The provided IPsec/L2TP solution is natively supported by Android, iOS, OS X, and Windows. There is no additional software to install. Setup should only take a few minutes. In case you are unable to connect, first check to make sure the VPN credentials were entered correctly.

Android

1. Launch the Settings application.
2. Tap “Network & internet”. Or, if using Android 7 or earlier, tap More… in the Wireless & networks section.
3. Tap VPN.
4. Tap Add VPN Profile or the + icon at top-right of screen.
5. Enter anything you like in the Name field.
6. Select L2TP/IPSec PSK in the Type drop-down menu.
7. Enter Your VPN Server IP in the Server address field.
8. Leave the L2TP secret field blank.
9. Leave the IPSec identifier field blank.
10. Enter Your VPN IPsec PSK in the IPSec pre-shared key field.
11. Tap Save.
12. Tap the new VPN connection.
13. Enter Your VPN Username in the Username field.
14. Enter Your VPN Password in the Password field.
15. Check the Save account information checkbox.
16. Tap Connect.

Once connected, you will see a VPN icon in the notification bar. You can verify that your traffic is being routed properly by looking up your IP address on Google. It should say “Your public IP address is Your VPN Server IP“.

iOS

1. Go to Settings -> General -> VPN.
2. Tap Add VPN Configuration….
3. Tap Type. Select L2TP and go back.
4. Tap Description and enter anything you like.
5. Tap Server and enter Your VPN Server IP.
6. Tap Account and enter Your VPN Username.
7. Tap Password and enter Your VPN Password.
8. Tap Secret and enter Your VPN IPsec PSK.
9. Make sure the Send All Traffic switch is ON.
10. Tap Done.
11. Slide the VPN switch ON.

Once connected, you will see a VPN icon in the status bar. You can verify that your traffic is being routed properly by looking up your IP address on Google. It should say “Your public IP address is Your VPN Server IP“.

Windows 10 and 8.x

1. Right-click on the wireless/network icon in your system tray.
2. Select Open Network and Sharing Center. Or, if using Windows 10 version 1709 or newer, select Open Network & Internet settings, then on the page that opens, click Network and Sharing Center.
3. Click Set up a new connection or network.
4. Select Connect to a workplace and click Next.
5. Click Use my Internet connection (VPN).
6. Enter Your VPN Server IP in the Internet address field.
7. Enter anything you like in the Destination name field, and then click Create.
8. Return to Network and Sharing Center. On the left, click Change adapter settings.
9. Right-click on the new VPN entry and choose Properties.
10. Click the Security tab. Select “Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol with IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)” for the Type of VPN.
11. Click Allow these protocols. Check the “Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)” and “Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2)” checkboxes.
12. Click the Advanced settings button.
13. Select Use preshared key for authentication and enter Your VPN IPsec PSK for the Key.
14. Click OK to close the Advanced settings.
15. Click OK to save the VPN connection details.

Note: A one-time registry change might be required before connecting. See details below.

OS X

1. Open System Preferences and go to the Network section.
2. Click the + button in the lower-left corner of the window.
3. Select VPN from the Interface drop-down menu.
4. Select L2TP over IPSec from the VPN Type drop-down menu.
5. Enter anything you like for the Service Name.
6. Click Create.
7. Enter Your VPN Server IP for the Server Address.
8. Enter Your VPN Username for the Account Name.
9. Click the Authentication Settings button.
10. In the User Authentication section, select the Password radio button and enter Your VPN Password.
11. In the Machine Authentication section, select the Shared Secret radio button and enter Your VPN IPsec PSK.
12. Click OK.
13. Check the Show VPN status in menu bar checkbox.
14. (Important) Click the Advanced button and make sure the Send all traffic over VPN connection checkbox is checked.
15. Click the TCP/IP tab, and make sure Link-local only is selected in the Configure IPv6 section.
16. Click OK to close the Advanced settings, and then click Apply to save the VPN connection information.

Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu 18.04 (and newer) users can install the network-manager-l2tp-gnome package using apt, then configure the IPsec/L2TP VPN client using the GUI. Ubuntu 16.04 users may need to add the nm-l2tp PPA, read more here.

1. Go to Settings -> Network -> VPN. Click the + button.
2. Select Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP).
3. Enter anything you like in the Name field.
4. Enter Your VPN Server IP for the Gateway.
5. Enter Your VPN Username for the User name.
6. Right-click the ? in the Password field, select Store the password only for this user.
7. Enter Your VPN Password for the Password.
8. Leave the NT Domain field blank.
9. Click the IPsec Settings… button.
10. Check the Enable IPsec tunnel to L2TP host checkbox.
11. Leave the Gateway ID field blank.
12. Enter Your VPN IPsec PSK for the Pre-shared key.
13. Expand the Advanced section.
14. Enter aes128-sha1-modp2048! for the Phase1 Algorithms.
15. Enter aes128-sha1-modp2048! for the Phase2 Algorithms.
16. Click OK, then click Add to save the VPN connection information.
17. Turn the VPN switch ON.

Once connected, you can verify that your traffic is being routed properly by looking up your IP address on Google. It should say “Your public IP address is Your VPN Server IP“.

Unsere IPsec/L2TP Lösung wird von Android, iOS, OS X und Windows nativ unterstützt. Es muss keine zusätzliche Software installiert werden. Die Einrichtung sollte nur wenige Minuten dauern. Falls Sie keine Verbindung herstellen können, überprüfen Sie zunächst, ob die VPN-Zugangsdaten korrekt eingegeben wurden.

Android

o Starten Sie die Anwendung Einstellungen.
o Tippen Sie auf “Netzwerk & Internet”. Oder, wenn Sie Android 7 oder früher verwenden, tippen Sie im Abschnitt “Drahtlos & Netzwerke” auf “Mehr…”.
o Tippen Sie auf VPN.
o Tippen Sie auf VPN-Profil hinzufügen oder auf das Symbol + oben rechts auf dem Bildschirm.
o Geben Sie in das Feld Name alles ein, was Sie möchten.
o Wählen Sie L2TP/IPSec PSK im Dropdown-Menü Typ.
o Geben Sie die IP Ihres VPN-Servers in das Feld Serveradresse ein.
o Lassen Sie das Feld L2TP-Geheimnis leer.
o Lassen Sie das Feld IPSec-Kennung leer.
o Geben Sie Ihren VPN IPsec PSK in das Feld IPSec Pre-Shared Key ein.
o Tippen Sie auf Speichern.
o Tippen Sie auf die neue VPN-Verbindung.
o Geben Sie Ihren VPN-Benutzernamen in das Feld Benutzername ein.
o Geben Sie Ihr VPN-Kennwort in das Feld Kennwort ein.
o Markieren Sie das Ankreuzfeld Kontoinformationen speichern.
o Tippen Sie auf Verbinden.

Sobald die Verbindung hergestellt ist, sehen Sie ein VPN-Symbol in der Benachrichtigungsleiste. Sie können überprüfen, ob Ihr Datenverkehr ordnungsgemäß weitergeleitet wird, indem Sie Ihre IP-Adresse beim suchen nachschlagen. Darauf sollte stehen: “Ihre öffentliche IP-Adresse ist die IP Ihres VPN-Servers”.

Wenn Sie beim Versuch, eine Verbindung herzustellen, eine Fehlermeldung erhalten, lesen Sie den Abschnitt Fehlerbehebung.

iOS

o Gehen Sie zu Einstellungen -> Allgemein -> VPN.
o Tippen Sie auf VPN-Konfiguration hinzufügen….
o Tippen Sie auf Typ. Wählen Sie L2TP und gehen Sie zurück.
o Tippen Sie auf Beschreibung und geben Sie alles ein, was Sie möchten.
o Tippen Sie auf Server und geben Sie die IP Ihres VPN-Servers ein.
o Tippen Sie auf Konto und geben Sie Ihren VPN-Benutzernamen ein.
o Tippen Sie auf Passwort und geben Sie Ihr VPN-Passwort ein.
o Tippen Sie auf Secret und geben Sie Ihr VPN IPsec PSK ein.
o Vergewissern Sie sich, dass der Schalter Send All Traffic auf ON steht.
o Tippen Sie auf Fertig.
o Schieben Sie den VPN-Schalter auf ON.

Sobald die Verbindung hergestellt ist, sehen Sie ein VPN-Symbol in der Statusleiste. Sie können überprüfen, ob Ihr Datenverkehr ordnungsgemäß weitergeleitet wird, indem Sie Ihre IP-Adresse bei Google nachschlagen. Darauf sollte stehen: “Ihre öffentliche IP-Adresse ist die IP Ihres VPN-Servers”.

Wenn Sie beim Versuch, eine Verbindung herzustellen, einen Fehler erhalten, sehen Sie unter Fehlerbehebung nach.

Windows 10 und 8.x

o Klicken Sie mit der rechten Maustaste auf das Wireless/Netzwerk-Symbol in Ihrer Systemablage.
o Wählen Sie Netzwerk und Freigabecenter öffnen. Oder, wenn Sie Windows 10 Version 1709 oder neuer verwenden, wählen Sie Netzwerk & Internet-Einstellungen öffnen und klicken Sie dann auf der sich öffnenden Seite auf Netzwerk- und Freigabecenter.
o Klicken Sie auf Eine neue Verbindung oder ein neues Netzwerk einrichten.
o Wählen Sie Mit einem Arbeitsplatz verbinden und klicken Sie auf Weiter.
o Klicken Sie auf Meine Internetverbindung verwenden (VPN).
o Geben Sie die IP Ihres VPN-Servers in das Feld Internetadresse ein.
o Geben Sie in das Feld Zielname einen beliebigen Namen ein, und klicken Sie dann auf Erstellen.
o Kehren Sie zum Netzwerk- und Freigabecenter zurück. Klicken Sie auf der linken Seite auf Adaptereinstellungen ändern.
o Klicken Sie mit der rechten Maustaste auf den neuen VPN-Eintrag, und wählen Sie Eigenschaften.
o Klicken Sie auf die Registerkarte Sicherheit. Wählen Sie “Layer-2-Tunneling-Protokoll mit IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)” für den VPN-Typ.
o Klicken Sie auf Diese Protokolle zulassen. Markieren Sie die Kontrollkästchen “Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)” und “Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2)”.
o Klicken Sie auf die Schaltfläche Erweiterte Einstellungen.
o Wählen Sie Use preshared key for authentication und geben Sie Ihr VPN IPsec PSK für den Schlüssel ein.
o Klicken Sie auf OK, um die erweiterten Einstellungen zu schließen.
o Klicken Sie auf OK, um die Details der VPN-Verbindung zu speichern.

Hinweis: Vor der Verbindung ist eine einmalige Änderung der Registrierung erforderlich. Einzelheiten siehe unten.

Windows 7, Vista und XP

o Klicken Sie auf das Startmenü und gehen Sie zur Systemsteuerung.
o Gehen Sie zum Abschnitt Netzwerk und Internet.
o Klicken Sie auf Netzwerk- und Freigabecenter.
o Klicken Sie auf Eine neue Verbindung oder ein neues Netzwerk einrichten.
o Wählen Sie Verbindung zu einem Arbeitsplatz herstellen und klicken Sie auf Weiter.
o Klicken Sie auf Meine Internetverbindung verwenden (VPN).
o Geben Sie die IP Ihres VPN-Servers in das Feld Internetadresse ein.
o Geben Sie in das Feld Zielname alles ein, was Sie möchten.
o Aktivieren Sie das Kontrollkästchen Jetzt nicht verbinden; richten Sie es einfach so ein, dass ich später eine Verbindung herstellen kann.
o Klicken Sie auf Weiter.
o Geben Sie Ihren VPN-Benutzernamen in das Feld Benutzername ein.
o Geben Sie Ihr VPN-Kennwort in das Feld Kennwort ein.
o Aktivieren Sie das Kontrollkästchen Dieses Passwort merken.
o Klicken Sie auf Erstellen und dann auf Schließen.
o Kehren Sie zum Netzwerk- und Freigabecenter zurück. Klicken Sie auf der linken Seite auf Adaptereinstellungen ändern.
o Klicken Sie mit der rechten Maustaste auf den neuen VPN-Eintrag und wählen Sie Eigenschaften.
o Klicken Sie auf die Registerkarte Optionen und deaktivieren Sie das Kontrollkästchen Windows-Anmeldedomäne einbeziehen.
o Klicken Sie auf die Registerkarte Sicherheit. Wählen Sie “Layer-2-Tunneling-Protokoll mit IPsec (L2TP/IPSec)” für den VPN-Typ.
o Klicken Sie auf Diese Protokolle zulassen. Markieren Sie die Kontrollkästchen “Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)” und “Microsoft CHAP Version 2 (MS-CHAP v2)”.
o Klicken Sie auf die Schaltfläche Erweiterte Einstellungen.
o Wählen Sie Use preshared key for authentication und geben Sie Ihr VPN IPsec PSK für den Schlüssel ein.
o Klicken Sie auf OK, um die erweiterten Einstellungen zu schließen.
o Klicken Sie auf OK, um die Details der VPN-Verbindung zu speichern.

Hinweis: Diese einmalige Registrierungsänderung ist erforderlich, wenn sich der VPN-Server und/oder -Client hinter NAT befindet (z. B. Home-Router).

So stellen Sie eine Verbindung zum VPN her: Klicken Sie auf das Drahtlos-/Netzwerk-Symbol in Ihrer Systemablage, wählen Sie den neuen VPN-Eintrag und klicken Sie auf Verbinden. Wenn Sie dazu aufgefordert werden, geben Sie Ihren VPN-Benutzernamen und Ihr Kennwort ein und klicken Sie dann auf OK. Sie können überprüfen, ob Ihr Datenverkehr ordnungsgemäß weitergeleitet wird, indem Sie Ihre IP-Adresse bei Google nachschlagen. Dort sollte stehen: “Ihre öffentliche IP-Adresse ist die IP Ihres VPN-Servers”.

Wenn Sie beim Versuch, eine Verbindung herzustellen, eine Fehlermeldung erhalten, sehen Sie unter Fehlerbehebung nach.
OS X / Mac

o Öffnen Sie Systempräferenzen und gehen Sie zum Abschnitt Netzwerk.
o Klicken Sie auf die Schaltfläche + in der linken unteren Ecke des Fensters.
o Wählen Sie VPN aus dem Dropdown-Menü Schnittstelle.
o Wählen Sie L2TP über IPSec aus dem Dropdown-Menü VPN-Typ.
o Geben Sie für den Dienstnamen einen beliebigen Namen ein.
o Klicken Sie auf Erstellen.
o Geben Sie Ihre VPN-Server-IP für die Serveradresse ein.
o Geben Sie Ihren VPN-Benutzernamen für den Kontonamen ein.
o Klicken Sie auf die Schaltfläche Authentifizierungseinstellungen.
o Wählen Sie im Abschnitt Benutzerauthentifizierung das Optionsfeld Kennwort und geben Sie Ihr VPN-Kennwort ein.
o Wählen Sie im Abschnitt Rechnerauthentifizierung das Optionsfeld Gemeinsames Geheimnis und geben Sie Ihr VPN IPsec PSK ein.
o Klicken Sie auf OK.
o Aktivieren Sie das Kontrollkästchen VPN-Status in der Menüleiste anzeigen.
o (Wichtig) Klicken Sie auf die Schaltfläche Erweitert und stellen Sie sicher, dass das Kontrollkästchen Gesamten Datenverkehr über VPN-Verbindung senden aktiviert ist.
o Klicken Sie auf die Registerkarte TCP/IP und stellen Sie sicher, dass im Abschnitt IPv6 konfigurieren die Option Nur lokale Verbindung ausgewählt ist.
o Klicken Sie auf OK, um die erweiterten Einstellungen zu schließen, und klicken Sie dann auf Übernehmen, um die VPN-Verbindungsinformationen zu speichern.

Table of Contents

• 1. The Algorithm Changed
• 2. It Was a Manual SERP Edit
• 3. They’re an Authority / Brand Site So They Can Do Anything They Want
• 4. I’ve Seen This With Other Sites
• 5. Matt Cutts Said So

SEOs, especially those providing consulting services, are often confronted with situations that they need to explain. They are, after all, supposed to be experts in the way search engines work and knowing why something has happened is why they get the big bucks, right? For those that have put their trust in an SEO, you’ve probably heard some crazy excuses and sensed a little CYA or BS. For future encounters, I’ve expanded on 5 of the more common excuses.

1. The Algorithm Changed

This is a good one. Since Google and the other search engines keep the details of their algorithms a secret, anyone can claim that there’s been a change knowing that there isn’t any way to disprove the statement.

Sometimes the explanation is legit especially when the word “algorithm” is used to denote any piece of data that the search engines use to determine ranking rather than the “core” algorithm that probably doesn’t change all that much.

If the algorithm has changed, then there should be noticeable changes on multiple sites since a change is highly unlikely to affect just one site. For example, Aaron Wall identified an algorithm change when he reported on Google’s preference for big brands.

2. It Was a Manual SERP Edit

When a decline in a site’s performance in organic search results is sudden, a manual SERP edit is often blamed. While it’s true that Google’s web spam team will manually evaluate sites and apply a penalty / filter if they discover something that violates their terms of service, if you aren’t doing anything particularly aggressive then a manual edit isn’t likely. If, on the other hand, you have crossed the line that Google has drawn in the sand, then a manual edit is quite possible.

There’s no foolproof way to distinguish between a manual edit and one that was algorithmic. The only advice I can provide is to assess what you’ve been doing, undo it, and if performance improves you were likely hit with an algorithmic penalty. If things don’t improve, that’s when you’ll want to submit a reconsideration request since a manual edit requires a manual review to correct.

3. They’re an Authority / Brand Site So They Can Do Anything They Want

The authority / brand explanation is the SEO’s lament when a competitor continues to perform exceptionally well. While never admitted to by the folks at Google, there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that a popular brand can get away with more TOS-violating activities than a lone site owner.

There isn’t much you can do about this double-standard except to build a brand of your own. Since most of us don’t have that kind of budget, the alternative is to always proceed in a defensive manner — if you put all of your eggs in one basket you’re going to be in big trouble when Google knocks that basket out of your hand.

Even when a big brand is caught red-handed, there’s still a double-standard as reconsideration requests are actually attended to quickly.

4. I’ve Seen This With Other Sites

This explanation is sort of like social proof. If another site is doing something and is successful, then that alone is often reason enough for your SEO to suggest the tactic to you. Similarly, if another site is dinged for an activity then your SEO may be warn you against doing it. The problem with this sort of thinking is that you can’t know all of the details about what someone else is doing. What is being detecting as correlation between an action and an effect may not be causal — there could very well be 10 other activities that are responsible for the observed effect.

5. Matt Cutts Said So

The best is when Matt Cutts apparently said something in one of his videos. Yeah, Matt Cutts probably, maybe said something sort of related, but it’s next to impossible to track down the exact statement because the videos are too numerous and transcripts for all of them don’t exist.

The other complication with references to Matt Cutts are that Matt is a graduate of the school of Alan Greenspan explanations. At first blush everything sounds cool, but when you listen closely every answer prompts two more questions. No offense Matt, the information you provide is great and I certainly don’t expect you to give away the farm whenever an SEO asks.

By no means am I saying your SEO is lying to you when you hear one of the above excuses. Just be aware that sometimes such answers are based on a gut feeling and that asking for additional details might help both you and your SEO zero in on the real explanation.

In order to discuss liability that may arise under a consulting contract, you need to first understand two key terms.

The waterfall model is a popular version of the systems development life cycle model for software engineering. Often considered the classic approach to the systems development life cycle, the waterfall model describes a development method that is rigid and linear. Waterfall development has distinct goals for each phase of development where each phase is completed for the next one is started and there is no turning back.

The perceived advantages of the waterfall process is that it allows for departmentalization and managerial control. A schedule is typically set with deadlines for each stage of development and a product can proceed through the development process. In theory, this process leads to the project being delivered on time because each phase has been planned in detail.

In practice, waterfall development often falls short of expectations as it does not embrace the inevitable changes and revisions that become necessary with most projects. Once an application is in the testing stage, it is very difficult to go back and change something that was not thought of in the concept stage. Alternatives to the waterfall model include joint application development (JAD), rapid application development (RAD), sync and stabilize, build and fix, and the spiral model.

If you’re looking to hire a project manager with a strong software development background, contact us and we will be happy to discuss
your company’s project needs and how we can address them.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a collection of best practices that aim to improve and then maintain a certain level of computing services quality in the information technology sector. ITIL covers organizational structure and skill requirements for an IT organization via a comprehensive set of procedures with which an organization can manage its IT operations. These procedures do not rely on a particular vendor’s technology and apply to all aspects of IT infrastructure.

ITIL consists of a collection of 7 books. The sets are sub-divided into disciplines, each of which is focused on a specific subject.

1. Service Delivery: Covers the processes required for the planning and delivery of quality IT services, and looks at the longer-term processes associated with improving the quality of IT services delivered.
   1. IT Financial Management
   2. Capacity Management
   3. Availability Management
   4. IT Continuity Management
   5. Service Level Management
2. Service Support: Describes the processes associated with the day-to-day support and maintenance activities involved in the provision of IT services.
   1. Change Management
   2. Release Management
   3. Problem Management
   4. Incident Management
   5. Configuration Management
   6. Service Desk
3. Planning to Implement Service Management: Examines the issues and tasks involved in planning, implementing, and improving service management processes within an organization; also addresses the issues associated with addressing cultural and organizational change, the development of a vision and strategy, and the most appropriate method of approach.
4. Security Management: Details the process of planning and managing a defined
   level of security for information and IT services, including all aspects of security incidents. Also includes the assessment and management of risks and vulnerabilities and the implementation of cost-justifiable countermeasures.
5. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Management: Covers all aspects of ICT infrastructure management from identification of business requirements through the procurement process, to the testing, installation, deployment, and ongoing operation and optimization of ICT components and IT services.
   1. Network service Management
   2. Operations Management
   3. Management of local processors
   4. Computer installation and acceptance
   5. Systems Management
6. The Business Perspective: Provides advice and guidance to help IT personnel understand how they can contribute to business objectives and how their roles and services can be better aligned and exploited to maximize contribution.
7. Application Management: Describes how to manage applications from the initial business need through all stages in the application lifecycle, up to and including retirement. Places emphasis on ensuring that IT projects and strategies are tightly aligned with those of the business through the application lifecycle, to ensure that business obtains the best value from its investment.

From the beginning, the ITIL framework has been publicly available (however, it is copyright protected). This means that any organization can use the framework described by the OGC in its numerous books. Because of this, ITIL guidance has been used by a wide range of organizations including government, energy, public utilities, retail, finance, and manufacturing. Very large organizations, very small organizations and everything in between have implemented ITIL processes.

PRINCE2 Project Management Explained!

PRINCE2 project management methodology is a process-driven project management method, which contrasts with reactive/adaptive methods, developed by Office of Government Commerce (OGC). PRINCE2 defines 45 separate sub-processes and organises these into eight processes as follows:

Starting up a Project (SU)

In this process the project team is appointed and a Project Brief (describing what the project is going to achieve and the business justification for doing so) is prepared. In addition the overall approach to be taken is decided and the next stage of the project is planned. Once this work is done, the project board is asked to authorise the next stage, that of initiating the project.

Planning (PL)

PRINCE2 project management method advocates product based planning which means that the first task when planning is to identify and analyse products. Once the activities required to create these products are identified then it is possible to estimate the effort required for each and then schedule activities into a plan. There is always risk associated with any work and this must be analysed. Finally, this process suggests how the format of plans can be agreed and ensures that plans are completed to such a format.

Initiating a Project (IP)

This process builds on the work of the Start Up (SU) activity and the Project Brief is then turned into a business case. The approach taken to ensure quality on the project is agreed together with the overall approach to controlling the project itself. Project files are also created as is an overall plan for the project. A plan for the next stage of the project is also created. The result can be put before the Project Board for them to authorise the project itself.

Directing a Project (DP)

These sub-processes dictate how the Project Board should control the overall project. As mentioned above, the Project Board can authorise an initiation stage and can also authorise a project. Directing a Project also dictates how the Project Board should authorise a stage plan, including any stage plan that replaces an existing stage plan due to slippage or other unforeseen circumstances. Also covered is the way in which the board can give ad hoc direction to a project and the way in which a project should be closed down.

Controlling a Stage (CS)

PRINCE2 project management method suggests that projects should be broken down into stages and these sub-processes dictate how each individual stage should be controlled. Most fundamentally this includes the way in which work packages are authorised and received. It also specifies the way in which progress should be monitored and how the highlights of the progress should be reported to the Project Board. A means for capturing and assessing project issues is suggested together with the way in which corrective action should be taken. It also lays down the method by which certain project issues should be escalated to the Project Board.

Managing Product Delivery (MP)

This process consists of three sub-processes and these cover the way in which a work package should be accepted, executed and delivered.

Managing Stage Boundaries (SB)

The Controlling a Stage process dictates what should be done within a stage, Managing Stage Boundaries (SB) dictates what should be done towards the end of a stage. Most obviously, the next stage should be planned and the overall project plan, risk log and business case amended as necessary. The process also covers what should be done for a stage that has gone outside its tolerance levels. Finally, the process dictates how the end of the stage should be reported.

Closing a Project (CP)

This covers the things that should be done at the end of a project. The project should be formally de-commissioned (and resources freed up for allocation to other activities), follow on actions should be identified and the project itself be formally evaluated.