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Post Reply: Difference between PERT and CPM

<blockquote><div class="quotetitle">Quote from <a class="profile-link highlight-admin" href="https://pmri.in/forum/profile/pmdistilled/">Abrachan</a> on 03/05/2024, 11:53 AM</div>PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method) are both project management techniques used to plan and schedule tasks in a project. While they are similar in many ways, there are some key differences between them:
<ol>
 	<li><strong>Focus:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>PERT focuses on estimating the time required to complete each task in a project, especially when there is uncertainty in task durations. For each task, three estimates are estimated - Optimistic, Pessimistic and the Most likely.</li>
 	<li>CPM focuses on identifying the critical path in a project, which is the longest sequence of dependent tasks that determines the minimum time required to complete the project.</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li><strong>Uncertainty:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>PERT is particularly useful when there is uncertainty in task durations. It uses three time estimates for each task (optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely) to calculate an expected duration using a weighted average.</li>
 	<li>CPM assumes that task durations are known with certainty and does not explicitly account for uncertainty in task durations.</li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li><strong>Result Interpretation:</strong>
<ul>
 	<li>PERT provides a range of possible project completion times, along with probabilities associated with each completion time, which helps in assessing project risk.</li>
 	<li>CPM provides a single deterministic project duration based on the critical path, which helps in identifying tasks that must be closely monitored to ensure the project stays on schedule.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol></blockquote><br>

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