Chapter 1. Earned Value Project Management ... An Introduction^[*]

^[*] This chapter is a reprint of an article that appeared in the July 1999 issue of Crosstalk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering, published by the Software Technology Support Center, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah.

“Earned value” is a project management technique that is emerging as a valuable tool in the management of all projects, including and in particular software projects. In its most simple form earned value equates to fundamental project management. Here these authors describe the technique in a storybook form. It is not necessarily a true story ... but it could be.

Once upon a time there was a young man who wanted to be a project manager. Don’t ask us why.