Program

Definition

Program (a.k.a., Programme, Portfolio): a mid-sized endeavor consisting of two or more related projects that are managed as a unit in order to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually

As illustrated in the preceding figure, Program is part of the following inheritance hierarchy:

Type: Abstract
Superclass: Endeavor
Subclasses:
- Product Line Project
  A program of projects, each one producing an individual application in a product line of applications.
- Related Project
  Concurrent development of two or more related applications (e.g., the development of a Web-based and wireless order taking system).
- Sequential Project
  Sequential projects to create and maintain a single application:
  - An initial initiation phase project to determine the size, complexity, cost, schedule, and viability of an application.
  - A following construction and delivery phase project to produce and deliver the completed application.
- Variant Project
  Concurrent development of a:
  - Quick and dirty version of an application to achieve initial market visibility and market share.
  - Well-engineered replacement version of the same application to meet business and quality requirements.

The typical responsibilities of a Program are to:

Elimininate unnecessary redundancies (e.g., duplicate effort and costs) between related projects.
Ensure standardization (e.g., development process, technology, platforms, and legacy integration) across related projects.
Improve reuse (e.g., of work products, developer training) across related projects.
Improve effort, schedule, and cost estimation across related projects.
Minimize development and maintainance costs across multiple related applications produced by multiple related projects.

The identification of programs of related projects typically occurs during the business strategy phase.
A program is also spelled “programme” to differentiate it from a computer program.