Zion Technology and business College

Department of Information Technology

Course: Information Technology Project

Management

• For IT Year III Students

• Semester II 2021/2022

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 1

 Chapter 1:
Introduction to Project
Management

Information Technology Project

Management, Eighth Edition

Note: See the text itself for full citations.

Learning Objectives
• 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
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 3
 Learning Objectives
• Discuss the relationship between project, program, and
portfolio management and the contributions each
makes to enterprise success
• Understand the role of project managers by describing
what they do, what skills they need, and career
opportunities for IT project managers
• Describe the project management profession, the role
of professional organizations like the Project
Management Institute (PMI), the importance of
certification and ethics, and the advancement of project
management software
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 4
 Introduction
• Many organizations today have a new or renewed
interest in project management
• Worldwide IT spending was $3.8 trillion in 2014, a
3.2 percent increase from 2013 spending
• The Project Management Institute estimates
demand for 15.7 million project management
jobs from 2010 to 2020, with 6.2 million of those
jobs in the United States

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 5

Project Management Statistics
• In 2013 (the most recent year of PMI’s salary survey),
the average salary in U.S. dollars for someone in the
project management profession was $108,000 per year
in the United States; $134,658 in Australia, (the highest-
paid country); and $24,201 in Egypt (the lowest-paid
country)
• The top skills employers look for in new college
graduates are all related to project management: team-
work, decision-making, problem-solving, and verbal
communications
• Organizations waste $109 million for every $1 billion
spent on projects, according to PMI’s Pulse of the
Profession® report
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 6
 Motivation for Studying Information Technology
(IT) Project Management
• 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.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 7

 Advantages of Using Formal Project
Management
• Better control 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
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 8
 Top Strategic Technologies for 2012
(Gartner)
• Computing everywhere
• Mobile computing
• The Internet of things
• 3D printing
• Advanced, pervasive, and invisible analytics

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 11

 Media Snapshot: Unproductive Apps
• Gartner predicted that by 2014, there would be more than 70 billion mobile
application downloads every year, but it was almost double
• Facebook is by far the most downloaded app, and the most popular category
of all apps continues to be games
• The challenge is to develop useful apps and get workers to focus on them
instead of the many distracting options available

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 12

1.2b Project Attributes

• A project
• has a unique purpose
• is temporary
•
progressive elaboration
is developed using

(PMBOK)
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 13

Project Hierarchy
VISION

MEASURABLE GOALS

DELIVERABLES WITH SPECIFIC DUE DATES

TASKS, ACTIVITIES

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 14

Project and Program Managers

• 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, 2013)
• Program managers oversee programs; often act as bosses for project
managers

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 15

1.2c Figure 1-1 The Triple Constraint of
Project Management

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 16

 What is Project Management?
• Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools
and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements”
(PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition, 2013)
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 17

 PM Knowledge Areas
Project Integration Management
Core Knowledge Areas Facilitating Knowledge Areas

Project Project
Scope Management Human Resource Management

Project Project
Time Management Communications Management

Project Project
Cost Management Risk Management

Project Project
Quality Management Procurement Management

Project
Stakeholder Management
1.3 Figure 1-2 Project Management
Framework (PMBOK)

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 19

1.3a Project Stakeholders
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 20

1.3b Project Management Knowledge Areas
• 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 and is
patterned after PMBOK in that regard.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 21

 1.3c Project Management Tools and
Techniques
• 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)
• Meetings, review boards, baselines
• See Table 1-1 for many more

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 22

 1.3c Super Tools
• “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
• History Database
• Tools already extensively used that have been found to improve project
importance include:
• Progress reports
• Kick-off meetings
• Gantt charts
• Change requests
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 23
 What Went Right? Improved
Project Performance
The Standish Group’s CHAOS studies show
improvements in IT projects in the past decade:
 The number of successful IT projects has more than
doubled, from 16 percent in 1994 to 39 percent in 2012
 The number of failed projects decreased from 31 percent in
1994 to 18 percent in 2012
 Success rates were much higher for small projects than large
ones – 76 percent versus 10 percent

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 24

1.3d Project Success

• There are several ways to define project success:

• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 25

1.3 Table 1-2: What Helps Projects Succeed?*
1. Executive (top management) support/commitment
2. User involvement
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

*The Standish Group, “CHAOS Manifesto 2013: Think Big,

Act Small” (2013).
Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 26
1.3 What the Winners Do…

• Recent research findings show that companies that excel

in project delivery capability:
1. Use an integrated project management toolbox (use
standard/advanced PM tools, lots of templates)
2. Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and soft
skills
3. Develop a streamlined project delivery process
4. Measure project health using metrics, like customer
satisfaction or return on investment

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 28

1.4 Program and Project Portfolio
Management
• 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, 2013)

• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 29

Project Portfolio Management

• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 30

Figure 1-3. Project Management Compared to
Project Portfolio Management

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 31

 Best Practice
• 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.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 32

Figure 1-4. Sample Project Portfolio
Approach

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 33

Figure 1-5. Microsoft project portfolio management
capabilities

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 34

1.5 The Role of the Project Manager

• Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities like planning,

scheduling, coordinating, and working with people to achieve
project goals (motivating, mentoring, coaching, collaborating,
communicating, connecting—all with positive charisma)

• Project managers are organized, passionate and goal-oriented. They

build POSITIVE professional relationships with stakeholders.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 35

 1.5b Suggested Skills for Project Managers

• The Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMBOK

• Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations
• Project environment knowledge
• General management knowledge, skills and acumen
• Soft skills or human relations skills—how to motivate people

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 36

Table 1-3 Ten Most Important Skills and
Competencies for Project Managers
1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 37

 Different Skills Needed in Different
Situations
• Large projects: Leadership, relevant prior experience, planning,
people skills, verbal communication, and team-building skills
were most important
• High uncertainty projects: Risk 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 38

Importance of Leadership Skills
• Effective project managers provide leadership by example
• A leader focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives (a
visionary) while inspiring people to reach those goals
• A manager deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals—a
people-person and a paper-pusher
• Project managers often take on the role of both leader and manager

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 39

Careers for IT Project Managers

• In a 2014 survey, IT executives listed the “ten hottest skills” they

planned to hire for in 2015
• Project management was second only to programming and
application development
• Even if you choose to stay in a technical role, you still need project
management knowledge and skills to help your team and
organization

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 40

Table 1-4. Ten Hottest IT Skills

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 41

 The Project Management Profession
• 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 Management Institute, and the
growth in project management software

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 42

Figure 1-6. Sample Gantt Chart Created
with Project 2013

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 43

Figure 1-7. Sample Network Diagram Created
with Project 2013

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 44

1.6a Project Management Offices

• In the 100s, many companies began creating PMOs to help them

handle the increasing number and complexity of projects
• A Project Management Office (PMO) is an organizational group
responsible for coordinating the project management function
throughout an organization
• They train, mentor and reward project management expertise
• They use incubators and simulators to build strong PM competencies into
their best people

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 45

Figure 1-8. Growth in the Number of Project
Management Offices

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 46

 1.6a Global Issues
• Several global dynamics are forcing organizations to rethink their practices:
• Talent development for project and program managers is a top concern
• Good project portfolio management is crucial in tight economic conditions
• Basic project management techniques are core competencies
• Organizations want to use more agile approaches to project management
• Benefits realization of projects is a key metric

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 47

1.6b The Project Management Institute

• The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international

professional society for project managers founded in 1969
• PMI has continued to attract and retain members, reporting more
than 449,000 members worldwide by late 2014
• There are communities of practices in many areas, like information
systems, financial services, and health care
• Project management research and certification programs continue to
grow
• Students can join PMI at a reduced fee and earn the Certified
Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification (see
www.pmi.org for details)

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 48

1.6c Project Management Certification

• PMI provides certification as a Project Management Professional

(PMP)
• A PMP has documented sufficient project experience, agreed to
follow a code of ethics, and passed the PMP exam
• The number of people earning PMP certification is increasing quickly

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 49

Figure 1-9 Growth in PMP Certification, 1993-
2015

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 50

 1.6d Ethics in Project Management
• 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

• In order to earn PMP certification, 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 51

 1.6e Project Management Software
• 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 $200-$1,000 per user,
Project 2013 most popular
• High-end tools: Also called enterprise project management software, often licensed
on a per-user basis
• Several free or open-source tools are also available

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 52

Chapter Summary
• 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
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 53

 Chapter 2:
The Project Management and
Information Technology Context

Information Technology Project

Management, Eighth Edition

Note: See the text itself for full citations.

 Learning Objectives
• Describe the systems view of project management and how it applies to
information technology (IT) projects
• Understand organizations, including the four frames, organizational
structures, and organizational culture
• Explain why stakeholder management and top management commitment
are critical for a project’s success

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 55

Learning Objectives

• Understand the concept of a project phase and the project life cycle,
and distinguish between project development and product
development
• Discuss the unique attributes and diverse nature of IT projects
• Describe recent trends affecting IT project management, including
globalization, outsourcing, virtual teams, and agile project
management

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 56

Projects Cannot Be Run In Isolation
• 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--all stakeholders, perspectives, frames, viewpoints
• Senior managers must make sure projects continue to support current
business needs

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 57

 A Systems View of Project Management
• Even though projects are temporary and intended to provide unique
products and services organizations can not run projects in isolation.
• projects must operate in a broad organizational environment,
and project managers need to consider projects within the greater
organizational context.
• 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, which are
interacting components that work within an environment to fulfill some purpose
• Systems analysis: problem-solving approach
• Systems management: address business, technological, and organizational issues before
making changes to systems

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 58

 Case example
• Suppose you are assigned to study a project for a certain private college which wants to have
its adult education students leases laptops.
• Some of the business, organizational, and technological issues that you need to consider in the
project would be the following.
• Business:
• What will the laptop project cost the college?
• What will it cost students?
• What will support costs be?
What will the impact be in enrolment
Organizational:
• Will the laptop project affect all students, or only certain majors?
• How will the project affect students who already have PCs or laptops?
• Who will train students, faculty, and staff?
• Who will administer and support training?

Technological:
• What operating systems should the laptops use?
• What applications software will be loaded?
• What will the hardware specifications be?
• How will the hardware impact LAN and Internet access?

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 59

Figure 2-1. Three Sphere Model for Systems
Management

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 60

Figure 2-2. Perspectives on Organizations-frames
of organizations

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 61

What Went Wrong?
• In a paper titled “A Study in Project Failure,” two researchers
examined the success and failure of 214 IT projects over an
eight-year period in several European countries.
• The researchers found that only one in eight (12.5 percent) were
considered successful in terms of meeting scope, time, and cost
goals.
• The authors said that the culture within many organizations is
often to blame
• Among other things, people often do not discuss important
leadership, stakeholder, and risk management issues

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 62

 Organizational Structures

• 3 basic organization structures

• Functional: is the hierarchy most people think of when picturing
an organizational char.
• In this structure functional managers report to the CEO(Staffs have
specialized skills in their respective disciplines)
• Example: Universities and Colleges
• Project: program managers report to the CEO instead of functional
managers or Vise presidents reporting to CEO
• Staffs have a varieties of skills needed to complete the project
within their programs.
• Matrix: middle ground between functional and project structures;
personnel often report to two or more bosses; structure can be
weak, balanced, or strong matrix

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 63

Figure 2-3. Functional, Project, and Matrix
Organizational Structures

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 64

Functional Organizations
Functional Organization of Projects

• Advantages • Disadvantages
1. No Structural Change 1. Lack of Focus
2. Flexibility 2. Poor Integration
3. In-Depth Expertise 3. Slow
4. Easy Post-Project Transition 4. Lack of Ownership

3–66
 Project Management Structures (cont’d)
• Organizing Projects: Dedicated Teams
• Teams operate as separate units under the leadership of a full-time project
manager.
• In a projectized organization where projects are the dominant form of business,
functional departments are responsible for providing support for its teams.

3–67
Dedicated Project Team

3–68
Project Organization: Dedicated Team
• Advantages • Disadvantages
1. Simple 1. Expensive
2. Fast 2. Internal Strife
3. Cohesive 3. Limited Technological Expertise
4. Cross-Functional Integration 4. Difficult Post-Project Transition
Projectized Organizational Structure

3–70
Project Management Structures (cont’d)

• Organizing Projects: Matrix Structure

• Hybrid organizational structure (matrix) is overlaid on the normal functional
structure.
• Two chains of command (functional and project)
• Project participants report simultaneously to both functional and project managers.
• Matrix structure optimizes the use of resources.
• Allows for participation on multiple projects while performing normal functional duties.
• Achieves a greater integration of expertise and project requirements.

3–71
Matrix Organization Structure
Division of Project Manager and Functional Manager
Responsibilities in a Matrix Structure

Project Manager Negotiated Issues Functional Manager

What has to be done? Who will do the task? How will it be done?

When should the task be done? Where will the task be done?

How much money is available Why will the task be done? How will the project involvement
to do the task? impact normal functional activities?

How well has the total project Is the task satisfactorily How well has the functional
been done? completed? input been integrated?

3–73
Table 2-1. Organizational Structure
Influences on Projects

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 74

2.2c Organizational Culture

• Organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions, values, and

behaviors that characterize the functioning of an organization
• Many experts believe the underlying causes of many companies’
problems are not the structure or staff, but the culture
• Challenge the CONVENTIONAL WISDOM when it comes to
organizational culture.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 75

 2.2c Ten Characteristics of Organizational
Culture
• Risk tolerance*
• Member identity* • Reward criteria*
• Group emphasis* • Conflict tolerance*
• People focus • Means-ends orientation
• Unit integration* • Open-systems focus*
• Control

*Project work is most successful in an organizational

culture where these items in red are strong/high and
other items are balanced.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 76

2.3 Stakeholder Management
• Project stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project
activities.
• Since the purpose of project management is to meet project requirements
and satisfy stakeholders, it is critical that project managers take
adequate time to identify, understand, and manage relationships with all
project stakeholders.
• Senior executives/top management are very important stakeholders
• The expectations of all project stakeholders is most accurately met using
the four frames of
• organizations.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 77

 Media Snapshot
• The media have often reported on mismanaged IT projects, including the
disastrous launch of the website healthcare.gov in October 2013—they
spent > $300M on a website that did not work
• Forbes ran an article on called “Healthcare.gov: Diagnosis: The
Government Broke Every Rule of Project Management”
• President Obama formed the “Obama Trauma Team” of star performers
from several organizations to help fix the site

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 78

 2.3a The Importance of Top Management
Commitment
• 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—without
top management commitment, PM’s will not get the resources they need.
• Some projects have a senior manager called a champion who acts as a key
proponent for a project.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 79

 2.3a How Top Management Can Help Project
Managers
• Providing adequate resources
• Approving unique project needs in a timely manner
• Getting cooperation from other parts of the organization
• Mentoring and coaching on leadership issues and learn how to be a
good leader

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 80

2.3a Best Practice

• IT governance addresses the authority and control for key IT

activities in organizations, including IT infrastructure, IT use, and
project management
• A lack of IT governance can be dangerous, as evidenced by three
well-publicized IT project failures in Australia (Sydney Water’s
customer relationship management system, the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology’s academic management system, and
One.Tel’s billing system)

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 81

2.3a Need for Organizational Commitment
to Information Technology (IT)
• 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
• Must be a visionary—lead through vision and example
• Must not be a command-and-control person
• Assigning non-IT people to IT projects also encourages more
commitment

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 82

 2.3c The Need for Organizational Standards
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 83

 2.4 Project Phases and the Project Life Cycle
• 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
 Project phases vary by project or industry, but some general phases
include concept, development, implementation, and closeout.
• The first two phases (concept and development) focus on planning and are
often referred to as project feasibility.
• The last two phases (implementation and closeout) focus on delivering
the actual work and are often referred to as project acquisition.
• A project must successfully complete each phase before moving on to
the next.
• A deliverable is a product or service produced or provided as part of
a project

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 84

 Project Life Cycle
• Figure 2.2 provides a summary framework for the general phases of the project life
cycle. In the concept phase of a project, managers usually describe the project. In
this phase:
• • A very high level or summary plan for the project, which describes the need for
the project and basic underlying concepts, is developed.
• • A preliminary or rough cost estimate of the project is developed.
• • An overview of the work involved (work breakdown structure (WBS)) is created.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 85

Project phases described
• After the concept phase is completed, the development phase of the project
begins. In the development phase, the project team creates:
• a more detailed project plan,
• a more accurate cost estimate, and
• a more thorough WBS.
• The third phase of the project life cycle is implementation. In this phase, the
project team delivers:
• the required work,
• definitive or very accurate cost estimate, and
• performance reports.
• The last phase of the project life cycle is closeout. In the closeout phase:
• All of the work is completed.
• Consumer acceptance of the entire project is issued.
• The project team documents their experiences on the project in a
lessons learned report.

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 86

Project Phases….
• In the early phases of a project life cycle:
 resource needs are lowest,
the level of uncertainty (risk) highest and
project stakeholders have the greatest opportunity to
influence the project.
• In the middle phases of a project life cycle:
 the certainty of completing a project increases and
more resources are needed.
And in the final phase of a project life cycle:
 the focus is on ensuring that project requirements
were met and the sponsor approves completion of the
project

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 87

2.4 More on Project Phases

• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 88

2.4a Product Life Cycles PMBOK
• 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

Information Technology Project Management, Eighth Edition 89

2.4a Predictive Life Cycle Models
• 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 using time-boxes

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Figure 2-5. Waterfall and Spiral Life Cycle
Models

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2.4a Agile Software Development

• Is an Adaptive Lifecycle approach

• Is a time-boxed approach, usually
• Agile software development has become popular to describe new
approaches that focus on close collaboration between programming
teams and business experts
• Includes Scrum, Extreme programming and RUP

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The Importance of 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

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 What Went Right?
"The real improvement that I saw was in our ability toin the words of Thomas
Edisonknow when to stop beating a dead horse.…Edison's key to success was that
he failed fairly often; but as he said, he could recognize a dead horse before it started
to smell...In information technology we ride dead horsesfailing projectsa long
time before we give up. But what we are seeing now is that we are able to get off
them; able to reduce cost overrun and time overrun. That's where the major impact
came on the success rate.”*

Many organizations, like Huntington Bancshares, Inc., use an executive steering

committee to help keep projects on track.

Some projects still go on a long time before being killed, like Blizzard’s Titan game
project.

*Cabanis, Jeannette, "'A Major Impact': The Standish Group's Jim Johnson On Project
Management and IT Project Success," PM Network, PMI, Sep.1998, p. 7

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2.5 The Context of IT Projects

• IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size, complexity, products

produced, application area, and resource requirements
• IT project team members often have diverse backgrounds and skill
sets—not all are actually IT types.
• IT projects use diverse technologies that change rapidly. Even within
one technology area, people must be highly specialized

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2.6 Recent Trends Affecting IT Project
Management
• Globalization
• Outsourcing: Outsourcing is when an organization
acquires goods and/or sources from an outside source.
Offshoring is sometimes used to describe outsourcing
from another country
• Virtual teams/distributed teams: A virtual team is a
group of individuals who work across time and space
using communication technologies
• Agile project management

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 2.6a Important Issues and Suggestions
Related to Globalization

• Issues
• Communications
• Trust
• Common work practices
• Tools
• Suggestions
• Employ greater project discipline
• Think global but act local
• Keep project momentum going
• Use newer tools and technology

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 2.6b Outsourcing
• Organizations remain competitive by using outsourcing to their advantage,
such as finding ways to reduce costs
• Their next challenge is to make strategic IT investments with outsourcing
by improving their enterprise architecture to ensure that IT infrastructure
and business processes are integrated and standardized (See Suggested
Readings)
• Project managers should become more familiar with negotiating contracts
and other outsourcing issues

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2.6b Global Issues

• Outsourcing also has disadvantages. For example, Apple

benefits from manufacturing products in China, using
FoxConn—FoxConn had significant human rights violations—
people working 32 hrs at a time without sleep and then
committing suicide

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 2.6c Virtual Teams Advantages
• Increasing competiveness and responsiveness by
having a team of workers available 24/7
• Lowering costs because many virtual workers do not
require office space or support beyond their home
offices.
• Providing more expertise and flexibility by having
team members from across the globe working any
time of day or night
• Increasing the work/life balance for team members by
eliminating fixed office hours and the need to travel to
work.

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 2.6c Virtual Team Disadvantages
• Isolating team members
• Increasing the potential for communications problems
• Reducing the ability for team members to network and transfer
information informally
• Increasing the dependence on technology to accomplish work
• See text for a list of factors that help virtual teams succeed, including
team processes, trust/relationships, leadership style, and team member
selection

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 2.6d Agile Project Management
• Agile means being able to move quickly and easily, but some people
feel that project management, as they have seen it used, does not
allow people to work quickly or easily.
• Early software development projects often used a waterfall
approach, as defined earlier in this chapter. As technology and
businesses became more complex, the approach was often difficult
to use because requirements were unknown or continuously
changing.
• Agile today means using a method based on iterative and
incremental development, in which requirements and solutions
evolve through collaboration.
• See the Resources tab from www.pmtexts.com for more info

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 2.6d Agile Makes Sense for Some Projects,
But Not All
• Many seasoned experts in project management warn people not to fall for the
hype associated with Agile.
• For example, J. Leroy Ward, Executive Vice President at ESI International, said
that “Agile will be seen for what it is … and isn’t….Project management
organizations embracing Agile software and product development approaches
will continue to grow while being faced with the challenge of demonstrating
ROI through Agile adoption.”*

*J. Leroy Ward, “The Top Ten Project Management Trends for 2011,” projecttimes.com
(January 24, 2011).

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 2.6e Manifesto for Agile Software
Development
• In February 2001, a group of 17 people that called themselves the Agile
Alliance developed and agreed on the Manifesto for Agile Software
Development, as follows:
• “We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and
helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan”*

*Agile Manifesto, www.agilemanifesto.org.

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2.6f Scrum

• According to the Scrum Alliance, Scrum is the leading agile

development method for completing projects with a complex,
innovative scope of work.
• The term was coined in 1986 in a Harvard Business Review study that
compared high-performing, cross-functional teams to the scrum
formation used by rugby teams.

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Figure 2-6. Scrum Framework

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2.6f Kanban

• Technique that can be used in conjunction with scrum

• Developed in Japan by Toyota Motor Corporation
• Uses visual cues to guide workflow
• Kanban cards show new work, work in progress, and work completed
• Allows the customer to PULL projects from the Scrum list through
the development process.

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2.6g Agile, the PMBOK® Guide, and a New
Certification
• The PMBOK® Guide describes best practices for what should
be done to manage projects.
• Agile is a methodology that describes how to manage
projects.
• The Project Management Institute (PMI) recognized the
increased interest in Agile, and introduced a new
certification in 2011 called Agile Certified Practitioner
(ACP).
• Seasoned project managers understand that they have
always had the option of customizing how they run projects,
but that project management is not easy, even when using
Agile.
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 Chapter Summary
• Project managers need to take a systems approach when working on projects
• Organizations have four different frames: structural, human resources,
political, and symbolic
• The structure and culture of an organization have strong implications for
project managers
• Projects should successfully pass through each phase of the project life cycle
• Project managers need to consider several factors due to the unique context of
information technology projects
• Recent trends affecting IT project management include globalization,
outsourcing, virtual teams, and Agile

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