A program is a coordinated set of projects pursued together to achieve a benefit that no single project would deliver on its own. Where a project is accountable for an output, a program is accountable for the outcome and benefit that the outputs are meant to create.
The defining discipline of a program is benefit ownership. Running a program as though it were a large project means managing delivery — schedules, scope, budget — while no one is responsible for whether the coordinated outputs actually produce value. A program without a benefits owner tends to deliver its projects and lose its benefit.
