According to the PMBOKGuide (specifically in the context of the Develop Project Charter process), the Project Statement of Work (SOW) is a critical narrative document used to define the boundaries of the project before it is formally authorized.
* Definition: The SOW is a narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by the project. For internal projects, the project initiator or sponsor provides the statement of work based on business needs, product, or service requirements. For external projects, the statement of work can be received from the customer as part of a bid document (e.g., a request for proposal, request for information, or as part of a contract).
* Key Components: The SOW typically references:
* Business Need: An organization's business need may be based on a market demand, technological advance, legal requirement, government regulation, or environmental consideration.
* Product Scope Description: Documents the characteristics of the product, service, or results that the project will be undertaken to create.
* Strategic Plan: Documents the organization ' s strategic goals and ensures the project aligns with the corporate mission.
Comparison with other options:
* B. Business case: This document provides the necessary information from a business standpoint to determine whether or not the project is worth the required investment. It focuses on the economic feasibility and " why " of the project, rather than a narrative description of the deliverables.
* C. Accepted deliverable: These are products, results, or capabilities produced by a project and validated by the customer or sponsor as meeting their specified acceptance criteria during the Validate Scope process.
* D. Work performance information: This consists of the performance data collected from various controlling processes, analyzed in context and integrated based on relationships across areas. It describes how the project is performing (e.g., status of deliverables), but it is not the initial narrative description of what is to be delivered.