Resource:

Schwalbe, K. (2016). Information
technology project management.
Cengage Learning.

Section 1 –
Project Management
Learning Objectives
• Describe project planning,
scheduling, monitoring and
reporting
• Prepare steps in project planning
Contents
• Introduction
• What is a Project?
• What is Project Management?
• Project Management and Information Technology Context
• A Systems View of Project Management
• Understanding Organizations
• Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
• Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles
• Project Management Process Groups
• Project Initiation
• Project Planning
• Project Execution
• Project Monitoring & Controlling
• Project Closing
INTRODUCTION

 What is a Project?
 What is Project Management?
What is a Project?
• A temporary endeavor undertaken to
accomplish a unique product or
service
 (PMBOK® Guide 2000, p. 4)

• “IT projects”
 refers to projects involving
hardware, software, and networks
What is a Project?
• Examples of IT Projects
• A team of students creates a smartphone
application and sells it online.
• A company develops a driverless car.
• A government group develops a system to track
child immunizations.
• A global bank acquires other financial institutions
and needs to consolidate systems and procedures.
What is a Project?
Attributes of projects
 Unique purpose
 Temporary
 Require resources, often from
various areas
 Should have a primary sponsor
and/or customer
 Involve uncertainty
What is a Project?
The TRIPLE CONTRAINTS
 Scope
 What is the project trying to
accomplish?
 Time
 How long should it take to
complete?
 Cost
 What should it cost?
Figure 1-1. Project Constraints
 What is Project Management?

• The application of knowledge, skills, tools,

and techniques to project activities in order
to meet project requirements
 PMI*, Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 2000, p. 6)

*The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional

society. Their web site is www.pmi.org.
Figure 1-2. Project Management Framework
What is Project Management?
Stakeholders are
 the people involved in or affected
by project activities
Stakeholders include
 the project sponsor and project team
 support staff
 customers
 users
 suppliers
 opponents to the project
What is Project Management?
Project Management Tools
 List the tools that could be used
for managing IT projects.

Project Management Certification

 What is the purpose of PM
certification?
 List the organisations that provide
PM certification programs.
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT AND
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
CONTEXT
 A Systems View of Project
Management
 Understanding Organizations
 Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
 Project Phases and the Project Life
Cycles
A Systems View of Project Management

• Projects must operate in a broad

organizational environment
• Project managers need to use systems
thinking:
 taking a holistic view of carrying out
projects within the context of the
organization
• Senior managers must make sure projects
continue to support current business needs
A Systems View of Project Management
• A systems approach emerged in the 1950s
to describe a more analytical approach to
management and problem solving
• Three parts include:
• Systems philosophy: an overall model for
thinking about things as systems
• Systems analysis: problem-solving approach
• Systems management: address business,
technological, and organizational issues before
making changes to systems
A Systems View of Project Management

Figure 2-1. Three Sphere Model for Systems Management

Understanding Organizations
• System approach requires project
managers to always view their projects
in the context of the larger
organization.
• Lack of organizational consideration ia
the major reason to IT project failure.
• To improve the success rate of IT projects
– understand the people and the
organizations.
Understanding Organizations

Figure 2-2. The Four Frames of Organizations

Understanding Organizations

Figure 2-3. Organizational Structures

Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
• Project managers must take time to
identify, understand, and manage
relationships with all project
stakeholders.
• Using the four frames of organizations
can help meet stakeholder needs and
expectations.
• Senior executives/top management are
very important stakeholders.
Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
• People in top management positions are key
stakeholders in projects
• A very important factor in helping project
managers successfully lead projects is the level of
commitment and support they receive from top
management
• Without top management commitment, many
projects will fail.
• Some projects have a senior manager called a
champion who acts as a key proponent for a
project.
Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
• If the organization has a negative
attitude toward IT, it will be difficult for
an IT project to succeed.
• Having a Chief Information Officer
(CIO) at a high level in the organization
helps IT projects.
• Assigning non-IT people to IT projects
also encourage more commitment.
Focusing on Stakeholder Needs
• Standards and guidelines help project
managers be more effective.
• Senior management can encourage
• the use of standard forms and software for
project management.
• the development and use of guidelines for
writing project plans or providing status
information.
• the creation of a project management office or
center of excellence
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles
• A project life cycle is a collection of project
phases that defines
• what work will be performed in each phase
• what deliverables will be produced and when
• who is involved in each phase, and
• how management will control and approve work
produced in each phase
• A deliverable is a product or service produced or
provided as part of a project.
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles

• In early phases of a project life cycle

• resource needs are usually lowest.
• the level of uncertainty (risk) is highest.
• project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to
influence the project.
• In middle phases of a project life cycle
• the certainty of completing a project improves.
• more resources are needed.
• The final phase of a project life cycle focuses on
• ensuring that project requirements were met.
• the sponsor approves completion of the project.
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles

Figure 2-4. Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle

Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles
• Products also have life cycles.
• The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a
framework for describing the phases involved in
developing and maintaining information systems.
• Systems development projects can follow
• Predictive life cycle: the scope of the project can be clearly
articulated and the schedule and cost can be predicted.
• Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle:
requirements cannot be clearly expressed, projects are
mission driven and component based, using time-based
cycles to meet target dates. Example- Agile Software
Development.
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles
• Predictive life cycles
• Waterfall model: has well-defined, linear stages of systems
development and support.
• Spiral model: shows that software is developed using an
iterative or spiral approach rather than a linear approach.
• Incremental build model: provides for progressive
development of operational software.
• Prototyping model: used for developing prototypes to
clarify user requirements.
• Rapid Application Development (RAD) model: used to
produce systems quickly without sacrificing quality.
Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles

Figure 2-5. Waterfall and Spiral Life Cycle Models

Project Phases and the Project Life Cycles

Project Phases and Management Reviews

 A project should successfully pass through each
of the project phases in order to continue on to
the next.
 Management reviews, also called phase exits or
kill points, should occur after each phase to
evaluate the project’s progress, likely success,
and continued compatibility with organizational
goals.
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
PROCESS GROUPS
PM Process
PM Methodology
Applying PM Process
PM Process
• A process is a series of actions directed toward a
particular result
• Project management can be viewed as a number of
interlinked processes
• The project management process groups include
• initiating processes
• planning processes
• executing processes
• monitoring and controlling processes
• closing processes
• Refer to Table 3-1 for mapping of PM Groups Process
and the knowledge areas.
PM Process
• IT Project Management Methodology
• Just as projects are unique, so are approaches
to project management.
• Many organizations develop their own project
management methodologies, especially for IT
projects.
• A methodology describes how things should
be done; a standard describes what should be
done.
• PRINCE2, Agile, RUP, and Six Sigma provide
different project management methodologies.
Applying PM Process:
An Example
Project Pre-initiation
• Pre-initiation tasks include:
• Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the
project.
• Identify the project sponsor.
• Select the project manager.
• Develop a business case for a project (see Table 3-2
for an example).
• Meet with the project manager to review the process
and expectations for managing the project.
• Determine if the project should be divided into two or
more smaller projects.
Project Initiation
• Recognize and start a new project or
project phase.
• The main goal is to formally select
and start off projects.
Project Initiation

Table 3-4. Stakeholder Register

Project Initiation
• See Table 3-6 for an example of a charter.
• Charters are normally short and include
key project information and stakeholder
signatures
• It’s good practice to hold a kick-off
meeting at the beginning of a project so
that stakeholders can meet each other,
review the goals of the project, and
discuss future plans.
Project Planning

Figure 3-2. Kick-off Meeting Agenda

Project Planning
• The main purpose of project planning is to guide
execution
• Every knowledge area includes planning
information (see Table 3-7 on pages 98-99)
• Key outputs included in the JWD project include:
• A team contract
• A project scope statement
• A work breakdown structure (WBS)
• A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all
dependencies and resources entered
• A list of prioritized risks (part of a risk register)
• See sample documents starting on p. 101
Project Planning

Figure 3-4. JWD Consulting Intranet Site Project Baseline Gantt Chart
Project Planning

Table. 3-10. List of Prioritized Risks

Project Execution
• Usually takes the most time and resources to
perform project execution
• Project managers must use their leadership skills
to handle the many challenges that occur during
project execution.
• Table 3-11 lists the executing processes and
outputs. Many project sponsors and customers
focus on deliverables related to providing the
products, services, or results desired from the
project.
• A milestone report can help focus on completing
major milestones.
Project Execution

Table 3-12 Partial of Milestone Report

Project Monitoring & Controlling
• Involves measuring progress toward project
objectives, monitoring deviation from the
plan, and taking correction actions.
• Affects all other process groups and occurs
during all phases of the project life cycle.
• Outputs include performance reports,
change requests, and updates to various
plans.
• See Table 3-13.
Project Closing
• Involves gaining stakeholder and customer
acceptance of the final products and services.
• Even if projects are not completed, they
should be closed out to learn from the past.
• Outputs include project files and lessons-
learned reports, part of organizational process
assets.
• Most projects also include a final report and
presentation to the sponsor/senior
management.
Reflection
End of Section 1
Thank you