Procurement

SOW

Project Scope
Project SOW Statement

Eng. Moemen Barakat , PMPⓇ , Fidic 2017 ,

6Sigma , Business Continuity
Mob : +966/545669454
Let’s Think & Discuss
Article Highlights

1 - Statement of Work (SOW) vs Project Scope Statement

2 - Illustrated Example
3 - Which Comes First ?
4 - Project Statement of Work (SOW) vs Procurement
Statement of Work (SOW)

Eng. Moemen Barakat , PMPⓇ , Fidic 2017 ,

6Sigma , Business Continuity
Mob : +966/545669454
Let’s Think & Discuss
 Project SOW Project Scope Procurement
Statement SOW

Definition is known as Project Statement of
Work (to distinguish with
Procurement Statement of
Work) is a document including
the high level description of the
intended deliverables of the
project.
a document including more
details than Project
Statement of Work on the
scope and deliverables of
the project, major
assumptions and
constraints are also added
if appropriate.
As its name suggest, the
Procurement Statement of
Work is to be created during
Project Procurement
Management. It contains
enough detail to allow potential
sellers to decide whether they
are qualified or beneficial to
pursue the project work.

From the PMOBK Guide definitions, it seems that both Statement of

Work and Project Scope Statement are very similar as they both
contains the descriptions of the project deliverables. However, when
researched in more depths, it can be found that:

Statement of Work (SOW) contains high level information of the

project deliverables
Project Scope Statement contains more details of the deliverables
plus assumptions and constraints Let’s Think & Discuss
 Project SOW
Contents Statement of Work (SOW)
contains at least the following
three elements:
Organization strategic plan
Business needs
High level product scope
These are meant to provide an
overarching direction for the
project only, NOT the full
implementation details. The high
level product scope contained in
the statement of work must be
further developed in order for all
stakeholders and project team
members to really understand
what are expected from the
project. This is where the Project
Scope Statement comes into play.
Project Scope Procurement
Statement SOW
Project Scope Statement on
the other hands includes
The Procurement Statement of Work
includes the following elements:
lots of details for the
project (not necessarily performance (describe what can be
include all of the following): accomplished)
functional (convey the end purpose
objectives or result)
project scope design (convey precisely what are
product scope to be done)
requirements The Procurement Statement of Work
boundaries may be developed by either the
deliverables seller or buyer. You will just need to
acceptance criteria remember that the Project
constraints Statement of Work (SOW) is mostly
assumptions intended for internal use while the
milestones Procurement Statement of Work
cost estimation (SOW) is for always for external use
specifications
configuration management
requirements
approval requirements
Which Comes First?
These two terms are often confused in real-world practice as project managers may use the
two terms interchangeably to refer to documentation containing all the work to be done for
the project. But according to the PMBOK® Guide (as the PMBOK® Guide is intended for
medium to large scale projects), the Statement of Work (SOW) would only contain very high
level scope while the Project Scope Statement contains the full details.

Since the Statement of Work (SOW) contains a high level description of the project scope
while the Project Scope Statement contains the lower level (more detailed) description of the
project scope, it can be easily inferred that the Project Scope Statement is developed from
the contents of the Statement of Work (SOW). So the following documents need to be
developed in sequence:

Project Statement of Work (SOW) – documenting the very first ideas for the project
Project Charter – formally authorizing the project and project manager (= SOW + Business
Case + Contract)
Project Scope Statement – when the project manager is collecting requirements and defining
scope

Eng. Moemen Barakat , PMPⓇ , Fidic 2017 ,

6Sigma , Business Continuity
Mob : +966/545669454 Let’s Think & Discuss