This article is part of a series on the roles and responsibilities involved in performing Integrated Program Management. Other articles included in this series are:
The Control Account Manager, or CAM, plays a critical role in an Earned Value Management System (EVMS). The CAM is responsible for the planning, coordination and achievement of all work within a Control Account and they provide a single authority for all scope, technical and cost issues for the control account – not an easy task.
Three attributes are necessary for a CAM to be effective:
A CAM must be given full responsibility for managing the cost, schedule and technical performance of the Control Account, and for supporting all customer meetings and data requests pertaining to the Control Account. To be effective, the CAM must have ownership of the budget and full authority to direct resources. Specifically, the CAM should be responsible for:
The CAM must have authority to review and approve all work assignments, documents and commitments involving the control account. Without this authority, the CAM becomes simply an "embedded reporter" who cannot act on the information they get from the EVM System. Examples of items the CAM should have authority for are:
Finally, a CAM is accountable for control account performance. Specifically the CAM is authorized by and accountable to the Program Manager for the complete cost, schedule and technical objectives. This accountability is not complete without the responsibility and authority to manage the scope, schedule, and resources. CAMs also participate in Program Reviews, Integrated Baseline Reviews (IBRs) and other project or management reviews, where accountability becomes critical.
CAMs use information from several software tools to assist in managing the control account. These might include the scheduling engine, the cost engine or EVM reporting tool. Some examples include:
Pinnacle offers mentoring and training services to help CAMs prepare for IBRs and CAM notebook preparation. We recommend some specific tasks for new CAMs:
Pinnacle has been guiding and helping Control Account Managers in a number of different situations:
Talk to a Pinnacle professional regarding your Control Account Managers - Give Us a Call or .
Topics: Aerospace & Defense, Energy, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Earned Value Management (EVM), Integrated Program Management (IPM), Deltek PPM, Government & Public Sector, forProject Technology
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