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The genesis of EVM occurred in industrial manufacturing at the turn of the20th century, based largely on the principle of "earned time" popularized by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, but the concept took root in the United States Department of Defense in the1960s. The original concept was called PERT/COST, but it was considered overly burdensome (not very adaptable) by contractors who were mandated to use it, and many variations of it began to proliferate among various procurement programs. In1967, the DoD established a criterion-based approach, using a set of35 criteria, called the Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria (C/SCSC). In1970s and early1980s, a subculture of C/SCSC analysis grew, but the technique was often ignored or even actively resisted by project managers in both government and industry. C/SCSC was often considered a financial control tool that could be delegated to analytical specialists.
In1979, EVM was introduced to the architecture and engineering industry in a "Public Works Magazine" article by David Burstein, a project manager with a national engineering firm. This technique has been taught ever since as part of the project management training program presented by PSMJ Resources, an international training and consulting firm that specializes in the engineering and architecture industry.
In the late1980s and early1990s, EVM emerged as a project management methodology to be understood and used by managers and executives, not just EVM specialists. In1989, EVM leadership was elevated to the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, thus making EVM an essential element of program management and procurement. In1991, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney canceled the Navy A-12 Avenger II Program because of performance problems detected by EVM. This demonstrated conclusively that EVM mattered to secretary-level leadership. In the1990s, many U.S. Government regulations were eliminated or streamlined. However, EVM not only survived the acquisition reform movement, but became strongly associated with the acquisition reform movement itself. Most notably, from1995 to1998, ownership of EVM criteria was transferred to industry by adoption of ANSI EIA748-A standard.
The use of EVM quickly expanded beyond the U.S. Department of Defense. It was adopted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States Department of Energy and other technology-related agencies. Many industrialized nations also began to utilize EVM in their own procurement programs. An overview of EVM was included in first PMBOK Guide in1987 and expanded in subsequent editions. The construction industry was an early commercial adopter of EVM. Closer integration of EVM with the practice of project management accelerated in the1990s. In1999, the Performance Management Association merged with the Project Management Institute (PMI) to become PMI’s first college, the College of Performance Management. The United States Office of Management and Budget began to mandate the use of EVM across all government agencies, and, for the first time, for certain internally managed projects (not just for contractors). EVM also received greater attention by publicly traded companies in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of2002.
