Discussion Question

IT Project Management In this course, we only introduce project management , but the main concepts are covered. In order to be a good project manager, you should specialize in this area. Project management certificates are offered by universities such as UMUC, and there is at least one recognized certification authority —the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI evaluates both your experience as well as your knowledge before a certification is awarded. So, you can see that project management cannot reall y be learned from a book or a class, but from those combined with experience in the "real world. " A couple of definitions with which you should be familiar are: • p roject : a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result • p roject management : the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements What is the role of a project manager? Is it different for an IT project manager? A project manager must control the four key variables associated with any project: time (schedule), resources (human and financial), scope of work , and quality. The project manager leads the development of a project plan that takes all of these into consideration. Frequently, trade -offs are requir ed. For instance, the budget may be limited, which restricts the scope of the work and perhaps how many people can work on the project. Or, the project is needed within a certain time frame, which may drive up the costs, since more people would have to be hired to complete the project on time. When any one of the four variables changes, there is an impact on at least one (and often more than one) other variable. A strong project manager pays attention to the project plan and the progress of the project ag ainst the plan, and manages the variables appropriately to e nsure successful completion of the project. Successful completion is accomplished if the project is delivered on time, stays within the allocated budget, performs the required functions, and does so correctly. This role is the same for any project manager, including an IT project manager. 1 The four variables are interdependent. You cannot change one without affecting the others. For example,  Decreasing a project 's time frame means either increasing the cost of the project or decreasing the scope of the project to meet the new deadline.  Increasing a project 's scope means either increasing the project 's time frame or increasing the project 's cost —or both — to meet the increased scope changes .  Decreasing a project 's resources (either people or money) will necessitate a reevaluation of the scope and/or the quality. The scope may need to be reduced to avoid decreasing the quality, or if the scope must remain unchanged, quality will suffer.  Inc reasing a project 's quality requirements will require more time and money to incorporate more perfection and test all possible outcomes for correctness. Project management is the science of making intelligent trade -offs among time, cost, scope , and qualit y. This is the job of the project manager. As things change, the project manager must adjust the four variables to keep them in balance. The first step is the selection of strategic projects. Now, the project manager does not select the projects alone; usually , that is done by senior management after the presentation of a " business case" that outlines the project plan, stating the objectives (how the project supports the corporate strategy), cost, schedule, functionality, and risk associated with the pro posed project. Once senior management allocates resources, the project manager ensures the project plan is executed according to plan. A smart project manager makes sure that a plan has "SMART " criteria —aspects to ensure that the project has created unders tandable and measurable objectives: • S pecific • M easurable • A greed upon • R ealistic • T ime framed These objectives are documented in the project plan, used throughout the project' s life to help keep the project on tra ck to a successful 2 completion. The project manager monitors progress against the plan and manages any changes and mitigates risks as they become known. Project risk management involves identifying potential events or conditions that could have a negative effect on the project, estimating th e impact if the risk occurs, determining a mitigation strategy to reduce the likelihood of the risk occurring, and identifying what will be done if the event or condition actually arises.

Since almost no project goes exactly according to the plan, the project manager needs a tool to detect and manage the changes. The process of change management is this tool. The project manager documents all approved changes, revises the project plan accordingly, and then continues managing and monitoring the project. Kee p in mind that the job of the project manager is to stay on top of all the variables and manage the cost, schedule (time), scope and quality. He or she must seek additional resources (money or people) or a schedule change (time) when the scope increases, and must be able to articulate the e ffect on quality if additional resources or a schedule change are not authorized. The project manager is re sponsible to senior leaders to monitor the variables, keep leadership informed, and propose solutions for changes as they occur. We begin our study of IT project management by reading Section III of the Solution Management module. Leadership and change management are also important aspects of project management, and will be discussed in more depth next week, in the Leadership and Change Management module. The next sections include readings on project management and the project life cycle . We then t ake a look at why projects fail and risk management. 3