplines, risk management, finance, contracts, scheduling, cost estimating, EVMS, material management, manufacturing, and Agile. They provide the consistency in approach for the entire project life cycle as well as across projects. 
  3. Have templates and other assets available for project teams. This saves time and helps to establish a common framework for organizing and planning project work effort. This included schedule and cost software tool configuration templates to ensure new projects are set up properly in the tools for integrating data and producing data deliverables. Common utilities or automated interfaces were in place to extract data from business systems such as accounting or the M/ERP system for use in the EVMS.
  4. Established a “hand-off” process between the proposal team and the project team after contract award with the objective of establishing the performance measurement baseline (PMB) as quickly as possible. The project team could start with the source data and other content from the proposal submission and modify the source content as needed to reflect the negotiated contract. This typically included the WBS, technical and management approach, functional organization requirements (staffing plan), integrated master plan (IMP), integrated master schedule (IMS), cost basis of estimates, risks and assumptions, as well as subcontractor and material requirements. This significantly reduces the time required to produce the PMB and increases the quality of the schedule and cost data.
  5. Conducted internal and external kick-off meetings with the government customer to ensure everyone on the project team had a clear understanding of the scope of work, deliverables/components, major milestones, major assumptions, required resources, roles and responsibilities of the organizations involved, identified risks, timing and sequence of activities, time frame to complete the work effort, and target budget. Many contracts include the requirement for a post-award conference for just this exact purpose.

Time and Cost Benefits

The time and cost benefits of this approach aligns with H&A observations. The following images illustrate the results from informal surveys H&A earned value consultants have routinely conducted over the years. A “big bang” or accelerated approach to implementing an EVMS is better way to go – get it done and move on. The objective is to get the PMB in place as soon as possible and quickly settle into the execution phase. It may take more personnel up front; however, the time frame is shortened. Figure 1 illustrates where there is a short burst of dedicated personnel for three months to get the project team off and running. The support team then moves on to the next project.

Figure 1: Accelerated EVMS Implementation

Figure 1: Accelerated EVMS Implementation

As Figure 2 illustrates, it often takes twice as long with a slow ramp-up. In this example, six people are supporting the project for the foreseeable future instead of enabling the project team to function on their own. The project team is continually in a catch-up mode because they haven’t committed to a standard process. It takes longer to get the PMB in place. Data quality is often compromised when the team lacks clear direction on how to proceed or is struggling with how to use the software tools. The support team must remain in place for an extended duration to provide direction to the team on a multitude of levels which limits their ability to help other project teams.

Figure 2: Incremental EVMS Implementation

Things to Consider

Granted it takes time and resources to establish a core team, define all the components, and execute this approach at the corporate level. This is dependent upon management’s commitment to a given level of program/project control excellence and their desire to ensure they have reliable and useful data on all projects for management visibility and control regardless of EVM reporting or EVMS contractual requirements. Usually an internal return on investment (ROI) analysis provided the fact-based information needed to determine it was more cost effective to establish common repeatable processes and standard tools with a cross-discipline core support team. It was a much better alternative than ad-hoc project control implementations or unrealistic schedule/cost baselines that resulted in ugly surprises in the forecasted completion date and estimated cost at completion or contractual penalties that ate into the company’s profit margins.

How do you get started?

You may or may not be in a position to establish a cross-functional project management core support team. An option is to incorporate some of the elements these core support teams use to improve your company’s project management practices. Target areas that can help the project teams to be more efficient or to implement repeatable processes and eliminate ad-hoc approaches where possible. Examples include:

  • Establishing a set of templates for new projects that reflect the requirements identified in your EVM System Description. This could include common artifacts such as a WBS Dictionary, forms such as a work authorization document or baseline change request, or outputs such as a variance analysis report. Include these templates and examples on how to use them in your scheduling and EVM training courses.
  • Establishing a standard new project configuration template in the schedule and cost software tools of choice that provides a common coding structure foundation with options to incorporate project specific requirements. There could be one or more templates depending upon the work scope or type of contract. The objective is to ensure the tools are properly configured to enable schedule and cost integration and there is a standard base framework for organizing and coding the data. An established base framework also makes it easier to perform cross-project or portfolio analysis using business intelligence tools and generative AI tools. 
  • Conducting a project kick-off meeting with the customer immediately following contract award to ensure the project team has a common understanding of the contact scope of work, requirements, and objectives. This helps to establish open communications with the customer from the beginning to clarify assumptions and expectations, confirm roles and responsibilities, and identify likely risks as well as risk mitigation strategies.

H&A earned value consultants routinely assist clients to define successful strategies and tactics for designing and implementing a best in class EVMS in a variety of business environments regardless of the client’s point of departure. One of the best opportunities for establishing a best in class EVMS occurs with clients who are new to EVM and are beginning to sort out what they need to do. Other clients often need to do a refresh of their EVMS and how they train their project personnel to improve the effectiveness of their system. As noted in a recent blog “Earned Value Management (EVM): How Much is Enough? ”, maintaining the status quo is a myth – an EVMS requires constant improvement in areas critical to success.

We can help you determine the right strategy for your situation. Call us today at (714) 685-1730 to get started.

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Earned Value Management (EVM): How Much is Enough?

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I took the scenic route to selecting the theme of this blog. First, it was suggested that I write a blog on the benefits and costs of the earned value process as it applies to program management. Next it was suggested that I describe the harm of not using any of the elements of the earned value process.

This blog summarizes my observations of how companies have chosen “how much EVM is enough” for them and share my observations of the results of these decisions. Each company has selected an EVM implementation strategy and each company’s strategy falls along a bounded continuum.

Two Goal Posts and a Cross Bar

There are as many strategies for implementing earned value management as there are companies using EVM to manage their programs and projects.

I will describe this continuum of company EVM strategies as a left goal post and a right goal post with the space between as a cross bar. The “left goal post” represents companies that elect to be very poor at EVM or to not use EVM at all. The “right goal post” represents companies that have committed to being “best-in-class” practitioners of the EVM process and are the polar opposite of the companies at the left goal post. There are few companies at either the left or right goal posts. The “cross bar” represents the vast majority of companies that have selected an EVM strategy somewhere between the left and right goal posts.

Left Goal Post: The Unwilling

I have firsthand experience with a company that at the time I initially joined them, had decided to ignore earned value management even though it was a requirement in several of its contracts. After many painful years of attempting to maintain this EVM resistant strategy, this company decided that a better strategy would be to become an “efficiently expert” at EVM.

Cross Bar: Merely Compliant at EVM

It has been my experience that most companies desire to become “EVM compliant,” which generally means being compliant with the EIA-748 Standard for EVMS 32 guidelines and to avoid failing to comply with those guidelines that could result in losing their approved or certified EVMS status. This is the vast middle ground between the two goal posts. I have five observations regarding companies in the “cross bar” majority.

Observation #1: Compliance as a Goal

Compliance should be a given or a pre-condition, not a goal. Remaining merely compliant implies a status quo or static posture.

I will use the game of golf as an analogy. Golf is a game of honor and compliance to well established rules. All PGA professional tour golfers “comply” with the rules that govern golf. Although all PGA tour pro golfers comply with these rules, their performance on tour differs dramatically.

Ninety percent of all PGA golf pros, past and present, have no tour wins. That means only 10% of all PGA tour golf pros have won at least a single PGA tour. There are seven players in the history of the PGA that have fifty or more tour wins. If the bar is lowered to forty or more wins, only three players are added to the list. If the bar is lowered yet again to thirty or more tour wins, only eight more players are added to the list. Only 18 golfers have won 30 or more PGA tournaments.

Professional golfers do not confuse compliance with performance, nor do these professionals assume that “being compliant” will improve their performance.

Observation #2: The Tyranny of the Status Quo

With apologies to Milton Friedman and his book of the same name, companies that attempt to maintain mere guideline compliance will do no better than the status quo, and often regress toward non-compliance. Maintaining status quo is a myth – you either improve or regress.

All professionals, companies included, must compete in their markets and selected fields. To succeed in this competition requires constant improvement in areas critical to success. A company, organization, or individual without the means or the desire to improve will eventually fail and perhaps perish.

Observation #3: Blaming the Scoreboard

As a program manager, I considered EVM as my scoreboard. I reacted to the EVM data – the scoreboard – and made decisions based on that data (Guideline 26: Implement managerial actions taken as the result of earned value information).

I recall the 2024 Super Bowl’s final score: Chiefs 25, 49ers 22. Did the scoreboard cause the 49ers to lose the game or did a poor decision by their coach cause the loss?  Imagine a coach that cannot see the scoreboard. That coach does not know the score or how much time remains. That coach cannot react to the realities of the game.

Observation #4: EVM Causes Poor Program Performance

I have witnessed several company leaders assert that the use of EVM on a poorly performing program is the cause of that program’s poor cost and schedule performance. A correlation between two variables, or a sequence of two variables (use of EVM and poor performance), does not imply that one caused the other. This is the logical fallacy known as “X happened, then Y happened, therefore X caused Y.”  Night follows day, but day does not cause night. Use of EVM does not cause poor program performance. Not reacting to EVM data and promptly taking corrective action with your program’s cost and schedule performance often leads to poor outcomes.

Observation #5: It Takes More Energy to be Poor at EVM than to be an Expert

Returning to the earlier golf analogy, professional golfers make very difficult shots appear easy. I played in a pro/am tournament years ago. The pro I was teamed with took me to the range hours before our tee time. He asked me how many balls I hit before each round. I told him sometimes none and sometimes 50. He hit 1,000 balls before our round. When we finished our round, he was ready for another 18 holes. I was not. Both of us “complied” with the rules of golf. His score was significantly lower than mine. His game was effortless and produced a below par score. My game was labored and produced a poor result.

It is the same with EVM or any other process. The better you are at a skill, the easier it becomes. Experts consume far fewer calories at their craft than ambivalent amateurs.

Right Goal Post: Efficiently Expert at EVM

The polar opposite of a resistant EVM strategy is a strategy to become “efficiently expert.”  As I mentioned earlier, I joined a company that attempted to sustain an EVM resistant strategy. Their EVM strategy led to de-certification, large dollar withholdings, and significant damage to their corporate reputation.

After the most ardent EVM opponents in this company sought employment elsewhere, a new strategy was adopted. This company embraced a strategy to become “best-in-class” as expert practitioners of EVM. This company’s goal was EVM perfection. EVM perfection is an impossible ambition, but wiser than “mere compliance.”  And as with the PGA tour golf pro, EVM became nearly effortless.

Which EVM strategy will your company choose?

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Mr. Kenney is a senior business executive with over 35 years of experience in the aerospace industry as well as over 10 years as a consultant to industry. He is an experienced practitioner of program management best practices as an Executive Vice President of Government Programs, Vice President of Naval Programs, and Program Manager at various aerospace and defense contractors. He is also a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel with 27 years of active and reserve duty.

Earned Value Management (EVM): How Much is Enough? Read Post »

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