Variance Thresholds
Management by exception, concentrating on areas that exceed predefined thresholds, is an efficient way to manage a large project.
For each code in a code or resource file, you can specify either a positive or a negative threshold for cost and schedule variances as well as whether the threshold is based on a fixed value or a percentage.
Thresholds can be analyzed in the following areas:
- Analyze utility
- IPMR CPR Format 1 report
- IPMR CPR Format 5 report
- CPR Format 1 report
- CPR Format 5 report
- Earned Value report
- Codes report
- Export Codes report
When the variance calculated exceeds the threshold defined for the code or resource, Cobra triggers an exception and highlights the value with a color. For example, assume that an unfavorable threshold of 10% is defined for a specific WBS element. If the costs associated with that WBS element exceed the budget by 10% or more, Cobra highlights the unfavorable cost variance.
To enable a code or resource file to have variance thresholds, use the Thresholds page of the New Resource File Wizard or the Thresholds page of the New Code File Wizard. After creating the files, you can modify the variance thresholds on the Thresholds tab of the Resource view or on the Thresholds tab of the Code view.
For codes, you can set the threshold logic that Cobra uses to evaluate the favorable and unfavorable thresholds for cost and schedule variances.