By Chet Farmer, Vice President, Technical Services, forProject Technology, Inc.
TL;DR: forProject attended NDIA’s Fall 2026 Integrated Program Management Division (IPMD) Forum, August 25–27 in Tampa. The highlight was a keynote by Maj. Gen. (Ret.) David Abba on keeping earned value focused on the mission, with the metrics in service of it.
Event page: Fall 2026 IPMD Forum (NDIA)
Insight > Compliance.
Aside from seeing our valuable partners and customers — and of course enjoying the lovely site with a view of Tampa Bay — the highlight for me was certainly retired Air Force Maj. Gen. David Abba‘s keynote.
The main message was simple: Insight > Compliance. Being super rigid about key performance parameters (KPP) at the expense of context doesn’t help anybody.
It can be easy to let the specifics of our discipline obscure the goals of the projects we track.
A simple statement like “the mission, not the metrics” shouldn’t be seen as a dismissal of the hard and necessary work of earned value analysis. Instead, it helps us remember that the goal is the delivery of a successful program.
Minimal variances, or rounding-error-level differences between reporting systems, ought not tie us in knots.
Mastering EV means keeping the greater scope AND the detailed metrics in focus at all times; privileging one at the expense of the other invariably leads to tears.
EV done right lets us see risks sooner, which means taking action when problems are smaller and more solvable.
And, of course, it’s always fun to see the general’s proud dad, longtime earned value pioneer Wayne Abba, seated in the front row — having multiple generations of earned value experts in a room is always pretty neat.
About the event
The IPMD Forum is hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and brings government, industry and academia together to advance integrated program management and the EIA-748 EVMS standard.
Related: DoD Moves to Confine Mandatory EVM to Major Programs, Retires Separate EVMS Validation Regime
Added to our news archive in September 2026.