Information Technology Project
Management, Seventh Edition
Note: See the text itself for full citations.
Understand the growing need for better project management,
especially for information technology (IT) projects
Explain what a project is, provide examples of IT projects, list
various attributes of projects, and describe the triple constraint
of project management
Describe project management and discuss key elements of the
project management framework, including project stakeholders,
the project management knowledge areas, common tools and
techniques, and project success
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 2
Many organizations today have a new or renewed interest
in project management
Computer hardware, software, networks, and the use of
interdisciplinary and global work teams have radically
changed the work environment
The world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion of its
$40.7 trillion gross product on projects of all kinds
More than 16 million people regard project management
as their profession
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 3
The overall information and communications technology market
grew by 6 percent to almost $3 trillion in 2010
In the U.S. the size of the IT workforce topped 4 million workers
in 2008, and the unemployment rate for IT professionals is half
the rate for the overall labor market
In 2011 the total compensation for the average senior project
manager in U.S. dollars was $105,000 per year in the United
States and $160,409 in the Switzerland.
The number of people earning their Project Management
Professional (PMP) certification continues to increase. 44
percent of employers listed project management as a skill they
looked for in new college grads, behind only communication and
technical skills
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 4
IT Projects have a terrible track record, as described in the What
Went Wrong?
A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only
16.2% of IT projects were successful in meeting scope, time,
and cost goals; over 31% of IT projects were canceled before
completion
A PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that overall half of all
projects fail and only 2.5% of corporations consistently meet
their targets for scope, time, and cost goals for all types of
project.
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 5
A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service, or result”
( PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition, 2012)
Operations is work done to sustain the business
Projects end when their objectives have been reached or
the project has been terminated
Projects can be large or small and take a short or long
time to complete
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 6
A team of students creates a smartphone application and
sells it online
A company develops a driverless car
A small software development team adds a new feature to
an internal software application for the finance department
A college upgrades its technology infrastructure to
provide wireless Internet access across the whole campus
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 7
A project
◦ has a unique purpose
◦ is temporary
◦ is developed using progressive elaboration
◦ requires resources, often from various areas
◦ should have a primary customer or sponsor
The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for
the project
◦ involves uncertainty
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 8
Project managers work with project sponsors, project
team, and other people involved in a project to meet
project goals
Program: group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not
available from managing them individually
(PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition, 2012)
Program managers oversee programs; often act as
bosses for project managers
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 9
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 10
Project management is “the application of knowledge,
skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet
project requirements” (PMBOK® Guide, Fourth
Edition, 2012)
Project managers strive to meet the triple constraint
(project scope, time, and cost goals) and also facilitate
the entire process to meet the needs and expectations of
project stakeholders
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 11
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 12
Bettercontrol of financial, physical, and human resources
Improved customer relations
Shorter development times
Lower costs
Higher quality and increased reliability
Higher profit margins
Improved productivity
Better internal coordination
Higher worker morale
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 13
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by
project activities
Stakeholders include
◦ the project sponsor
◦ the project manager
◦ the project team
◦ support staff
◦ customers
◦ users
◦ suppliers
◦ opponents to the project
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 14
Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that
project managers must develop
Project managers must have knowledge and skills in all
10 knowledge areas (project integration, scope, time,
cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk,
procurement, and stakeholder management)
This text includes an entire chapter on each knowledge
area
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 15
Project management tools and techniques assist project
managers and their teams in various aspects of project
management
Some specific ones include
◦ Project charter, scope statement, and WBS (scope)
◦ Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis, critical
chain scheduling (time)
◦ Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)
◦ See Table 1-1 for many more
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 16
“Super tools” are those tools that have high use and high
potential for improving project success, such as:
◦ Software for task scheduling (such as project management
software)
◦ Scope statements
◦ Requirements analyses
◦ Lessons-learned reports
Tools already extensively used that have been found to improve
project importance include:
◦ Progress reports
◦ Kick-off meetings
◦ Gantt charts
◦ Change requests
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 17
"The reasons for the increase in successful projects vary.
First, the average cost of a project has been more than cut
in half. Better tools have been created to monitor and
control progress and better skilled project managers with
better management processes are being used. The fact
that there are processes is significant in itself.”*
*Standish Group, "CHAOS 2001: A Recipe for Success" (2001).
There are several ways to define project success:
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 18
◦ The project met scope, time, and cost goals
◦ The project satisfied the customer/sponsor
◦ The results of the project met its main objective, such as making
or saving a certain amount of money, providing a good return
on investment, or simply making the sponsors happy
1. User involvement
2. Executive support
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 19
3. Clear business objectives
4. Emotional maturity
5. Optimizing scope
6. Agile process
7. Project management expertise
8. Skilled resources
9. Execution
10. Tools and infrastructure
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 20
Adequate funding
Staff expertise
Engagement from all stakeholders
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 21
A program is “a group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available
from managing them individually” (PMBOK® Guide, Fifth
Edition, 2012)
A program manager provides leadership and direction for the
project managers heading the projects within the program
Examples of common programs in the IT field include
infrastructure, applications development, and user support
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 22
As part of project portfolio management, organizations
group and manage projects and programs as a portfolio
of investments that contribute to the entire enterprise’s
success
Portfolio managers help their organizations make wise
investment decisions by helping to select and analyze
projects from a strategic perspective
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 23
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 24
A best practice is “an optimal way recognized by industry to
achieve a stated goal or objective”*
Robert Butrick suggests that organizations need to follow basic
principles of project management, including these two
mentioned earlier in this chapter:
◦ Make sure your projects are driven by your strategy. Be able to
demonstrate how each project you undertake fits your business strategy,
and screen out unwanted projects as soon as possible
◦ Engage your stakeholders. Ignoring stakeholders often leads to project
failure. Be sure to engage stakeholders at all stages of a project, and
encourage teamwork and commitment at all times
*Project Management Institute, Organizational Project Management Maturity Model
( OPM3) Knowledge Foundation (2003), p. 13.
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 25
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 26
Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities
like planning, scheduling, coordinating, and working
with people to achieve project goals
Remember that 97% of successful projects were led
by experienced project managers, who can often help
influence success factors
The Project Management Body of Knowledge
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 27
Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations
Project environment knowledge
General management knowledge and skills
Soft skills or human relations skills
1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 28
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities
Large projects: Leadership, relevant prior experience,
planning, people skills, verbal communication, and
teambuilding skills were most important
Highuncertainty
projects: Risk
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 29
management, expectation management, leadership, people
skills, and planning skills were most important
Very novel projects: Leadership, people skills, having
vision and goals, self confidence, expectations
management, and listening skills were most important
Effective project managers provide leadership by
example
A leader focuses on long-term goals and bigpicture
objectives while inspiring people to reach those goals
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 30
A manager deals with the day-to-day details of meeting
specific goals
Project managers often take on the role of both leader
and manager
The profession of project management is growing at a
very rapid pace
It is helpful to understand the history of the field, the
role of professional societies like the Project
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 31
Management Institute, and the growth in project
management software
Ethics, loosely defined, is a set of principles that guide our
decision making based on personal values of what is “right”
and “wrong”
Project managers often face ethical dilemmas
Inorder to earn PMP
certification,
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 32
applicants must agree to PMI’s Code of Ethics and
Professional Conduct
Several questions on the PMP exam are related to professional
responsibility, including ethics
There are hundreds of different products to assist in
performing project management
Three main categories of tools:
◦ Low-end tools: Handle single or smaller projects well, cost under
$200 per user
◦ Midrange tools: Handle multiple projects and users, cost
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 33
$200-$1,000 per user, Project 2010 most popular
◦ High-end tools: Also called enterprise project management
software, often licensed on a per-user basis, like Microsoft
Enterprise Project Management solution
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills,
tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project
requirements
A program is a group of related projects managed in a
coordinated way
Information Technology Project
Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 34
Project portfolio management involves organizing and
managing projects and programs as a portfolio of investments
Project managers play a key role in helping projects and
organizations succeed
The project management profession continues to grow and
mature
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Management, Seventh Edition Copyright 2014 35
