Constructing program management framework

Programs are aimed at achieving long term objectives that create value to stakeholders. They consist of a portfolio of projects, each of which aims at achieving specific sub-goals. A program emerges as a system of systems (SoS) when these projects are connected in a systemic way to accomplish program objectives. This entails that programs have an architecture that defines how the various projects interact to accomplish the overall objectives. Current program management approaches, however, largely treat programs as a collection of projects that are managed operationally to optimize outcomes at each level, rather than as a system to be architected. This paper develops a systemic architecture for programs in terms of three interconnected facets: value realization, program construction and program execution, and highlights the role of program worldview in this. Each of these facets brings out some aspects of the way in which projects relate to each other within a program. We propose an iterative framework in which models are developed for addressing each facet, but there is also an overall structure of activity and information flows that facilitates interplay and co-evolution of the models. The result is a holistic approach to managing programs as a system of systems, at a level over and above project management.