STUDENT PAPER

Systemic Comparison of the Application of EVM in Traditional and Agile Software Project

By Sam Ghosh

Masters in Project Management Degree Program
A. James Clarke School of Engineering
University of Maryland

USA

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Editor’s note: This paper was prepared for course ENCE667 Project Performance Management, a core course for the Master of Engineering in Project Management degree in the A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland (UM), College Park, Maryland, USA.  Course instructor was Dr. Gregory Baecher, Professor and Director of Research of the Project Management Center of Excellence at UM.

Abstract

This paper reviews the differences between the traditional waterfall software project and agile software project. It identifies the approaches for applying Earned Value Management (EVM) for both waterfall and agile project. It analyzes how an agile software project can overcome the inherent pitfalls of EVM that are also applicable in waterfall project. 

1. Introduction

EVM is predominantly used in traditional software projects that use waterfall approach. Literature review shows that the adoption of EVM is not widespread in agile software projects. There is also a misconception that EVM cannot be applied to the agile projects because, the agile projects rely on progressive elaboration. This paper analyzes how EVM can be applied to the agile projects.

2. Key Characteristics of Traditional Waterfall Software Development

The traditional software application is known to follow waterfall software life cycle development. It follows sequential steps of analysis, design, development, testing and rework, implementation. A subsequent step is not started, until the previous step is completed. There is no overlap between these sequences. A thorough analysis of the entire software application is done during the analysis phase. Design is done only after thorough analysis is done. Software coding starts only after all the functions are analyzed and designed. Software testing begins after all the software features are coded.

If a defect is identified in a later stage e.g., during testing or implementation stage, it is costly to fix it as it may require re-work of previous steps of analysis, design and coding.

Requirements are gathered up front. For complex projects spanning months, requirements may change mid-way through the project. Change in scope is costly to incorporate in waterfall project as it will require re-work of many of the previous stages of development. 

The milestones and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the entire software application is decided early in the project during the planning process group.

The Figure 1 shows WBS of an Inventory management System. All the work packages are identified during the planning phase. 

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About the Author Sam Ghosh Author Soumajit (Sam) Ghosh has 20 years of experience in industry and education in the areas of Information Technology and Project Management. He has championed business innovations for start-up ventures, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in mission critical projects by providing elegant, sustainable and cost-effective solutions. He is certified Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI, Sun Certified Enterprise Java Architect, Sun Certified Web Component Developer, Sun Certified Java Programmer and Competent Toastmaster, Toastmasters International. He holds MS in Computer Science and MS in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. He is a student in the PhD program at A. James Clark School of Engineering, The University of Maryland, College Park. He can be reached at: sgho@aol.com . Editor’s note: Student papers are program or project management-related research-based papers authored by students at accredited universities around the world.  These papers will have received a high grade or been deemed well written by a supervising professor or teacher, or may result from graduate research leading to masters or doctoral degrees in project management.  In addition to the student authors, recognition is provided to the sponsoring universities, professors or course instructors.  Publication in PM World Today is often the first paper to be published by a student about to enter his or her career path.  To submit a student paper for publication, contact editor@pmworldtoday.org.