Author of the book, Performance-Based Earned Value,® published by the IEEE Computer Society, and an advocate of acquisition reform in the Dept. of War. He advocates best practices, policy and procedures, and legislation regarding project management, systems engineering (SE), digital engineering (DE), and Earned Value Management System (EVMS).
Retired from Northrop Grumman Corporation where he supported the use of EVMS on the B-2 Stealth Bomber, Global Hawk, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programs.
He was on the team that wrote EIA-748, the EVMS Standard, and received the DoD David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award for that achievement. He was a core member of the team that wrote the "PMI Practice Standard for EVM" (predecessor to "PMI Standard for EVM (ANSI/PMI 19-006-2019)." He was a Visiting Scientist at the Carnegie Mellon University/Software Engineering Institute where he authored the 2002 Technical Note, "Using CMMI to Improve EVM" (CMMI). His innovative, value-added inputs have been included in Project Management Institute (PMI) guides, DoD policies and guides, the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, and the GAO Agile Assessment Guide.
"PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge" (PMBOK® Guide 5th ed.) and "PMI Practice Standard for EVM" (predecessor to ANSI/PMI 19-006-2019, The Standard for EVM): product scope, risk management, management reserve, acceptance criteria (in WBS dictionary), requirements traceability matrix, and Estimate at Completion.
2. "DoD Instruction 5000.02, Acquisition of the Defense Acquisition System":
technical performance
3. "DoD Engineering Guidebook" CH 2.5 SE Role in Contracting
The PM should ensure that the EVMS, tied to any incentive, measures the quality and technical maturity of technical work products instead of just the quantity of work. If contracts include earned EV incentives, the criteria should be stated clearly and should be based on technical performance. EV incentives should be linked quantitatively with:
• Technical performance measurement (TPM)
• Progress against requirements
• Development maturity
• Exit criteria of life-cycle phases
• Significant work packages and work products
4. "NAVAIR Software EVM Toolkit," 2004: technical performance, deferred functionality, and rework.
5. PARCA Report to Congress on Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analyses, May 2014
the PARCA EVM Division will identify, document, and publish specific methods for relating technical performance to earned value performance. The goal is to provide more accurate joint, program office, and contractor situational awareness of the program execution. PARCA believes that earned value metrics and technical metrics such as Technical Performance Metrics should be consistent with program progress. Earned Value focuses on the completion of a set of tasks to mature the design. It should be consistent with the set of metrics that indicate the actual design maturity.
6. "Section 809 Panel Report, Vol. 1, Sec. 4, Jan. 2018": Another substantial shortcoming of EVM is that it does not measure product quality. A program could perform ahead of schedule and under cost according to EVM metrics but deliver a capability that is unusable by the customer."
7. Journal of Software Management, "Agile Earned Value and the Technical Baseline," Sept. 2009, page 9
8. DoD Systems and Software Technology Conference, April 2009
Tutorial, “Agile Methods with Performance-Based Earned Value”
9. GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, March 2020, Expert Contributor
Guidance on incorporating risk mitigation plans into budgets and using earned value to monitor performance of risk mitigation plans is consistent with 1998 article in The Measurable News, "Integrating Risk Management with EVM (Risk Management Comes Out of the Closet)." Guidance to use the EVM data...to integrate cost and schedule performance data with technical performance measures is consistent with the 2004 article in Defense AT&L Magazine, "Integrating Systems Engineering with Earned Value Management." Guidance on budgeting anticipated rework in a separate work package or planning package, not MR, is derived from the 2004 NAVAIR Software EVM Toolkit."
10. DOD Best Practices for Using SE Standards (ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288, IEEE 15288.1, and IEEE 15288.2) on Contracts for Department of Defense Acquisition Programs, April 2017
"The offeror shall, as part of its technical proposal, provide a SE Management Plan (SEMP), Integrated Master Plan (IMP), and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)." From PARCA-EVM ASSESSMENT STUDY, 2012. The PARCA-EVM Assessment Study is summarized in the article in CrossTalk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering, "Basing Earned Value on Technical Performance," Jan. 2013.
11. The DoD Directive 5000.01 policy, “Performance-based strategy” means a strategy that supports an acquisition approach structured around the results to be achieved as opposed to the manner by which the work is to be performed,” was first proposed in his Technical Note, CMU/SEI-2002-TN-016, Using CMMI to Improve Earned Value Management, Paul Solomon, Oct. 2002, published by Carnegie Mellon U./Software Engineering Institute. In 2012, this strategy was included in his REPORT PARCA-EVM ASSESSMENT STUDY CONTRACT #: HQ0034-12A0011-0001, within RECOMMENDED REVISIONS TO DOD ACQUISITION POLICIES, GUIDES, CONTRACT DATA REQUIREMENTS, AND DFARS.
12. GAO Agile Assessment Guide, GAO-24-105506, Nov. 28, 2023
Includes references to four articles and tutorial, especially Solomon, Paul J. “Agile Earned Value and the Technical Baseline” Managing for Success. The Data & Analysis Center for Software. (September 2009.): requirements traceability matrix, baseline changes.
13. Tutorial: Integrated Systems Engineering (SE) with Earned Value Management and Program
Management, Contractually and Practically. NDIA Systems Engineering Conference. Tampa, Florida: October 22, 2018.:
“Basing Earned Value on Technical Performance.” CrossTalk. (January 2013.): Rework
"It is a best practice, though, to ensure the customer and product owner are communicating on priorities and the balance between scope, schedule, and budget so that minimum viable product functionality requirements are met."
"Ultimately, EVM is effective for Agile programs when it is integrated with technical performance and EVM processes are augmented with a rigorous systems engineering process" is from a 2004 article in Defense AT&L Magazine, "Integrating SE with EVM."
14. DODI 5000.97 DE
DoD will use DE methodologies, technologies, and practices across the life cycle of defense acquisition programs,…engineering, and management activities, including, but not limited to: cost estimating, WBS, schedules.
15. DOD MIL-HDBK-245E, DOD Handbook, Preparation of Statement of Work (SOW Handbook). The revision to SOW Handbook, added and defined the product scope (technical baseline) and differentiated it from the project (or work) scope.
He served on the National Defense Industrial Association Program Management Systems Committee (now called Integrated Program Management Div.) and was Vice President. His recommendations on EVM Acquisition reform were included in the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2011, the NDAA for FY 2024 (Sec. 815), the NDAA for FY 2025 (Sec. 804) and the 2009 DoD EVM: Performance, Oversight, and Governance- Report to Congress on EVM (in response to WSARA). His recommendation that standards for program and project management must be in accordance with ANSI standards was included in the House version of the NDAA for FY 2021.
He filed a False Claims Act (whistleblower) complaint against Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, alleging fraud on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, in 2012.
He received a letter of appreciation for continuing efforts to improve acquisition reform from Sen. John McCain on March 5, 2015.
A. degree from Dartmouth College. M.B.A. degree from Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth, 1965.
Honors graduate of the Air Force Institute of Technology Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria course, 1990.
Visiting Scientist at the Carnegie Mellon University/Software Engineering Institute.
Previously certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to be a Project Management Professional (PMP).
Military Service: Vietnam War Era Veteran, U.S. Army Finance Officer.
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