ABSTRACT
Once the charter is completed and initial funding is confirmed, the project formally begins and the documents around it become the blueprints for success. For large, complex, or lengthy projects, the preparation of a business requirements document (BRD) normally involves extensive information collection, synthesis, documentation, and validation. These activities therefore benefit from careful planning. The Statement of Work (SOW) specifies how the business requirements will be achieved and includes the overall project approach and tactics, a detailed timeframe with key milestones, funding details, success criteria, assumptions, constraints, and traceability to specific business requirements documented in the BRD. Although the SOW serves as a principal reference document for all project efforts, changes are inevitable. The project plan document serves as the main control mechanism, both by specifying project phases and by decomposing these phases into specific tasks with associated timeframes, resources, dependencies, and deliverables.
