The Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) is led by the Milestone Decision Authority (MDA) providing independent experts experienced not only in the IBR process but also in the subject matter of the contract. This article discusses how the IBR process works and how it can reflect the reality of a development program.
The MDA for a typical DoD developmental program uses the ABA to establish a contract with a program manager for cost, schedule, and performance thresholds. The ABA bounds a program; however, a contract with industry defines the program.
When productivity fails to meet the performance goals of the contract a breach of program baseline occurs. The breach can be the inevitable outcome of overly optimistic goals, unforeseen external influences, requirements creep, or mismanagement.
Typically, it results from a combination of the four.
