Artifacts III — Reports, Agreements & Other

The summary reports stakeholders rely on, the agreements & contracts that bind buyer and seller, and the remaining commonly used artifacts.

Reports§4.6.7 · summary information

Quality

Quality Report

Quality issues, corrective-action recommendations, and a summary of QC findings & improvements.

Risk

Risk Report

Developed progressively; summarises individual risks and the level of overall project risk.

Status

Status Report

Current status, progress since the last report, and cost/schedule forecasts.

Other artifacts§4.6.9

Activity list — scheduled activities with detail.

Bid documents — RFP, RFQ, RFI to solicit sellers.

Metrics — measures with definition & target.

Project calendars — available working days/shifts.

Requirements documentation — requirements & attributes.

Project team charter — team values, agreements, operating guidelines.

User story — brief outcome for a user; a promise of a conversation.

Agreements & contracts§4.6.8 · buyer ↔ seller

An agreement defines intentions; a contract is mutually binding — the seller provides, the buyer pays. Contract type shifts risk between the parties:

Defined scope

Fixed-Price

Set price for a well-defined deliverable. FFP, FPIF, FP-EPA. Most risk on the seller.

Evolving scope

Cost-Reimbursable

Pay actual cost + fee (profit). CPAF, CPFF, CPIF. Used when scope is unclear; more risk on the buyer.

Hybrid

Time & Materials (T&M)

Pay for time & materials at agreed rates; blends fixed-price and cost-reimbursable traits.

Open quantity

IDIQ & others

Indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity; plus MOA, MOU, SLA and other understandings.