It is now recognised that the original approach of audits of hard disciplines (methods, tools, processes) and soft skills (leadership, people management) need to be extended to include elements such as the context, content and complexity of a project and its environment - with appropriate levels of granularity and precision – to identify critical success factors and barriers to success.
An eight-step assurance procedure was outlined in a 2013 paper produced by the BT Centre for Major Programme Management at the University of Oxford.
According to the Office of Government Commerce, project assurance helped manage risk and improved delivery confidence.
Focus areas may include risk, financial, performance, compliance, system security, due diligence and/or dispute resolution engagements.
Mega-Project Assurance would be specific to (Portfolios, Program, and/or Projects) that exceed $1 Billion in estimated investment value.Another definition is: The core concepts of Mega Project Assurance: risk is governable, leadership is accountable, cost must be properly managed and is recoverable, efficiency is attainable, fraud and waste are nearly preventable, and failure is unacceptable.