A glossary of terms and the A-Z of acronyms used in project and portfolio management and across the world of business.
Overview
The next time you’re listening to a presentation and the speaker says, “if you’re not using EVM to manage your EACs, how are you going to keep track of your EBITDA?!”, and you think, if only there were a place where all those project management terms and acronyms were explained, you’ll know where to look.
A&D
Aerospace and defense
AC
Actual cost
ACWP
Actual cost for work performed
AEC
Architecture engineering construction
Agile
A type of software development method in which the project team starts with a very simple project design, and adds functionalities through short iterations.
Agile State-Gate
Combines the structure, phases and gates of the stage-gate process (see below), with the self-organised teams and short cycle iterations of Agile (see above) methodologies – often derived from Scrum (see below).
ALF
Annual license fee
API
Application programming interface, the mechanisms that allow software applications to communicate with one another. Check out our Software Systems Integration page to see how our software solution can communicate and integrate with other solutions.
APR
Annual percentage rate
BAC
Budget at completion
BAU
Business as usual
BCR
Benefit cost ratio
BCWP/S
Budgeted cost of work performed/scheduled
BEP
Break-even point
BOE
Basis of estimate
BOM
Bill of materials
BRD
Business requirement document
BS
Facts and figures that aren’t entirely, ahem, reliable.
BTO
Build/t to order
Burn-Down Chart
A type of chart used in agile methodologies to measure the amount of work remaining against time.
CAD/E/M
Computer aided design/engineering/manufacturing
Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is a set of tools, strategies and techniques to estimate the amount of production needed to match projected demand in the short, medium and long term.
CAPEX
Capital expenditure
CBR
Cost benefit ratio
CBS
Cost breakdown structure
CEACA
Current estimate at completion amount
CIP
Capital improvement program
CO
Change order
CPA
Cost performance analysis/assessment
CRM
Customer relationship management
Crystal Methodologies
A family of lightweight computer development methods that were created to suit different types of projects, depending on their size and complexity.
CSR
Corporate social responsibility
CSCI
Computer software configuration item
CST
Customer success team, made up of the Cora Customer Portal, the Cora Success Packs and the Cora Review Service, all of which have been designed to help our customers get the maximum benefit from our suit of products and services.
CRUD
Create read update delete
CV
Cost variance
DCAA
Defense contract audit agency
DCMA
Defense contract management agency
DMADV
Define measure analyze design verify
DSDM
Dynamic systems development method, a heavier agile (see above) project delivery framework, focused on delivering functionalities within tight time and budget constraints.
E2ET
End to end testing
EAC(s)
Estimate at completion(s)
EBITDA
Earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization, an alternative measure of profitability to ‘net income’.
Efficient Frontier
A method derived from financial portfolio theory to find out the optimal project portfolio, to maximize value.
Enterprise Agile Framework
A type of agile methodology to scale agile principles and practices to a particular enterprise.
EPMO
Enterprise project management office(r)
EPPM
Enterprise program/project portfolio management
ERP
Enterprise resource planning software is used to centralize data and streamline systems. Learn more in our blog: How does ERP Software compare to PPM Software?
ESG
Environmental social governance. With the advent of stakeholder capitalism and the move to net-zero, all businesses need to demonstrate that they do what they do in a transparent and an entirely responsible way. ESG software helps organizations measure and report on related activities.
ETO
Engineer to order
EV
Earned value
EVM
Earned value management, a system for tracking costs against deliverables over the course of a project’s lifecycle.
FDD
Feature driven development, an agile development method for larger scale projects using features as basic units of work, with very short iterations.
GANTT Chart
A kind of bar chart showing a project’s schedule.
Gated Process
Where a project is broken down into smaller stages or phases, each delimited by a gate.
HML
High medium low
ICP
Ideal customer profile
ICT
Information and communication technology
JIT
Just-in-time
KPI
Key performance indicator
LSD
Lean software development, founded on principles of simplicity and economy and generally considered part of agile (see above), lean is used to help eliminate waste and speed up delivery.
MACD
Maintain add change delete
NE
New estimate
NDA
Non-disclosure agreement
NPD
New product development
NPS
Net promoter score
NPV
Net present value
NRE
Non-recurring engineering
OBS
Organizational breakdown structure
OCE
Original cost estimate
OKR
Objectives and key results: What are OKRs?
OEM
Original equipment manufacturer
P&L
Profit and loss
PACE
Product and cycle-time excellence
Parametric estimation
A method for estimating project cost and duration using predefined algorithms, particularly in the Life Sciences and E&C (see above)
PCTD
Project cost to date
PLM
Project lifecycle management
PMB
Performance measurement baseline
PMO
Project management office(r)
PO
Purchase order
PPA
Predictive Project Analytics. So, what is Predictive Analytics and Predictive Project Analytics? It’s a branch of advanced analytics that makes predictions about future outcomes using historical project data combined with scenario planning, risk responses, etc.
PPM
Project portfolio management, a system for organizing and managing an organization’s projects, and its portfolio of projects, so that they generate the greatest possible returns.
PV
Planned value
Resource Management
Resource management, a system and set of tools to allocate resources across projects and a portfolio of projects, so that they combine as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Road mapping
A visual planning technique aimed at building a big-picture view of a complex subject.
ROI
Return on investment
QA
Quality assurance
RAID
Risk assumptions issue dependencies
RAG
Red amber green
RCE
Revised cost estimate
RFI/P/Q
Request for information/proposal/quotation. Check out our free RFP template for PPM Software
RIO
Risk issues opportunities
RPA
Robotics Process Automation is the replication of human actions to perform a sequence of steps that lead to some sort of useful activity without any human intervention. Learn more about the use of Robotic Process Automation in Project Management
SCAT
Service continuity accreditation testing
SCM
Strategic capacity management, a system and set of tools to match demand, and predicted demand, with available production capabilities.
SCRUM
An agile software development methodology based on incremental processes, that uses 30-day iterations (“Sprints”) and small, self-organizing teams.
Six Sigma
A management framework using statistical methods to maximize the quality of an organisation’s end products, by identifying and eliminating sources of defects and reducing variability.
SME
Small to medium enterprise/Subject matter expert
SOW
Statement of work
SPM
Strategic portfolio management, a system and set of tools to help organizations align their long and medium term strategic goals, with their resource management and capacity planning (see above).
SRO
Strategy realization office(r): What is a strategy realization office?
Stage-Gate
A project management model using a five-stage, phase-gate process to help structure and speed up new product development projects.
SWOT
Strengths weaknesses opportunities threats
VRCE
Variance from revised cost estimate
Waterfall
A product development methodology in which a project is broken into phases that follow each other sequentially, in a steady flow downwards.
WBS
Work breakdown structure
WIP
Work in progress
XP
Extreme programming, one of the first agile (see above) software development methods, emphasizing excellence of development skills over complex project management.