Agile Project Management and Earned Value Management

The growing importance of quickly and affordably delivering software intensive systems requires programs to react to changing demands of the operational environment swiftly and has led to an increased focus on capability-based planning and iterative product development. Capability-based planning and execution focuses on delivering the highest priority system features to the stakeholders as quickly and affordably as possible. To meet this demand, Program Managers need a planning and execution method that can quickly and efficiently react to changes across all levels of the program.

An Industry Practice Guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Programs May 26, 2019, Version 1.3, National Defense Industrial Association Integrated Program Management Division

This compendium addresses the notion that Agile and Earned Value Management or any other formal program planning and controls process are incompatible.

This is not the case, nor has it ever been the case. As explained in Larman's paper as the starting point for debunking this notion:

• Iterative and Incremental Development: A Brief History, Craig Larman, IEEE Computer Society, 2003

Supporting and expanding on this history can be found in the following materials used in the domain of Software Intensive System of Systems (SISoS).

• Increasing Probability of Success for Complex System of Systems by Integrating Systems Engineering, Agile Project Management with Program Performance Management
• Acquisition and Management Concerns for Agile Use in Government Series, a collection of six booklets describing aspects of Agile use in government.
• Agile Lifecycle Process Model, MITRE Corporation.
• Agile Software Teams: How They Engage with Systems Engineering on DoD Acquisition Programs, CMU/SEI-2014-TN-013.
• Defense Agile Acquisition Guide: Tailoring DoD IT Acquisition Program Structures and Processes to Rapidly Deliver Capabilities, MITRE Corporation.
• Agile and Earned Value Management: Program Managers's Desk Guide, David F. Tervonen, Deputy Director, Integrated Program Management, OUSD(A&S) AAP IPMD, 17 November 2020.
• Agile Software Development in the Department of Defense Environment, The Defense Acquisition University.
• Addressing the Barriers to Agile Development in DoD, Naval Postgraduate School's 2015 Defense Acquisition Research Symposium. 
• An Industry Practice Guide for Agile on Earned Value Management Programs, May 26, 2019, Version 1.3.
• Agile Management for Rapid Acquisition, Maureen T. Deane, ICEAA 2019 Professional Development and Training Workshop, 25 February 2019.
• Factors Influencing the Decision to Employ Agile Methods on Federal Information Technology Projects, Troy Mueller, Georgetown University, May 2014.
• Critical Decision Factors for Agile on Federal Projects, Dr. Troy J. Mueller, The Mitre Corporation, November 2015.
• An Agile Framework to Develop Safety Critical Software for Aircraft, Duane Lee Bacon, Binghamton University, 2018.
• Making Agile Development Processes fit for V-Style Certification Procedures, Sergio Bezzecchi, Paolo Crisafulli, Charlotte Pichot, Burkhart Wolff, 9th European Congress on Embedded Real Time Software and Systems (ERTS 2018), Jan 2018, Toulouse, France.
• ED-12C/DO-178C vs. Agile Manifesto - A solution to Agile Development of Certifiable Avionics Systems, John Marsden1, André Windisch, Rob Mayo, Jürgen Grossi, Julien Villermin, Louis Fabre, Claire Aventini, ERTS 2018, Jan 2018, Toulouse, France.
• Fundamentals of Agile Systems Engineering - Part 1, Rick Dove and Ralph LaBarge, INCOSE International Symposium 2014.
• Fundamentals of Agile Systems Engineering - Part 2, Rick Dove and Ralph LaBarge, INCOSE International Symposium 2014.
• Improving Software Systems by Flow Control Analysis, Piotr and Poznański Mariusz Wawrowski, Computer Science, 13, (2), 2012.
• Potential Use of Agile Methods in Selected DoD Acquisition: Requirements Development and Management, Dr. Kenneth E. Nidiffer, Suzzane M. Miller, and Dr. David Carney, Software Engineering Institute, April 2014.
• Systems Engineering for Software Intensive Projects Using Agile Methods, Larri Rosser, Raytheon Intelligence, INCOSE Enchantment Chapter, July 8, 2015.
• Systems Engineering for Software Intensive Projects Using Agile Methods, Larri Rosser, Phyllis Marbach, Gundars Osvalds, and David Lempia.
• New EVM Constructs to Support Agile Development: Human Performance and EVMS, International Conference on Software Engineering. Research and Practice | SERP'16 |
• Agile EVM: Adding Cost Control to the Agile Toolkit, Tamara Sulaiman, Solutions IQ.
• Improving project forecast accuracy by integrating Earned Value Management with Exponential Smoothing and Reference Class Forecasting, Jordy Batselier and Mario Vanhoucke, International Journal of Project Management 35, 28-43, 2017.
• On Your Toes: Measuring Earned in an Agile World.
• The Intersection of Agile and EVM, Deltek Webinar, Glen Alleman.
• Agile Development and EVMS, Joe Sweeny, DCMA, September 22, 2015.
• AgileEVM - Earned Value Management in Scrum Projects, Tamara Sulaiman, Brent Barton, and Thomas Blackburn.
• AgileEVM Iterative-Based DoD Software Development Project WBS, John Ayers, Project Risk Management.
• Agile and Evm for the DoD: a Review of the Challanges and a New Approach to Solve them, Roberta Winterowd, Regis University, April 2013.
• Beyond backlogs and burndowns - complementing "agile" methods with EVM for improved project performance," Bijan Nikraven and James B. Forman, Scheduling, Requirements Management, Agile, Technical Skills, Earned Value Management, SCRUM, 12 October 2010, PMI.
• Making Agile Development Work in a Government Contracting Environment - Measuring Velocity with Earned Value, Glen Alleman, Michael Henderson, and Ray Seggelke, 2003 Agile Development Conference, 25-28 June 2003, Salt Lake City, UT.
• JIRA Project Management Procedures - Processes and Procedures of managing an agile development project with JIRA.
• Applying Project Control Processes to Agile Development Projects
• Agile Transformation of Aerospace Business From Traditional Stage-Gate to Agile for Product and Service Delivery
• Integration of Program Performance Management with Agile Software Development - Starting with the Engineering Estimate, define deliverables, their production plan, deployment, any variance of effort and cost, and the corrective actions to keep the planned work on the plan.
• Agilely Managing Projects in the Federal Environment - Applying the Immutable Principles and Process of Project Management in Traditional & Agile Domains to Increase the Probability of Project Success (PoPS)
• Agiley Managing Requirements - a simple guide to requirements management in an agile organization
• Agiley Managing Requirements - a simple guide to requirements management in an agile organization.
• Agile Project Management Methods, in The Story of Managing Projects: A Global, Cross-Disciplinary Collection of Perspectives, Dr. E. G. Carayannis and Dr. Y. H. Kwak, editors, Greenwood Press / Quorum Books, 2002.
• Scrum Master Processes - 8 Ceremonies, sample business rhythm, and 41 Tasks of the Scrum Master.
• Estimating and Managing Agile Projects at DHS - Thomas J. Coonce and Glen Alleman, DHS Cost Analysis Stakeholder Working Group.
• Software for Our Minds - Patterns and Anti-Patterns for creating and maintaining a shared vision.
• Post-Normal Science and eXtreme Programming - How can we understand the impacts of eXtreme Programming and other Agile methods without scientific data?
• WSRI Agile Program Management Process - Applying agile principles, practices, and processes to the project, building the release plan for each program event in the Integrated Master Plan and deliverables for that review.
• ? Paradigm of Agile Project Management - when we say Agile in the absence of a Domain and Context, how can it have any meaning?
• Effective Use of Kanban in a Nutshell - Principles, Practices, and Processes that Increase the Probability of Project Success.
• Lightweight Processes - An Overview of Lightweight Development Processes and Selecting One For Your Projects - Lightweight processes are beginning to replace more formal methods.
• Agile Project Management and "Normative" Paradigms
• Agile Project Management Methods Meet Earned Value - Glen Alleman and Michael Henderson, Agile Development June 25-28, 2003.
• ? A Workshop for Product Owners, Scrum Master, and Team Members for Improving Team Performance - Scrum Masters and Product Owners are critical to the success of agile projects.
• Agile Program Management - Moving from Principles to Practice - Agile program management is the glue between IT strategy and delivery of business value.
• Agile Software Development for Government Software Intensive Systems of Systems (SiS), - If we're looking to increase the probability of success for Software Intensive System of Systems, look to where that effort can produce the highest return for the investment, Boulder Agile Meetup, 27 July 2016.
• Increasing Probability of Success for Complex System of Systems by Integrating Systems Engineering, Agile Project Management with Program Performance Management - Managing Complex System of Systems Subject to FAR 34.2 and DFARS 234.2 by Applying Agile at Scale.
• Product & Process Development Kaizen for Software Development, Project, and Program Management, LPPDR, Denver Colorado, April 21-23, 2008.
• When is Light Right?, XP Denver, April 23rd, 2001.
• Making Agile Development Work in a Government Contracting Environment - Measuring Velocity with Earned Value - Glen Alleman, Michael Henderson, CH2M Hill, and Ray Seggelke, Envision Technology, Agile Development, June 25-28, Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Setting up the Agile Program for EVM Compliant Validation, using the Principles of Agile Systems Engineering, EVM World 2016.
• You Don't Need Agile to Avoid the Seven Deadly Sins of Project Management - Bad Project Management is Just That Bad Project Management.
• Blending Agile Development Methods with CMMI?
• CMMI and Agile, Joining Principles with Practice to Produce a Single Integrated System, PMI Professional Development Day, Grapevine, TX, June 23, 2011.