Page 222 -

12 - PROJECT PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

12 12

PROJECT PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

Most of the material in Section 12 of the PMBOK Guide is applicable to procurement management for software
®
projects. This section of the Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide presents additional considerations for
®
managing software project procurements.
The introduction to Section 12 of the PMBOK Guide states: “Project Procurement Management includes the
®
processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team.
The organization can be either the buyer or seller of the products, services, or results of a project.”

Large software organizations, like other engineering organizations, typically have a procurement department
that deals with contracting issues related to the procurement of products and services. Small software organizations
may not have a similar support function and, as a result, the software project manager may play an increased role
in managing software project procurements.

Also, as indicated in the introductory paragraph of Section 12 of the PMBOK Guide, an organization may be 12
®
the seller of the products, services, or results of a project. In some cases, a software organization may be a prime
contractor or a subcontractor (seller) to another organization or governmental agency. In these cases, some or all
of the processes to be followed and the metrics to be reported by the software project manager may be elements
of the statement of work for the project.
This section of the Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide focuses on the considerations involved in
®
procuring services for a software project or new software products, such as a procuring a custom-built software
application or turnkey infrastructure. It addresses planning, conducting, controlling, and closing out software
project procurements, primarily from the point of view of the acquiring software project manager. It also addresses
the acquisition of commercially off-the-shelf software (COTS) for use in a software product. Licensing of software
packages, obtaining rights to modify open source software, reuse of existing components, and the purchase of
specialty services to build software are all elements of software procurement.

Services provided by software may also be procured. It is important to understand the exact nature of the services
provided by the software; how they might evolve over time; and what control the acquirer retains over the data
provided to be processed by the service, the results obtained, and any security obligations. These considerations
are usually covered in a service level agreement (SLA). Often, the standard agreement issued by the provider may
not meet the acquirer’s (i.e., the software project’s) specific needs.
Other procured services can include outsourcing of software development, assistance from software consultants
and experts in software development processes, staff augmentation by contracted developers and testers, and
provision of supporting services such as data migration and conversion, SQA, CM, and product documentation.
Because software requires frequent updates to meet changes in functional requirements, to address security threats,
or provide infrastructure upgrades, it is rarely purchased without provision for ongoing maintenance. In some cases, the

©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition 215
®