S

Schedule baseline A copy of the schedule prior to the start of project work that is used during project execution to monitor project progress.

Schedule control Documenting and managing changes to the project schedule.

Schedule development Calculating and preparing the schedule of project activities, which becomes the schedule baseline. It determines activity start and finish dates, and finalizes activity sequences and durations; assigning resources to activities is done in resource planning, a cost management planning process.

Schedule performance index (SPI) The ratio of work completed to the work planned, measured over time. The SPI indicator acts as an efficiency rating. The formula is SPI = EV / PV.

Schedule update Any change that is made to the project schedule as part of the ongoing work involved with managing the project.

Schedule variance (SV) The difference between a task's progress as compared to its estimated progress represented in terms of cost. The formula is SV = EV - PV.

Scope The size of the work involved to complete the project. Can define both what is included in the project as well as what is excluded from the project.

Scope change control Documenting and managing changes to project scope. Any modification to the agreed on WBS is considered a scope change. Changes in product scope will require changes to project scope.

Scope creep The minor changes or small additions that are made to the project outside of a formal scope change process.

Scope definition A Guide to the PMBOK defines scope definition as the process of breaking down the major deliverables from the scope statement to create the WBS. For purposes of the CompTIA objectives and exam, scope definition is used in a much broader sense to cover several scope planning elements, including the scope statement and the scope management plan.

Scope management plan Analyzes the reliability and stability of the project scope. Documents the process that manages project scope and changes to project scope.

Scope planning The work of the project, culminating in the scope statement, which describes the project deliverables, objectives, and justification.

Scope statement Documents the project goals, deliverables, and requirements, which are used as a baseline for future project decisions. It also includes the project objectives and the business justification for the project.

Scope verification Formal acceptance of the project scope; primarily concerned with the acceptance of work results.

Scoring model One of the benefit measurement methods . It contains a predefined list of criteria against which each project is ranked. Each criterion has a scoring range and a weighting factor.

Sequencing Putting the project activities in the order in which they will take place.

Sidebar systems Systems that arise out of end- user frustration with the limitations of the primary system. End users may use a spreadsheet or database to help them work through some of the processing requirements of an ERP system. Sidebar systems often don't show up at requirements gathering time because people are afraid to reveal sidebar systems.

Slack time The amount of time allowed to delay the early start of a task without delaying the finish date of the project. Also known as float time.

Software development life cycle (SDLC) A methodology that describes five distinct phases involved in building any system. The five phases are Planning, Analysis, Design, Implementation and Operations, and Support. Also known as the systems development life cycle

Sole source A requirement that a product or service must be obtained from a single vendor in government work; also includes justification.

Solicitation Obtaining bids and proposals from vendors in response to RFPs and similar documents prepared during the solicitation planning process.

Sponsor An executive in the organization with authority to assign resources and enforce decisions regarding the project.

Staff acquisition Attaining human resources and assigning them to the project. Human resources may come from inside or outside the organization.

Staffing management plan Documents when and how human resources will be added to and released from the project team and what they will be working on while they are part of the team. Adding and releasing resources may be an informal or a formal process, depending on the organization.

Stakeholder A person or organization who has a vested interest in the project and stands to gain or lose something as a result of the project.

Start to finish A task relationship where the finish of the successor task is dependent on the start of its predecessor.

Start to start A project task relationship where the start of the successor task depends on the start of the predecessor task.

Statement of work (SOW) Contains the details of a procurement item in clear, concise terms and includes the project objectives, a description of the work of the project, concise specifications of the product or services required, and a project schedule.

Status date The date when the project manager measures how much has been spent on a specific task.

Storage area network (SAN) A network of storage arrays, designed to provide the safekeeping of information. May be connected by fiber- optic cabling using the fiber channel protocol, but this doesn't have to be the case. May be connected by Ethernet, or other protocols.

Storage array A device that houses multiple disks designed to provide a highly fault-tolerant and highly available place where information can be stored. At a minimum, provides a method of making the information available to users and a system for monitoring the health of the array.

Success criteria A definition of the measurable business results the product is expected to produce.

Successor A task that exists on a common path with another task and occurs after the other task.

System design specification The final outcome of the design phase of SDLC; a document detailing what the system will do, how it will do it, and what it will cost. Used by systems developers who will actually build the new system.

System request A request made by business unit stakeholders for a new system.

Systems analysis Analyzing the details of a systems project request to determine how the current system (if any) flows and how the new system will change in its flows. Involves understanding the way that the business organization currently does its work and how that work translates into a new system. Also involves understanding how the various system components will connect physically and logically together. This is the second phase of an SDLC.

Systems analyst (SA) Person specially trained in the analysis and design of a business request for a new system.

Systems design Designing a new system after obtaining a request from a business unit for a new project and analyzing the flows of the system. This is the third phase of an SDLC.

Systems implementation Deploying the new system. This is the fourth phase of an SDLC.

Systems operations and support Maintaining, upgrading, and enhancing the released system. This is the fifth and final stage of an SDLC.

Systems planning Receiving a request for a new project from a business unit, examining the requirements of that request, and formulating it into a working project document. This is the first phase of an SDLC.