Introduction to IT Project Management
Bhuvan Unhelkar, PhD, FACS
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY
bhuvan@cit.uws.edu.au
Mobile: 0413-821-454;
Autumn, 2006
Module Outline
• Introduction to Information Technology (IT)
Project Management
• Understanding various aspects of IT Project
Management
• Some Statistics on IT PM
• ITPM Lifecycle and Variables
• The Role of a Project Manager
• CLASSROOM DISCUSSION…
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Introduction
What is IT Project
Management?
Introduction
•Opportunity to research & discuss the knowledge, values and skills of IT
project management & consultancy
•Covers preparing & presenting project proposals, project management,
resource management, time management, communication skills, &
evolving legal, ethical, & social responsibilities of IT professionals
•Via the practical application of these findings students will develop project
artefacts that will be of use to them within the industry.
•Working in teams: plan & investigate a project, (preferably for a client,):
prepare & present project proposals to a public forum. (Approved project
proposals may be further pursued as part of IT Project Implementation or
Computing Research Project A)
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Understanding an IT Project
• A project is a temporary endeavour to create a
unique product or service.*
– Typically, a piece of Software/Database
– A Project has a start and (hopefully) a completion
date
• A project is outside of the normal operations of a
business
*IT Project Management: On Track from Start to Finish: Joseph Phillips
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What is Project Management?
Project Management is
“the application of knowledge, skill, 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. Web
address is www.pmi.org
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The Need to Understand Project
Management
• Project Management (PM) permeates all aspects
of a Business
– Not Just IT Projects, although they may be a major
component of Projects in a business
• Number of new IT Projects continues to increase
• Very poor success rate for IT Project completions
- Chaos Report(1995) found only 16.2% of all IT
Projects were a success. 31% were cancelled
before they were finished. Cost in US, $81 billion
alone*
*The Standish Group:”Chaos 2001: A Recipe for Success”
• Recent Sydney Experience with Dock-side
Software
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Some Statistics related to PM
• Over 16 million people see Project Management
as their primary profession
• $10 trillion of the World’s $40.7 trillion GDP is
spent on various projects
• US$2.3 trillion spent every year on projects: = ¼
of US GDP
*PMI: The PMI Project Management Fact Book, 2001
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IT Project Management
Includes..
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Development Management
Deployment Management
Release Management
Training Management
Incident Management
Test Management
Risk Management
Change Management
Configuration Management
Quality Management
Database Management
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Service Level Management
Support Management
Outsourcing Management
Capacity Management
Financial Management
Security Management
People Management
Standards Management
Documents Management
Process Management
….?
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Generic IT Project Lifecycle
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Curry/Stanford(2005)
CRITICAL PM VARIABLES
Scope
Time
Cost
Quality
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Curry/Stanford(2005)
Why use formal techniques?
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Justification of work and changes
Improved tracking of critical variables
Identify tasks at differing levels of complexity
Decrease project costs
Everyone knows how they fit in
Improved client reporting
Opportunities to decrease development time/costs and
increase productivity and reusability
“If you fail to plan then plan to fail”
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Project Manager
• Accept Project Assignments & Responsibilities
• Plan, monitor and control the Project through to
completion
• Deliverables Tracking & Change Management
• Report to Program Director / Steering Committee
• Balance time/cost/functionality Constraints
• Identify Risks and Plan mitigation Strategies
• Build and Motivate Project Team
• Resource Identification, Recruitment and Replacement
• Provide single and responsible Point Of Contact for the
Team
• Chair Project Meetings
• Ensure adherence to Methodologies and Standards
• Close the Project
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Conclusions
• Introduced IT Project Management
– Roles and Responsibilities
• Discussed Challenges to PM
• Discussed Variables in IT Projects
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NEXT STEPS…
• Questions?? –
– PLEEASE ASK IN CLASSROOM FORMAT
• Need to Form Groups (4 students)
– List Last Name, First Name, Student Number,
Email/Phone
– Make two copies – one for you and one for me.
• Individual Assignment
– Format / Topics provided on WebCT
– Students from same group MUST write on
SEPARATE topics
• Classroom Discussions:
– Background Papers need to be Read (on WebCT and
also mentioned in Classroom)
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Classroom Discussions
Part of Individual Credit
Topic:
How it IT PM different to other Project
Managements?