Exploring the differences between a project and a program

Many of the tools and processes are the same between a project and a program. One major difference is scope. In this case, there is the program scope, which has its own set of requirements in the form of the program goals. These requirements are relayed down to the projects that impact them. Though I’ve been referencing the Windows Rollout Project, these requirements could easily have been for any of the other platforms.

When starting the program, you need to refine the goals in the same way you refine the project requirements. In Chapter 3, we stated the Mercury program’s goal is to have a P2P messaging application with a 90% user reach. This is an okay goal with enough wiggle room to assume success, but from a requirement standpoint, it’s too vague. What is user reach? How do we measure 90% of that?

There are also technical issues with this statement. Let’s say that the user base means all...