By John Duval

The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Integrated Program Management Division (IPMD) met in Dallas, Texas, from August 26 to 30, 2018.  The following captures the latest status of the many government documents and guides related to integrated program management in the Department of Defense (DoD):

Earned Value Management System Interpretive Guide (EVMSIG).  The EVMSIG was published in February 2018.  Its purpose is to bring specificity to how EIA 748 Earned Value Management is assessed for compliance. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) uses the guide when performing compliance reviews on DoD contracts over $100 million. Since the February publication, several updates have been made and the Office of Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analyses (PARCA) is expected to republish the current version on their website in the next 30 days.

MIL-STD-881D.  This standard establishes requirements for constructing Work Breakdown Structures (WBSs) on DoD contracts. It was updated and published in April 2018.

DFARS EVM Clauses 7001 & 7002.  Changes are in with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for inclusion in the next version. Don’t expect updates to be published anytime soon as cycle times typically reach several years. Once finalized, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Clauses will be released for public comment.

DoDI 5002.1:  This DoD instruction is being updated to reflect the current EVM applicability requirements. Expect changes in the nature of work and possibly thresholds.

Earned Value Management Implementation Guide (EVMIG). This guide was published many years ago, but was rescinded in September 2015.  Its purpose is to provide Government Acquisition Officials guidance on how EVM should be properly applied to contracts. Improper application of EVM on contracts continues to remain an issue. The new guide once reinstated should go a long way in resolving those issues. The guide is in final review with a planned release date in the Fall of 2018.

Integrated Program Management Report (Rev. B) also knowns as IPMR2.  PARCA continues to develop this updated reporting requirement. Updates include moving from eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data standard, data collection at the Control Account and Work Package level, and accelerating the monthly delivery of the Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) to as little as five days after month end close. 1,000 comments were collected on this update and most were associated with the accelerated delivery requirements and the difficulty of meeting this requirement when subcontractor data needed to be integrated into the prime’s report. The IPMD will meet with PARCA in Washington DC in September to participate in the final adjudication process.

DoD Agile and EVM Guide. OMB has recognized that Agile and EVM complement each other and can co-exist. Agile development can be used to incrementally deliver functionality to the customer while EVM provides a standard method for measuring progress. Another point of view is how an Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) event fits into an Agile environment. The guide will include topics as Agile and EVMS compliance, IBRs, reports, metrics and analysis, and an appendix update. Publication is expected in the Spring of 2019.

Please direct any questions about the status of these guides and governing documents to John Duval

John Duval is an SMA Associate specializing in integrated program planning and controls and currently serves on the board of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Integrated Program Management Division (IPMD)