The Use and Impact of Earned Value Management on Software Projects
Walt Lipke · 2008
The Software Division at Tinker Air Force Base has used Earned Value Management (EVM) methods for approximately 20 years. The management method has had signifi cant infl uence in the improvement of the software development and maintenance practices of the organization. This article, in a story telling manner, describes the use of EVM for managing software and how its system of management facilitated a natural evolution which lead to recognition, awards, and more importantly ….on time, at cost, quality software. ing process for an item requiring maintenance. A TPS consists of software, an electrical-mechanical interface, and instructions for its use. The portion of the Division supporting Depot maintenance has annual revenue of approximately $40 million. The Depot support functions of the Division employ ap- proximately 360 people of which 300 are electronics engineers. Beginning his story spans more than 20 years. There has been a considerable amount of excellent work throughout this entire span of time, performed by several dedicated and persevering people. Although the period of the Earned Value Manage- ment (EVM) application covers two decades, it is not meant to imply that employing EVM for managing software requires an exorbitant time to implement. Rather, what is described is an evolution of practice from the experience of project failure to a desire to do better, and subsequently improvement and suc- cess. Included in the discussion are the outside infl u- ences which impacted the actions taken. In describing the Software Division's (SD) use of EVM, we'll cover the topic chronologically. The be- ginnings cover a period of time from 1979 to 1985. The effort to understand the software process oc- curred during 1987 through 1989. The period of sig- nifi cant, measured, process improvement was from 1989 to 1996. Then a period of evolving and refi ning the process is described, beginning in 1997 and con- tinues today. Before EVM and its infl uence upon the software practices are described, an introduction to the mis- sion of the Software Division and its products is helpful to understanding. Tinker Air Force Base is an Air Force Depot, which performs maintenance and modifi cation to several aircraft and jet engines, including their electronic systems. The SD supports the automated processes used during the mainte- nance actions. The primary products of the SD are Test Program Sets (TPS) and industrial automa-