Earned value analysis? Or not?

Dear Andy,

You have two types of analysis:

1. Cost Performance Analysis
2. Schedule Performance Analysis.

Since you have no resources, you can do the Schedule performance analysis.

I would suggest that you use standard explanation of EVA. You can download the definition from a site like wikkipedia where they have the graph as well, and you can explain to then in many ways that it is about the value of the work completed vs planned and the actual cost of the work completed.

At some point, someone will have to prepare an Interim Payment Certificate. You will have an idea about the Value of the Actual work completed.

At the Procurement Department, you can get the amount of money spent on the project until now. With the help of the finance department, you can get the amount of salaries paid and other payments made to supplier or subcontractors. This will give you more figures.

Hope the information helps.

With kind regards,

Samer

Samer

Thanks for your post. I’ve taken your advice & looked at the Wiki site. Unfortunately it appears that the Schedule Performance Analysis requires someone to purchase an add-on or something?

Is it not possible to carry out the Schedule Performance Analysis by using a feature that already exists in MSP? Or does it require the planner to copy the dates from the MSP schedule into an Excel spreadsheet in order to carry out the calculations?

Andy

Dear Andy,

Usually this is done few times when you are preparing the report. You figure out the numbers from the Graphs and plud them into the equations.

If you need a program to calculate it automatically, then you need to look in the market as you suggested.

I also would like to point out that the PMI has a standard already issued on the subject. www.pmi.org. you can download it if you are a member or purchase it over the net if you are not a member.

With kind regards,

Samer

John, thanks for the input.
The contract I’m on is for a worldwide manufacturing company. Although you couldn’t tell from the project team I’m working with.
I wont be purchasing anything to support this planning work I’m doing. It’s up to the project director to recognise when his team need the correct tools to provide him with the reports that he needs.

Is there no way that EV can be run on the schedule alone (without resources) directly in MSP without purchasing anything?

I’d value a chat but can’t see a contact number anywhere

Andy
Using Micro Planner X-Pert it is possible to run a very accurate EV without actually specifying a or any specific resource.

I quite often use all the power of XPW to run the full gamut of EV

All you do is to use a pseudo resource with a value of 1 and you have one unit of the Psuedo resource, I call mine EVValue. If a task has a duration of 3 days and the calendar ids a five day week with an eight hour day you would have 3 x 8 = 24 units of EVValue. You do this in the resource data cells for every activity in the network.

Tell XPW that you have a 1000 units of EVValue for scheduling. Run a Deadline Critical Resource Analysis (try and do this in MSP) and from the menu bar select the cost curve.

Obviously I am not going to fully detail how to do it as you should be able to figure it out yourself.

It is very frustrating using MSP to carry out a function it is not designed to do. More frustrating are those IT people who tell you that you must use it because it is Microsoft.

To me it is like saying I want to carry five tons of bricks in the boot of my car, but it will not do it so what I do . The answer is obvious. Well to me it is!!

Keep in touch with John Cornish


Raf