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1 - INTRODUCTION

editors, language compilers, database tools, etc.). Development and modification of software often affect and are
affected by operational policies and business practices.

Managers of software projects face increasing challenges as software projects grow larger and more complex
at an increasing rate, with increasing expectations of customers and users; with the need for compliance with
government, industry, and organizational policies; with the technological challenges of frequently updated hardware
and software platforms; with increasing interplay between hardware development, firmware development, and
software development; and the considerations related to the ergonomics of the human elements of these systems.
In addition, software projects often involve issues of safety, security, reliability, and other quality requirements.
Expanding global markets provide software products to a wider variety of cultures, languages, and ways of life, thus
increasing the scope and complexity of software to be developed and modified.

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1.1 Purpose of the Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide
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The primary purpose of the PMBOK Guide is to identify and document that subset of the Project Management
Body of Knowledge generally recognized as good practice on most projects, most of the time. The purpose of
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this Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition is to supplement the PMBOK Guide with knowledge
and practices that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software project managers, their management
teams, and their project members.

As stated in Section 1.1 of the PMBOK Guide “good practice for most projects, most of the time” does not
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mean the knowledge described should always be applied uniformly to all projects; the organization and/or project
management team is responsible for determining what is appropriate for any given project or situation. A similar
statement applies to this Software Extension.
While this extension focuses on management of software development projects, it will also be useful to
organizations that engage in IT projects. First, these organizations need to manage solutions that involve
development or modification of IT software. These projects may require in-house development of application
software or software-intensive systems; this extension applies directly to those projects. Second, organizations may
outsource IT software development to external third-party organizations. In these cases, this extension provides
helpful information to those responsible for monitoring the external effort. The information can be used to review
a third-party’s project plans, analyze project status, identify and confront risks, and understand issues that may
arise during the course of the contract. Third, most of the organizational and team considerations explained in this
document apply equally to IT technology development. Similar considerations apply to engineering projects.
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The PMBOK Guide also provides and promotes a common vocabulary within the project management
profession for discussing, writing about, and applying project management terminology and concepts. Like all
professional disciplines, the software domain has a specialized vocabulary for discussing, writing about, and
applying software terminology and concepts. Software project terminology is documented in the glossary to this
Software Extension and in ISO/IEC/IEEE Standard 24765 (SEVOCAB) [2], which provides terminology for software,
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hardware, and systems. In cases of conflicting terminology for project management, the Glossary in the PMBOK
Guide and the PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms [3] shall prevail.

2 ©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition
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