Earned Value Management

Funded by a research grant from Project Management Institute (PMI) and PMI’s College of Performance Management (CPM), this study’s aim is to help project managers better comprehend and gauge the current level of EVM practice and its user base. A key element of the research is a survey of more than 600 project management practitioners, providing a cross-sectional view of the most current EVM practices. To provide practical and meaningful comparison of EVM practice, respondents are classified by industry sector, motivation for EVM usage, organization role, and geographic location.

Among the research’s key findings:

• EVM has spread worldwide, and is particularly popular in the Middle East, South Asia, Canada and Europe. In industry sectors, its use goes beyond the traditional defense/military and government community and includes such private-industry sectors as IT, construction, energy, and manufacturing.
• The practice of EVM varies greatly with the highly diversified user profile. The level of EVM use and maturity varies from one organization to another and from project to project.
• EVM’s contributions and cost-effectiveness are widely recognized, regardless of industry sector, motivation, country, or other variable.

Of particular value is the look ahead for EVM. Dr. Song looks at reported barriers to improving EVM’s adoptions and use, and explores some critical success factors for implementing EVM. With the insights Earned Value Management provides, practitioners will gain a more holistic view of the current status of earned value management today.