Microsoft Project Seems Synonymous with Project Management, But is It Really the Best Place to Start? — We have all seen it, and have likely been there at one point or another. A Project Manager is assigned a new project and instantly follows his impulse to crack open his laptop, start MS-Project and begin the planning process. In doing so, he immediately, without hesitation, dives headfirst into his project and begins to waste time in the name of advancing it.

ANSI/EIS 748-a (1998) is the widely adopted Earned Value Management System (EVMS) standard. Overall, it is about 32 pages long, 19 of which actually hold real content that is directly relevant to the standard. The ANSI standard goes by other names, relevant to the 32-Steps described in the document, such as the 32-Step Earned Value Management Process. This is confusing, and on a proposal a few years ago, I had to figure out what the RFP was talking about when it referred to the 32-Step EVM Process. In short they wanted the ANSI standard without referencing it, and requested it without the understanding that the ANSI standard was not structured by the 32-steps. For this reason, I thought it to be a good idea to pass this knowledge along. Hopefully I have hit upon a few key words for those people frantically (and incorrectly) searching for the 32-Step EVM Process.