Project summary
A project summary briefly brings together an initiative’s purpose, boundaries, owners and key constraints.
Establish a shared view of an initiative
A project summary is a short overview that helps people understand an initiative. It states its reason, objective, scope, responsible roles and key constraints. In a fictional example, a shared appointment view is to be introduced. Visibility of available service appointments is part of the objective; automatic rescheduling is outside the agreed scope.
Also record unresolved assumptions and the next decision. Link to maintained documents for detail rather than creating contradictory copies. The summary replaces neither a schedule, detailed requirements nor later result checking. Its extent and approval follow the agreed project method; the name alone does not make it a particular formal document.
Sources
Related terms
- Decision briefA decision brief prepares a specific choice by presenting options, rationale, consequences and unresolved assumptions.
- Requirements catalogueA requirements catalogue organises requirements with identifiers and verifiable details. It helps track scope, unresolved questions and changes.
- Scope creepScope creep is gradual expansion of project scope without adequate assessment and corresponding changes to the plan.
- Exit strategyA prepared route to switch, take over or retire an IT service in an orderly way.
- Migration costsEffort and expenditure for the planned move of data or functions to another environment.
- Investment costsCosts of building a new or expanded IT capability, as considered in project planning.
Articles on this topic
IT Consulting & Strategy with ASES
Strategy, architecture and technology choice