PMP Challenge Question - 9/15

Before we get into the next question and the answer to the last one, here is how you can get a PMP Exam Prep book including PMP(r) Exam Success Series from Crosswind Project Management. This includes their "Brain Dump" review card and CD Exam Simulator. For a lucky runner up, I have a Prepare for the PMP(r) Exam: Formulas and Important Facts to Remember card from Value Based Project Management.


To be eligible for these prizes, you must:


a) correctly answer 2 of the next 3 PMP challenge questions (that would include 9/15, 10/1, and 10/15)

b) email your responses to sdcapmp@aol.com before 12:01am 10/30/2007

c) have your name drawn from the eligible emails received.


Winners will be notified by email and will need to supply a mailing address for prizes.


Note I won't be posting answers to these questions until after 10/30. I always acknowledge receipt of emails, so if you don't hear from me in 24-48 hours, you might want to try me again.


So first, here is today's challenge question:


Task A is worth $400, is 95% complete, and actually cost $395 so far. Task B is worth $350, is 85% complete, and actually cost $330 so far. Task C is worth $500, is 100% complete, and actually cost $450. Task D is worth $1,000, is and is not started. In Earned Value terms, what is the value of AC for this project?


Now let's take a look at the answer to the 9/1 Challenge Question:

I asked you to calculate the PERT value for the network presented on 8/1 and 8/15 using the Early Start, Duration, and Early Finish. I'm going to show you what it looks like when you use the critical path with the most tasks. This is probably most representative of the PERT time, but you could use the second critical path as well for validation. The key facts to solving the question are:


1) PERT is a weigthed average of the most likly, most pessimistic, and most optimistic time.

2) You cannot add standard deviations, so you need to compute the variance to determine the range of confidence.

A chart of the tablular results can be found here.

Adding the numbers together, we calcuate the PERT duration as 33.16 units +/- 10.76 units at one confidence interval.

Good luck with the next challenge!