Why Partnering for Program Planning & Controls Creates Lasting Value

Understanding ROI for PP&C Partnerships

Every major program tells a story: about risk, ambition, and the relentless pursuit of execution excellence. From the first schedule baseline to the final cost variance report, Program Planning and Controls (PP&C) defines how that story unfolds. It answers the three timeless questions every customer asks: When will it be done? How much will it cost? What are the risks?

However, all too often PP&C is treated as a compliance exercise; a back-office necessity rather than a strategic discipline. Yet every chart, milestone, and variance analysis communicate more than numbers; it conveys confidence. When properly structured, PP&C becomes the narrative backbone of a program, transforming data into meaning and enabling leadership to demonstrate control, credibility, and trust.

Engaging a consulting partner with specialized PP&C expertise is not a binary decision between doing it yourself or outsourcing the function. It rep-resents a continuum of support that adapts to your needs, maturity, and objectives. For some, that means targeted staffing or gap fill to stabilize ongoing work. For others, it means co-sourced teaming that strengthens internal capability while transferring proven methods and tools. For programs that require a fully integrated solution, Consultants can deliver PP&C end to end, embedded within the client’s program culture and processes. Across this spectrum, the value remains consistent.

SMA: The Program Lifecycle Company® (SMA) brings ready-to-perform practitioners, proven processes, and continuously refined tools that reduce ramp-up time, smooth the transition to maturity, and build confidence in execution. Because these services are delivered through a shared investment model, clients gain this capability at the same cost or less than developing and sustaining it internally, while avoiding the long-term overhead, turnover risk, and tool maintenance costs associated with building an organic team.

The Challenge of Organic Growth

In many organizations, developing a PP&C capability begins with good intentions. Leadership recognizes the need for rigor and assembles a capable team, but over time the momentum fades. The lack of sustained investment in training, modern tools, and capability development slowly erodes the organization’s PP&C foundation.

Without continued development, talented practitioners encounter limited opportunities for growth. They move on to roles that offer better career paths and professional recognition, leaving behind a gap often filled by individuals who “end up” in the role by circumstance rather than by design. The result is an expensive, fragile ecosystem, one where training occurs sporadically, tools fall out of date, and processes vary by project. The PP&C function becomes reactive, producing reports instead of insight.

Data collection is a necessary part of modern pro-gram management, but too many organizations treat it as the goal rather than the starting point. True value comes from having the people, processes, and tools to transform data into information and information into insight that drives informed decision-making. If success is defined only by loading data into a tool and producing reports by month’s end, with no time for analysis or trending, then the organization is managing data, not the program.

The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Global Project Management Talent Gap Report (2023) forecasts a shortfall of more than 30 million skilled project professionals by 2035. In this environment, organizations that fail to invest consistently in practitioner development and modern infrastructure face an uphill battle: escalating turnover, declining quality, and eroding credibility.

Sustained Investment, Shared Value

SMA was built on a simple premise: high-performing programs demand high-performing practitioners. PP&C is not a support function for us; it is our core business. We continuously invest in the recruitment, training, certification, and growth of our professionals, supported by state-of-the-art tools and methods aligned with Agile, General Accounting Office (GAO), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial best practices.

Our investment is amortized across hundreds of clients, giving each partner access to industry-leading capability with proven processes, experienced professionals, and continuously updated tools, without the burden of developing or maintaining that infrastructure internally.

A partnership with SMA allows you to leverage a shared investment model: you gain the benefits of an evolving, institutionalized PP&C practice that delivers consistency, credibility, and efficiency, at a cost equal to or less than maintaining an internal function.

Consultant Cost Parity with Organic Staffing

A frequent misconception is that consulting support costs more than in-house labor. When you compare the fully burdened cost of internal employees to the inclusive rate structure of our practitioners, the results show clear cost parity, often with a measurable advantage in favor of SMA.

When you compare the total lifecycle cost of an employee to the all-inclusive consulting rate, our practitioners deliver equal or superior capability at 15 to 25% lower total cost. This comparison excludes hidden costs such as attrition, retraining, and loss of continuity, which we effectively eliminate through stable staffing and knowledge retention.

On a normalized basis, an $85,000 employee role costs approximately $155,000 when fully burdened with benefits and overhead, as shown below.

Cost Element	Typical Organic PP&C Employee	SMA Consultant / Practitioner	Notes / Benchmark Sources
Base Salary	$85,000	$115,000 (consulting rate equivalent)	Represents fully loaded consulting labor rate for PP&C expertise
Benefits (Health, Retirement, PTO, etc.)	+35% = $29,750	Included in consulting rate	SHRM 2024: average benefits load 32–38%
Payroll Taxes (FICA, SUTA, Workers’ Comp)	+10% = $8,500	Included in consulting rate	BLS: employer tax burden 9–10% typical
Overhead (Facilities, IT, HR, Admin Support)	+25% = $21,250	Included in consulting rate	DoD Cost Data: 20–30% indirect burden common
Training & Certification	+3% = $2,550	Included in SMA’s shared investment model	SMA invests in continuous practitioner development at no client cost
Tools, Software, and Licenses	+2% = $1,700	Included in consulting rate	SMA provides enterprise tools and analytics infrastructure
Turnover & Recruiting Cost (Avg. 18-month cycle)	+7% = $5,950	Negligible (absorbed by SMA)	SHRM 2024: replacement costs 50–200% of salary; SMA mitigates through continuity
Fully Burdened Annual Cost	$154,700	$115,000–$125,000	SMA cost advantage = 15–25% lower for equivalent capability

Note: This analysis does not consider bonuses or other incentives organic PP&C employees may earn.

The equivalent SMA practitioner, including training, technology, management infrastructure, and effective utilization, costs roughly $115,000 to $125,000, delivering the same or higher capability at 15 to 25% lower total cost. Unlike internal employees who are paid for 2,080 hours per year regardless of productive output, SMA practitioners are billed only for productive time, typically between 1,500 and 1,700 hours annually. This higher utilization efficiency ensures that clients pay only for value-added work, not for idle or administrative time, which reinforces the cost neutrality or savings achieved through our model.

This parity in cost, combined with our sustained investment in people and tools, provides clients with both economic efficiency and superior program performance.

Demonstrating Return on Investment (ROI)

SMA partnerships do not just achieve cost parity, they deliver measurable returns, as shown below. Because we built our PP&C services on scalable expertise and shared investment, our clients experience substantial performance improvements without increased costs.

Category	Description	Typical Annual Impact / Benefit	Source / Validation
Productivity Gains	Improved resource utilization through integrated cost/schedule analysis and forecasting	5–10% increase in workforce efficiency	Derived from client program performance data
Cost Avoidance	Early identification of schedule and cost risk enabling corrective action before escalation	3–5% program cost avoidance	SMA client ROI analysis, PP&C performance metrics
Reduced Rework / Near-Zero Defect Environment	Standardized PP&C processes and quality controls	5–8% reduction in rework and rebaselining	SMA variance and quality data
Labor Efficiency	Fewer FTEs through improved utilization and shared services	10–15% improvement in labor efficiency	SMA transition and staffing models
Talent Retention & Continuity	Stable practitioner pools and interchangeable expertise	20–30% reduction in turnover-related costs	SHRM turnover cost model applied to PP&C roles
G&A / Program Finance Efficiency	Streamlined reporting, fewer audit findings, improved compliance	2–4% reduction in G&A overhead	Client finance metrics, NDIA PASEG validation
Total ROI	Integrated savings and cost avoidance from SMA partnership	3–6 × return on investment	SMA Partnering Model analysis

In many cases, our engagement yields quantifiable cost avoidance, productivity gains, and reductions in rework and risk exposure, creating a tangible return on investment that strengthens both financial and operational performance.

ROI as the Foundation, Capability as the Differentiator

While the ROI from using SMA provides financial justification for partnership, the capability we enable delivers the strategic differentiator. Our continuous investment in people, processes, and technology empowers clients to operate at a higher level of program maturity, often at the same or lower cost than building that capability internally. Clients supported by SMA achieve outcomes that extend beyond financial gain:

• Predictable performance with proactive risk management and credible forecasting that keep programs sold.
• Enhanced credibility with consistent, data-driven insights that build customer confidence and reduce audit exposure.
• Faster startup and agility from pre-trained, tool-enabled teams that deliver readiness from day one.
• Sustained improvement with a continuously advancing PP&C capability that evolves with program complexity.

In short, the ROI validates the partnership, but our delivered capability creates a competitive edge, enabling clients to execute more effectively, communicate more credibly, and outperform peers in operational excellence.

Practitioners Who Shape Outcomes

Our practitioners are more than data analysts; they are architects of control. They clarify what is real, anticipate what is changing, and integrate cost, schedule, and risk into one cohesive picture that drives action. This clarity of insight builds confidence across all levels of leadership, providing visible evidence of control that keeps programs aligned and stakeholders engaged.

• In one shipbuilding engagement, our practitioners unified Earned Value, cost, and schedule data to transform a struggling program into a story of recovery and regained customer trust.
• At a major aerospace supplier, similar expertise turned a six-month milestone delay into a recovery success that earned PMI’s Project Management Office (PMO) of the Year runner-up award.

Each example reinforces that disciplined, integrated PP&C practice doesn’t just manage outcomes, it shapes them.

The Value of Partnership

The true strength of partnering with SMA lies not only in cost or metrics but in the maturity, stability, and insight of its practitioners. We support every program with professionals who connect data to decisions, building credibility through consistency and clarity, as shown below.

Dimension	Organic Organization	SMA Partnership
Talent Development	Limited progression, uneven skills	Structured career paths, sustained investment
Continuity	High turnover, disrupted execution	Interchangeable, stable teams
Cost Structure	Hidden overhead, ongoing rework	Shared investment model, cost neutral or savings
Tools & Process	Outdated or fragmented	Continuously upgraded, GAO/NDIA aligned
Cultural Impact	Reactive, compliance-driven	Proactive, insight-driven practitioners
Customer Perception	Inconsistent, data-heavy	Clear, confident, and credible performance
Return on Investment	Unmeasured, variable results	Documented 3–6 × ROI with enhanced strategic capability

The Outcome You Want

Programs succeed or fail not only on execution but on how they are practiced. Data without interpretation is noise, and controls without insight are compliance. Partnering with SMA brings both structure and expertise, ensuring that PP&C evolves from an administrative requirement into a strategic advantage that drives confidence, consistency, and market differentiation.

The most successful companies recognize that program planning and controls is not a support function; it is a strategic capability that underpins performance and competitiveness. They approach PP&C with intent, applying the same rigor to its design and execution as they do to engineering or production.

These organizations understand that success requires both an internal strategy for PP&C and the strategic use of consulting partners who bring scalability, innovation, and sustained investment in talent and tools.

This partnership model enables clients to operate with agility and confidence, combining the best of both worlds: internal ownership and external expertise. By leveraging SMA’s experience and institutionalized capability, organizations create a mature PP&C environment that anticipates risk, drives performance, and sustains long-term success.

“The job is not just report progress; your efforts help to shape outcomes. IMP/IMS and EVMS are the frameworks of our programs, defining where we are and where we need to go.”