FISMA News

CA Extends Its Leading PPM Solution with Integrated Earned Value Management Functionality to Increase Government Project Success Rates

(Sept 10, 2008)-- CA enhanced its market leading CA Clarity Project and Portfolio Manager (PPM) solution by fully integrating cost and schedule measurement functionality to help U.S. Federal government agencies and contractors conform to the ANSI/EIA-748 standard for Earned Value Management Systems. CA’s advanced Earned Value Management (EVM) functionality addresses the need for a comprehensive project tracking and reporting solution at a time when EVM is the number one factor driving public-sector growth in the adoption of PPM solutions, according to industry analyst firm Gartner. By including EVM in its Federal PPM solution, CA extends its existing capabilities around Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) which improve the quality and speed of Exhibit 300 and 53 business case submissions.

Built atop the robust project and financial management capabilities of CA Clarity PPM, the new advanced EVM functionality provides federal agencies a single unified view of project planning and execution in order to manage budget forecasts, accrued cost and earned value data while satisfying the mandate to comply with ANSI/EIA-748.** Fully web-based for easy deployment and use across an organization, the advanced EVM functionality reduces complexity and increases efficiency by eliminating the excess time spent gathering EVM data. Users can now track EVM data with minimal effort and in real-time through customized views to ensure compliance and provide visibility for multiple stakeholders to make more effective project management decisions. Unlike existing disparate offerings which require each individual product be installed again for every upgrade, the advanced EVM functionality in CA Clarity PPM is deployed only once and easily scales as usage is expanded throughout the agency or organization.

“The ability to meet stringent IT project compliance regulations put forth by the U.S. Federal government has remained a complex undertaking, one that is compounded by the limited point solutions currently available,” said Helge Scheil, General Manager of CA’s IT Governance business unit. “By adding advanced EVM capabilities into our leading CA Clarity PPM product, federal agencies and contractors now have a comprehensive solution which greatly reduces the complexities associated with meeting EVM mandates for critical IT investments. As a result, agencies can expect to significantly increase their ease of compliance and IT project success rates.”

Through configured dashboard views, CA Clarity PPM allows project managers to create budgets and update forecasts including labor, expense, materials and equipment categories. Multiple agency stakeholders are also able to quickly access earned value data and define their own individual structures such as by division, geography or resource pool. This capability provides each level of the organization with the most relevant metrics for their decision making.

“Government agencies understand the importance of demonstrating greater IT efficiency and value, particularly during the current economic downturn,” said David McClure, Managing VP, Gartner, Inc. “While the EVM mandate was established to ensure greater project control and meet approved cost and performance goals, government organizations still struggle with technical challenges involving diverse operating systems platforms and application integration. Project and portfolio management tools with integrated EVM functionality are increasingly being looked to as a means to help address the specific project management requirements common within the public-sector.”

* Gartner, Inc., Public-Sector PPM Technology Provider Survey: Continued Growth in a Challenging Market, David McClure, March 24, 2008

**The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires that major IT investments use an Earned Value Management approach that conforms to the ANSI/EIA-748 standard in order to comply with Federal mandates including OMB Circular A-11, OMB 300 and 53, FISMA and A-123. 

For more information, visit www.ca.com.

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