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5 - PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT

5.6.2.2 Reviews and Meetings

Predictive life cycle software projects rely on milestone reviews to control of scope. Formal reviews may include
demonstrations of working software increments, to provide an input for revising project and product scope, when
necessary. Revisions result in a new scope baseline.
Adaptive life cycle projects typically use short iteration cycles and frequent demonstrations of working software
to provide the input for ongoing control of project and product scope. The customer, in consultation with the project
manager and the software development team, determines the features to be developed in each iteration cycle;
those features expand the defined product scope and may even change the high-level scope. The project scope
may be sufficient to accommodate expanding product scope, or may be adjusted as necessary. Alternatively, some
desired features might be omitted because of constraints on the project scope.

5.6.3 Control Scope: Outputs

The outputs in Section 5.6.3 of the PMBOK Guide are applicable to controlling the scope of a software project,
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with the following additional considerations.

• The outputs of scope control for a software project vary with governance model and the life cycle used
within the continuum of software project life cycles. For predictive life cycles, the primary outputs of scope
control are the decisions of the change control board to deny or accept change requests; acceptance may
be scheduled for immediate or delayed response. For adaptive life cycles, the primary output of scope
control is the decision of the customer concerning the next set of features to be implemented and the
changes to be made to the current working software. The development team, after consulting with the
project manager and the customer, may decide to spend the next iteration cycle modifying the software
architecture and doing significant refactoring of the existing software base before continuing the iterative
development cycles.
• The output of scope control may require the project manager, higher management, and the customer
(or customers) to make significant changes to project scope (schedule, budget, resources) and product
scope (features, functional requirements, quality attributes, technology, mission). These changes may be
required by factors that are beyond the control of the project manager, such as a changing operational
environment, changes in the software development organization’s or customer’s strategic vision, changes
in technology or infrastructure, or changes to competitors’ products.
• The outputs for controlling scope in Section 5.6.3 of the PMBOK Guide are applicable for controlling the
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scope of software projects, both predictive and adaptive.

84 ©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition
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