Scope creep
Scope creep is gradual expansion of project scope without adequate assessment and corresponding changes to the plan.
Scope creep is gradual, uncontrolled expansion of project scope. Additional requirements are taken on without adequately assessing their effects and adapting the plan.
A fictional project is meant to deliver an order overview. Stock alerts and route optimisation are added during implementation as apparently small extras. They require additional data, rules and tests. If these tasks remain outside the visible plan, the actual scope grows unnoticed.
New learning may change the plan. A deliberately assessed and prioritised change that adjusts scope, effort and other work is a managed adaptation. The important point is an explicit decision on the effects. A change request helps record it.
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Related terms
- Change requestA change request records a proposed change to an agreed project baseline for assessment and decision.
- 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.
- Operating costsExpenditure to plan for the ongoing operation of an IT solution.
- Project summaryA project summary briefly brings together an initiative’s purpose, boundaries, owners and key constraints.
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