The Program/Project Management System (PPMS) consists of several modules that augment the functionality of a Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) scheduling product. The PPMS has been under development and in use for 5 years and supports organizations managing up to 5,000 ongoing projects. The diagram below shows modules and demonstrates the exchange of information between the modules of the PPMS. Each module has been identified and a brief description is provided to explain the basic functionality and purpose within the PPMS.

• scheduler - The scheduler software is a commercial Project Management scheduling package. This tool is based on the Critical-Path-Method of scheduling.  
• project manager - The Project Manager module is used to establish, maintain, or view all Project level data. This includes project identification, attribute, and funding data which can not be stored in the scheduler. This module is also used to launch the Network Generator utility, which creates project schedule models in the scheduler.  
• rule manager - The Rule Base Manager module is used to update and maintain the rule base used by the Network Generator utility to create a project model and load it into the Scheduler software. Based on the characteristics or attributes recorded on an individual project the Rule Manager facilitates the calculation of a unique project schedule by taking actions on a project template.  
• program manager - The Program Manager module is used to establish and maintain Program level data. This includes the setup of overall funding targets, performing program planning, and archiving program data.  
• system manager - The System Manager module is used for overall application setup and maintenance. This includes the setup of global reference information, look-up tables, and all user privileges and security.  
• task manager - The Task Manager module is used to update and maintain all task level information. This module is used to provide cross project functional access to project tasks, for distributed status collection. This functionality includes the ability for the performing resource to update progress on each activity, which is returned to the scheduler for consideration.  
• report manager - The Report Manager module is used to for reporting against all application data. This module is set up separately so that user access can be distributed more widely within the organization as needs dictate.