Earned Value Management (EVM) is a program management tool, technique, and discipline that facilitates systematic planning for and monitoring of, high value, complex projects. It integrates a project’s scope of work with the related budget and schedule to permit detailed assessment of overall performance during the life of the project.
Several government-wide guidance documents govern the definition and use of EVM systems. Guidelines outlining the qualities and characteristics of an EVM system are set forth in the
American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industries Alliance (ANSI/EIA) Standard-748 (most current version). More detailed and specific guidance and direction is contained in
OMB Circular A-11, Preparation, Submission and Execution of the Budget, specifically in
Part 7 of that Circular A-11, Planning, Budgeting, Acquisition, and Management of Capital Assets, and the supplement to OMB Circular A-11, the
Capital Programming Guide. Based on this collective OMB guidance, EVMS is intended to be used on those parts of acquisitions that will involve developmental effort. This would include not only those acquisitions designated by the agency as major systems but also those acquisitions that include significant developmental, modification, or upgrade during the operational or steady-state phase of a program.
The
FAR rule on EVMS became effective on July 5, 2006. Its purpose is to implement EVMS policy in accordance with OMB Circular A-11. Because the new FAR coverage applies throughout the executive branch and to agencies with disparate definitions of and processes and procedures for major systems acquisitions, the FAR Council decided against a “one-size-fits all” approach and left several significant aspects of the detailed implementation up to the discretion of each covered agency.
Since most of the acquisitions at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA) are unique in that most acquisitions are not Information Technology projects or construction projects, BARDA is developing EVM language that incorporates the 7 Principles of Earned Value Management. These principles allow flexibility to an EVM system structure but still meet the spirit of the ANSI/EIA Standard-748. It also incorporates discipline in implementation and operations and also provides the same reporting data outlined by OMB.