Evolving Software Processes

4Monitoring and Controlling Software Project Scope Using Agile EVM

AVAIS JAN¹, ASSAD ABBAS¹, NAVEED AHMAD²

¹ Department of Computer Science, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad Campus, Pakistan

² National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Pakistan

Email: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

Abstract

Earned value management (EVM) gauges the performance of a project against the initial plan, where budget and schedule information are provided upfront. It makes it easier for the project manager to take corrective actions by pinpointing the deviations in time and cost. Agile project management welcomes changes throughout the life of a project. Therefore, it is important to incorporate EVM with Agile to forecast scope. Several attempts have been made to integrate EVM with Agile at iteration and release level to forecast scope. However, those approaches faced the following four challenges: (i) Not knowing and incorporating the changing effects of Agile builds unrealistic project goals; (ii) the use of velocity as a metric for monitoring and controlling work is challenging because of the local nature of this metric; similarly, (iii) focusing on individual team and individual release is another challenge because it is a contrast with the large-scale implication of traditional EVM; additionally, (iv) the method of calculating “percent complete” at work item level is another issue because without an objective basis for counting this progress, ...