What Is Baseline?

Baselines are like the weather—you never know what you will get. They're also like catnip—if you don't keep an eye on them, they'll get away from you. Baselines are an essential thing in IT management. They're a fixed reference point against which all performances are measured and compared. Baselines are the official end of project planning and the start of project execution and control. Control of baselines is crucial for project and IT management. If you have no baseline, then there's no way for anyone to know how far along any given process is or how long it should take (or even how long it did). Without a baseline, there's no way to measure success or failure—or even if there was success or failure! A baseline is like a mile marker on the road to success. You can't see where you're going unless you know where you're starting. And a baseline helps you do that. A baseline gives you a clear picture of where your project is at, so you can make sure it's on track and adjust accordingly if it isn't. Any project leader needs to be able to evaluate how well their project is doing and compare that with how well they planned for it to go to forecast outcomes. A baseline can help them because it gives them an objective view of what's happening and when. The three Bs of IT management: Baselines, Baselines, and more Baselines! Baselines are the foundation on which all project management is built. You'll find them in every project management software application, and they're a crucial part of any earned value measurement. Basically, they're the starting point for any project—what it will cost to complete, how long it should take to finish, and what the end result will be. Whenever changes are made to a project (like new features or an extension in deadline), schedules are adjusted, and new baselines are used. Because this happens so often in IT management (especially when you have so many projects at once), keeping track of these new baselines can be tricky. That's why most project management applications have features for maintaining and tracking baselines so that you can stay on top of them all!