Earned - Value Management Terminology

To the Editor: Although I enjoyed the article titled “Value-Based Software Engineering: A Case Study” (Barry Boehm and Li Guo Huang, March 2003, pp. 33-41), as a newly minted Project Management Professional and a contributor to the Project Management Institute’s Earned Value Analysis team, I was disappointed with the authors’ use of nonstandard terminology. The authors renamed the traditional terms BCWS (budgeted cost of work scheduled) and BCWP (budgeted cost of work performed) as EV scheduled and EV performed, respectively. They did not mention the third primary term, ACWP (actual cost of work performed), at all. The earned-value management process is already confusing to many people. In an effort to help dispel this confusion, the 2000 edition of PMI’s body of knowledge replaced the terms BCWS with PV (planned value), BCWP with EV (earned value), and ACWP with AC (actual cost). Using this standard terminology will encourage clarity as project managers seek to establish discipline in software-intensive projects. James T. Heires Cedar Rapids, Iowa [email protected]