project management glossary

baseline

 A planning and control instrument in the form of a summary of attributes such as quantity, quality, timing, costs, etc, that establishes a formal reference for comparison and verification of subsequent efforts, progress, analysis and control. Can be for project, business or technical management control.

 The gate controlled elaboration of functional, performance, and physical characteristics, mutually agreed to by buyer and seller, and under formal change control. Typical baselines are User Requirements Baseline, Concept Baseline, System Specification Baseline, Design-to Baseline, Build-to Baseline, As-built Baseline, As-tested Baseline, As-fielded Baseline, etc.

 A reviewed and approved release of artifacts that constitutes an agreed basis for further evolution or development and that can be changed only through a formal procedure, such as change management and configuration control.

 An element of the business case for a program, describing costs and performance levels that would be achieved if those operations continued unchanged over the planned period of the program. The baseline is used to compare the costs and benefits of the options evaluated in the business case.

 The set of assumptions and methods which are used as the basis for the evaluation of risk in a project and its subsequent management. Risk analysis is impossible without a baseline which would, for example, include information on the objectives of the project, values of key financial parameters like discount rates, assumed levels of cash flows, financial model adopted, etc.

 See Baseline Plan