The captain of an ocean liner wouldn’t dream of leaving port for a long voyage without charts to map the way. For large IT initiatives, an Integrated Baseline Review (IBR) is your essential map for navigating your way to success.
The Problem
You think you understand what the other guys are saying, but you may be in for a rude awakening. That’s why many IT contracts lead to jolting surprises, disputes, delays, and cost overruns. People make different assumptions when kicking off a new contract or its next phase, or perhaps they’ve been in such a rush that they haven’t taken the time to define the details. As a result, change orders could eat your IT budget, and delays may land you on the carpet in the executive suite for uncomfortable meetings.
The Solution
Require an IBR prior to contract award or immediately after award. Make it real and not just a compliance exercise: The customer and contractor Project Managers (PMs)—supported by their technical teams—must sit down to review, discuss, refine, and validate all aspects of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB). This includes the details of the contract scope, cost estimates, schedule, time-phased budget, technical performance criteria, deliverable milestones, testing, IT environment and interfaces, and risks.
What’s New
There is a trend to deploy large IT investments incrementally—with each segment expected to demonstrate results with measurable value:
QT Plan
In our experience as facilitators and coaches, the IBR for a new contract takes 2 – 4 months, and perhaps half that time for an existing contract entering new phases. There should be a written charter for the IBR, and there should be an independent coach or facilitator to run the process. Customer and contractor PMs are viewed as equal partners because successful completion is vital to both parties. Following are the key steps for the IBR process:
We find that the IBR process adds little or no time to the duration of contract performance. If scheduled at the beginning of a large new contract, work typically focuses on planning. The IBR sharpens the quality of the planning and avoids later delays because many of the potential problems have been anticipated and resolved.
As facilitators, it is very satisfying to see how much discussion and good ideas are exchanged between the customer and contractor PMs. In addition, the participating technical staffs gain a much better understanding of what their counterparts are thinking and assuming. We also encourage team-building between the two parties—because a successful outcome requires everyone working together as a team with a common vision of results.
Reference
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Program Manager's Guide to the Integrated Baseline Review Process, 2003.
More Help
Jim Kendrick and the P2C2 Group, Inc. provide Facilitator/Coach and Subject Matter Expert services in this Quick Task area: kendrick@p2c2group.com.
Last Word
The IBR Process helps managers and technical teams to establish and understand the details of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB). The IBR is invaluable for performance management throughout the life of the investment.
The Problem
You think you understand what the other guys are saying, but you may be in for a rude awakening. That’s why many IT contracts lead to jolting surprises, disputes, delays, and cost overruns. People make different assumptions when kicking off a new contract or its next phase, or perhaps they’ve been in such a rush that they haven’t taken the time to define the details. As a result, change orders could eat your IT budget, and delays may land you on the carpet in the executive suite for uncomfortable meetings.
The Solution
Require an IBR prior to contract award or immediately after award. Make it real and not just a compliance exercise: The customer and contractor Project Managers (PMs)—supported by their technical teams—must sit down to review, discuss, refine, and validate all aspects of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB). This includes the details of the contract scope, cost estimates, schedule, time-phased budget, technical performance criteria, deliverable milestones, testing, IT environment and interfaces, and risks.
What’s New
There is a trend to deploy large IT investments incrementally—with each segment expected to demonstrate results with measurable value:
- The initial IBR should establish the framework for the long-term investment and also examine, in detail, the PMB for the initial segment(s)
- At each subsequent investment segment, there should be a review of recent performance in addition to validating the future performance measurement baseline
- Measures of costs and benefits will be essential for evaluating value of the investment and providing a baseline for subsequent Operational Analysis Reviews.
QT Plan
In our experience as facilitators and coaches, the IBR for a new contract takes 2 – 4 months, and perhaps half that time for an existing contract entering new phases. There should be a written charter for the IBR, and there should be an independent coach or facilitator to run the process. Customer and contractor PMs are viewed as equal partners because successful completion is vital to both parties. Following are the key steps for the IBR process:
- IBR Charter and Organization Meeting
- Detailed Project Planning Documents, such as contract, scope, business requirements, cost estimates, work breakdown structure, integrated master schedule, time-phased budget, project management plan, technical criteria/specifications, and project risk report
- IBR review methodology—provided by the independent coach or facilitator
- IBR Training, including for key technical personnel supporting the PMs
- General review of documentation by PMs and focused reviews by support teams
- Development of a validated performance measurement baseline (usually including EVMS)
- Preparation and approval of performance reporting and processes for corrective action plans
- Refinement of plans to conform to the validated baseline
- A Preparatory IBR Review (to see if all of the issues have been covered
- A Formal IBR meeting, with a summary of conclusions and follow-up actions—including a formal document signed by both PMs
We find that the IBR process adds little or no time to the duration of contract performance. If scheduled at the beginning of a large new contract, work typically focuses on planning. The IBR sharpens the quality of the planning and avoids later delays because many of the potential problems have been anticipated and resolved.
As facilitators, it is very satisfying to see how much discussion and good ideas are exchanged between the customer and contractor PMs. In addition, the participating technical staffs gain a much better understanding of what their counterparts are thinking and assuming. We also encourage team-building between the two parties—because a successful outcome requires everyone working together as a team with a common vision of results.
Reference
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Program Manager's Guide to the Integrated Baseline Review Process, 2003.
More Help
Jim Kendrick and the P2C2 Group, Inc. provide Facilitator/Coach and Subject Matter Expert services in this Quick Task area: kendrick@p2c2group.com.
Last Word
The IBR Process helps managers and technical teams to establish and understand the details of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB). The IBR is invaluable for performance management throughout the life of the investment.
