Building Excellence in Project Execution: Integrated Project Management

Abstract

With declining defense budgets, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been forced to re-examine its mission, capabilities, and processes. As the DoD wrestles with reexamination of its priorities, so too does the acquisition community, and particularly those in the project management community have an important role to play. The Honorable Frank Kendall, USD(AT&L), has championed the role the acquisition community can play in the effort to streamline, adapt, and innovate the way the DoD plans and carries out acquisitions. Kendall's Better Buying Power effort "currently in its third instantiation" illustrates many of the key areas that the acquisition and project management communities must address. Closely aligned with Better Buying Power's goals is the need to implement a system of project management that integrates the three foundational pillars of project management scope, cost, and time with the ability to adapt to a changing environment that meets customer requirements. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) is addressing this challenge by adopting and refining the CMMI Model, and building the tenets of integrated project management (IPM) into project planning and execution. This paper illustrates the guidelines for a project manager under this model.