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SNA CEO Presented Award for Project Management Contributions

  • Nicholas
  • December 13, 2024
  • 2:21 pm
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SNA CEO Presented Award for Lifetime Project Management Contributions

Nicholas Pisano awarded the Driessnack Distinguished Service Award by the College of Performance Management

Nicholas Pisano, the founder and CEO of SNA Software LLC, which is the maker of the Proteus Envision suite and Envision Transformer ETL solutions, was awarded the Driessnack Distinguished Service Award by the College of Performance Management (mycpm.org) on December 12, 2024.

The award, which is voted on by the board of the organization, is given to individuals who have made major contributions to project performance management policy, concepts, and practices, which have national and international implications. In addition, it recognizes individuals who have provided critical contributions to the evolution of Earned Value Management and project planning and control standards, research, and education, and have promoted the exchange of theory, development, and application among project management professionals.

Mr. Pisano's contributions spans both his roles on active duty military service and as a civilian post-Service.

Significant service and achievements in acquisition management, contracts, project and program management, and earned value noted in the award include:

  • Original member of Navy Procurement Corps
  • During acquisition reform 1982-85 co-authored and instituted new contracting policies in the area of price determination and reasonableness, proper distribution of overhead and G&A on service contracts, breakout of spare parts, claw-back of A&D industry overcharging, and initiatives for competition.
  • Program Manager of Joint Procurement System Development Program. Brought back within cost and schedule thresholds and reached milestone C ahead of schedule and under cost. (1983-84)
  • Recovered NAS Miramar in wake of procurement scandal in appointment by Secretary of the Navy. (1985)
  • Program Manager of Navy Supply Corps School Digitization Program. Published the school’s first website and digitized curriculum and documentation. Launched virtual learning. (1992-1995).
  • Business Manager and CIO of PEO(A) at NAVAIR. (1995-97)
    • Co-developer of the method for the integration of technical performance, earned value and risk in program management, fusing PPM and Systems Engineering domains. The paper “Technical Performance Measurement, Earned Value, and Risk Management: An Integrated Diagnostic Tool for Program Management” awarded the Aker Skill in Communication Award from the DCMC Acquisition Symposium in 1997. The TPM methodology was deployed by Navy programs and has been refined since that time.
    • Presented TPM methodology research and model to INCOSE and initiated working group to incorporate it in SE methodology.
    • Defunded and released to the public domain the government EV tool, Performance Analyzer, in order to encourage private development of EVM and PM software applications.
    • Funded research with Matt Goldberg at the Institute of Defense Analysis (IDA) for refinements to simulated Monte Carlo analysis in schedule risk analysis.
    • Developed and established a risk-based management reserve for the PEO(A) portfolio of programs for risk handling and mitigation.
    • Funded and sponsored the development of neutral commercial schemas for EVM and schedule files using the ANSI X12 format.
  • Lead Action Officer of Integrated Program Management, OUSD(A&T), 1997.
    • Co-author of DoD Integrated Digital Environment (IDE) policy and guidance, outlining the concept of data transformation and integration using neutral schemas for program management data originating in the R&D industrial base. This vision outlined the flow of data from the DIB to DoD using neutral data schemas across domains in an automated manner. Incorporated research performed at the Navy Postgraduate School in 1995.
    • Staffed approval across all Services and stakeholders to establish the ANSI X12 839 transaction set as the standard for DoD. Published the requirement in the 1997 update to the DoD 5000.2R regulation making the schema the standard across DoD program submission for earned value management.
    • Assisted Gary Christle (OUSD(A&T) in the development and advocacy of the Cost as an Independent Variable (CAIV) concept.
    • Continued work with the Services and DoD agencies, INCOSE, NCMA, NDIA, PMI, and PMA (now CPM) in establishing an integrated model of project management that incorporated financial, cost estimating, systems engineering, scheduling, risk, and technical performance.

As CEO of SNA.

  • Advocated for and participated in PARCA working group for new standard schema to replace the ANSI X12 839 and proprietary datasets that had siloed DoD data over time. This became the IPMR XML file.
  • Shared company research with PARCA that was based on a Stanford study showing that proprietary schedules were, in fact, reconcilable and could be mapped to a neutral data schema.
  • Participated in the IPMR working group update to include schedule performance data.
  • Participated in a PARCA proof-of-concept to demonstrate the efficacy and validity of transforming schedule performance data into the IPMR XML file. Successfully achieved the goal of proof.
  • Developed extensions and participated with OSD and NDIA IPMD working groups for expansion of the IPMR in include DCMA test metrics and greater risk and schedule analysis. This new schema eventually became the IPMDAR JSON schema.
  • Continuing to work to build solutions across PM domains.

Mr. Pisano's comments and the full award presentation, which also includes awardees for the Driessnack, Christle, and other awards can be found at this link on YouTube: CPM Recognition and Awards 2024.

Asked for comment, Mr. Pisano remarked: "As I said during the ceremony, the award isn't so much personal for me because it is the recognition that those who mentored and assisted me--and those colleagues who work at SNA and elsewhere--made this award and the achievements cited possible. My wife and partner, Donna, is my north star and continues to guide me into the future as we continue the good work of advancing the project management discipline using the best practices and technology."

The College of Performance Management is the premier volunteer organization in the area of project, program, and portfolio performance management, with a firm grounding in earned value management practices. It has a distinguished history, going back to when it was known as the Program Management Association (PMA). Its members and alumni have influenced and advanced public policy and private best business practices across its history.