Archiving project files and data is an important closing activity.
The specific information that is archived for a project will vary between projects and organizations. Typically, the following project data should be archived:
- All project related documents should be archived for future reference including, but not limited to: The Charter, Statement of Work, Scope Statement, Quality Management documents, and so on
- Project management reviews and presentations
- Financial records and budgeting data
- Correspondence
- Meeting notes
- Reports
- Critical emails
- Vendor RFPs, contract files, NDAs, teaming agreements, and the project acceptance or signoff
- Technical documents
- Files, software programs, tools, etc. that had been placed under configuration management
- Other relevant information or data
Paper-based documentation is becoming less relevant as more and more documents become electronically based. Each organization should decide if paper documents should be scanned for archiving purposes.