Guidelines: OIT Project Management Office
Office of Information Technology
Project Management Office
Guidelines
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Guidelines: OIT Project Management Office
Revision History
Date
6/17/2008
9/22/2008
10/2/2008
9/07/2011
9/17/2011
9/20/2011
9/26/2011
Author
Greg Phillips
Jim O’Connor
Jim O’Connor
Deldri R. Dugger
David Adcock
Deldri R. Dugger
Greg Phillips
Description
Initial Draft Version 1.0
Rev 2.1
Rev 2.1.1
Rev 2.2
Rev 2.2.1
Rev 2.2.2
Rev 3.0
Converting original PM
Standards to PMO Guidelines
doc
Additional changes per PMO
team
10/25/2011
Greg Phillips
11/3/2011
Greg Phillips
11/10/2011
1/25/2012
8/13/2012
9/24/2012
10/30/12
Greg Phillips
G. Phillips, L. Sundal, D. Adcock
G. Phillips, L. Sundal, D. Adcock,
Hema M., K. White
D. Adcock
D. Adcock
11/15/12
D. Adcock
Integrating feedback from
team
Remove Principles
Rev 4.0
Rev 4.1 added SBOF
Rev. 4.2 Insert Section
Rev 4.3 Revise Section 4,
added Appendix A
Rev. 4.4 Incorporated changes
from meeting on 11/7/12
Approvers
Date
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Name
Title
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Guidelines: OIT Project Management Office
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Summary of OIT Project Management Office (PMO) Expectations .............................................................. 4
1.0 Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.0 Project Identification and Reporting....................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Project Tracking .................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Project Repository............................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Project Reporting Thresholds ............................................................................................................. 7
2.4 Project Management Review .............................................................................................................. 8
3.0 Roles and Responsibilities ....................................................................................................................... 9
4.0 Project Management Documentation and Artifacts............................................................................. 10
4.1 Project Documentation ..................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Project Repository............................................................................................................................. 10
Appendix A – Project Artifact Checklist ...................................................................................................... 12
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Guidelines: OIT Project Management Office
Summary of OIT Project Management Office (PMO)
Expectations
The OIT project management guidelines are largely drawn from best practices and proven guidelines
utilized by institutions and companies globally. The purpose of implementing these guidelines is to
improve project results through a uniform application of project management best practices
appropriately tailored for Office of Information Technology. This Project Management Office Guidelines
document outlines the roles, responsibilities and processes that all directorates within OIT are to use for
managing technical projects. All projects, which may ultimately deliver a production product/service,
will be managed in a manner consistent with, or in the spirit of, these guidelines. However, OIT
recognizes not all projects will require the same level of rigor, and the flexibility to adapt to these
situations is contained within the document.
The directors are ultimately responsible for managing the portfolio of projects within their directorates.
Directors have the responsibility to assure sound project management principles are used to govern
projects and that project leads/managers follow the standards and guidelines contained herein.
Directors will blend the appropriate project management and technical resources needed to succeed
and bring forth exceptions for discussion within the director’s group to be approved by the CIO. As a
general case, exceptions will be brought forward for discussion before they are implemented. However,
directors are expected to use their judgment in situations such as those that impact data security, life
safety, or similar situations. In cases where immediate action is warranted, back-briefing the directors’
team on these situations is an appropriate approach.
This OIT PMO guidelines document will describe what is to be done, at what levels, for all projects. The
PMO will define a standard list of project artifacts which will provide project leads/managers with
standards for tracking and reporting across OIT based on determination of need by director leadership. .
All documents are living documents and are expected to undergo update and change as circumstances
warrant by the CIO.
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1.0 Overview
The mission of the Project Management Office is to provide a consistent approach to identify, prioritize
and successfully execute a portfolio of IT initiatives and projects.
Our goals:
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Improve delivery of service though project undertakings
Facilitate communications with stakeholders to improve awareness
Enhance decision making on the OIT portfolio by increasing visibility into project benefits and
impacts
Educate and support the implementation of project management
Office of Information Technology projects range from simple, low risk endeavors to larger, more
complex initiatives with high degrees of risk requiring significant human and/or financial resources. The
Project Management Office (PMO) guidelines describe the project management methodology which
should guide the management of projects in the Office of Information Technology.
It defines reporting thresholds for a project according to its level of complexity and risk. There are two
key principles that should guide OIT project managers as they implement projects using these
guidelines. First, every effort should be made to communicate clearly with project sponsors,
stakeholders, IT management, project team members, and interested customers. Second, project
managers should take advantage of every opportunity to reduce complexity and manage scope.
Complexity and unmanaged scope increases cost, puts timelines and quality at risk and makes
maintenance more difficult.
2.0 Project Identification and Reporting
New project opportunities are identified through various channels. Customer requests, new technology
opportunities identified by staff, Institute or regulatory initiatives and other sources can all lead to new
workload assignments that can become standard projects. A standard GT Project Request form is
available to document new initiatives. Once a project has been identified by a customer or project team
lead, initial estimates of complexity related to key attributes for the project must be captured and
evaluated within the responsible/owning directorate. A complexity assessment includes analysis of
resource or cost impacts (hard/soft/staff), time to complete, and the degree of impact associated with
the request. These factors will be used to determine how a project is reported and reviewed
throughout its lifecycle. Projects that are clearly defined as normal maintenance, software license
renewals, or hardware replacement/refreshment are exempt from the project guidelines and standards
unless otherwise directed by CIO.
During the Project Initiation phase the project team, with input from key stakeholders, needs to gauge:
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Applicability of/alignment with the Strategic Business Operations Framework (SBOF)
The complexity of the project based on the overall budget
Project duration
Schedule dependencies
Number of people affected by the project’s deliverables
The degree to which new technologies or skill sets are required
Dependence on existing services
Impact of the service being proposed including Change Management requirements
Overall project risk
System or service dependencies
Any other risk factors present
The ultimate decision about a project’s scope is the responsibility of the project sponsor, project
manager and the key stakeholders. Once a project’s scope has been established it will drive the level of
documentation and management oversight required.
2.1 Project Tracking
Projects that meet the minimal threshold for tracking must have basic attributes of the project entered
and maintained in the OIT PMO Repository by the owning directorate of the project. The repository is
utilized to give visibility to a high-level portfolio of projects that represent strategic commitments that
must be successfully completed. Once projects are entered into the Project Repository they are tracked
and routinely assessed to determine if they should follow more formal project management standards
and whether or not they are subject to Project Management Review (PMR).
2.2 Project Repository
Since the primary purpose of the Repository is to bring greater visibility of OIT projects across the
organization, it is critical for key attributes to be captured consistently. In order to accomplish this, data
elements must share a standard definition among all users. In addition, certain attributes also will need
to have standardized variables defined. If there is not enough information to determine whether or not
a project should be included in the repository, the project manager will estimate the total cost and
interaction with other directorates and assess the project for inclusion in the repository based on those
estimates. The list of the elements that have been identified for the repository and a brief description of
each can be found in Appendix X.
Consistency of data captured, currency of information, and consistency of use are critical to meet
reporting requirements of the project repository. The data in the repository should be current and
maintained weekly. In order to support this, the standard is that repository data is updated by noon the
day prior to the PMO weekly review meetings.
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2.3 Project Reporting Thresholds
Each directorate is responsible for assessing any new or existing projects to determine their impact to
the organization in accordance with these standards. Projects will be reported at one of three levels
within OIT: Directorate, OIT Enterprise, or Strategic Technology Investment Collaboration (STIC).
Project managers and/or directors will analyze new and changed projects to determine the level at
which the project will be reported.
A Directorate level project meets one or more of the following criteria:
1. Total estimated cost of the project does NOT exceed $25,000 (excluding staff resources)
2. Total estimated development time/effort does NOT exceed 30 days (not calendar or
continuous days)
3. Project is staffed with resources from within the initiating Directorate only
Projects reported at this level are typically characterized as small enhancements, production support
fixes or incident/issue management resolutions.
An OIT Enterprise level project meets one or more of the following criteria:
1. Total estimated cost of the project exceeds $25,000 (excluding staff resources)
2. Total estimated development time/effort exceeds 30 days (not calendar or continuous days)
3. Project requires resources from a cross-functional Directorate AND (exceeds $25,000 OR
exceeds 30 development days)
4. Project designated by CIO or CTO
Projects communicated to Strategic Technology Investment Collaboration (STIC) meet one or more the
following criteria:
1. Total estimated cost of the project exceeds $250,000 (excluding staff resources)
2. Total estimated development time/effort exceeds 6 months (not calendar or continuous
days)
3. Project requires funding from OR in Partnership with another GT business units
4. Project scope creates significant change to GT business processes
5. Project designated by CIO or CTO
Projects reporting to STIC should align with the Institute’s Strategic Business Operations Framework
(SBOF) and include supporting documentation within the project’s artifacts.
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Thresholds defined above are established as minimums. Directors are encouraged to add projects that
do not meet the thresholds if they feel it is important to gain visibility, address specific issues, or
improve communications.
2.4 Project Management Review
Project management oversight can occur at multiple levels. While the format for managing non-PMR
projects is very flexible, OIT expects all projects to be managed to a plan and kept on time, on budget,
and within scope. Projects that meet or exceed the PMR threshold limits must be managed by a project
manager in consultation with OIT leadership team consisting of the directors group and appropriate
technical managers. In addition, projects that fail to meet the PMR threshold may be selected for
review at a Directorate or CIO/CTO discretion. The Project Management Review team will provide
guidance on all projects in the OIT PMR portfolio.
The goal of a PMR is to determine the project status and to approve the continued commitment of
resources to the project. A director or project manager has the discretion to schedule any project for a
PMR if she/he feels something about the project warrants executive attention. The PMR process
facilitates:
1. Project proposal and selection and prioritization process
2. Risk mitigation and issue resolution as necessary
3. Resource and funding allocation as necessary
Projects that meet one or more of the following thresholds must be scheduled for Project Management
Reviews or “PMRs”:
1. Project requires funding that the initiating directorate does not have
2. Total estimated cost is greater than $100,000
3. CIO or CTO designates the project as a “PMR Project”
Factors that might cause a project that falls below the threshold to be marked as a PMR project are:
criticality of the project, significant risk factors, or potential of the project to impact campus customers.
PMR’s may result in projects being approved to move ahead to the next phase, approved to continue in
the current phase, approved to continue with modified resource and scope commitments in either the
current or next phase, or direction to terminate the project.
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3.0 Roles and Responsibilities
The following roles and responsibilities are critical to the effective operation of the Project Management
Office.
PMO Team
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Project Manager
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Director
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CIO/CTO
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Cross directorate team works to align Institutional governance
requirements and OIT project management guidelines.
Defines process and artifacts available for project teams
Responsible for understanding and implementing guidelines in
alignment with the SBOF, and utilizing available artifacts
together with directorate leadership to ensure project
compliance and success
Project managers are responsible for updating project
information in the repository
Develops and maintains timeline with milestones & all other
project materials
Manage the planning & execution of the project
Coordinate meetings
Regularly communicates project status and assigned requests to
appropriate leadership
Documents project issues & risk and works with appropriate
decision makers to resolve issues and manage risk
Provide service status to Executive Leadership as needed
Approve service funding request within directorate
Approve project requests as appropriate
Allocate resources
Assures that a Project Manager has been assigned to each new
project as appropriate
Works with Project Manager to define required project artifacts
including alignment with SBOF
Addresses identified risks
Owns the OIT Project Repository
Removes roadblocks
Provide executive direction to the key Stakeholder
Approve service funding requests
Works with Directors to resolve issues as needed
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4.0 Project Management Documentation and Artifacts
The Office of Information Technology supports Institute requirements for auditability and responsible
use of resources. The information necessary to support those requirements is met through the proper
documentation of project activities with supporting artifacts to be maintained in a project repository.
4.1 Project Documentation
The OIT project management methodology requires documentation for each project to be created and
retained as is appropriate for the size of the project and internal audit policies. The Project Management
Office website will serve as a repository of templates which should be used to meet the documentation
recommendations identified below.
Project Artifact
Project Request Form
Project Artifact Checklist
Project Requirements/Scope Document
Project Charter
Project Budget
Project Risk Analysis
Change Management Plan
Project Test Plan
Status Dashboard
Implementation Plan
Production Support Document
Lessons Learned Document
Legend
Required
Highly Recommended
Optional, but Valuable
Directorate
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OIT
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STIC
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4.2 Project Repository
The OIT Project Management Office will identify the location of the project repository which will house
the required project artifacts. Project documentation should be built using the following folder
structure:
Directorate_Fiscal Year Started_Project name
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Project subfolders may be created to maintain all project documentation, however, only the documents
listed above as required must be included in the OIT Project Repository folder. Optional and Highly
Recommended artifacts, along with additional project documentation, may be included at the director’s
discretion. Each project folder should contain the OIT Project Artifact Checklist (Appendix A) which
identifies which artifacts will be included for each project. Templates for each of these project artifacts
may be found on the OIT website in the Project Management section.
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Appendix A – Project Artifact Checklist
OIT Project Artifact Checklist
Project Name
OIT Directorate
Project Manager
Project Sponsor
Project Artifact
Project Request Form
Project Requirements/Scope Document
Project Charter
Project Budget
Risk Analysis
Change Management Plan
Status Dashboard
Project Test Plan
Impementation Plan
Production Support Document
Lessons Learned Document
Project Start Date
Project End Date
IT Governance
Required
()
Completed
Date
Filename
Completed by
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Comments/Notes:
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