Chapter 1:
Introduction to Project Management
Information Technology Project Management,
Fourth Edition
Learning Objectives

Understand the growing need for better project
management, especially for information technology
projects.

Explain what a project is

provide examples of information technology projects

list various attributes of projects

describe the triple constraint of projects.
Learning Objectives


Describe project management and discuss key
elements of the project management framework

including project stakeholders

the project management knowledge areas

common tools and techniques

project success factors.
Understand the role of the project manager

by describing what project managers do

what skills they need

what the career field is like for information technology
project managers.
Learning Objectives

Describe the project management
profession




including its history
the role of professional organizations such as
the Project Management Institute
the importance of certification and ethics
the growth of project management software.
Learning Objectives

How the changing business environment impacts IT.

The changing realities within the Information Technology field.

The corporate view of technology.

How the best practices approach impacts projects.

The value of benchmarking.

The difference between best in class versus world class.

Why quality is important in a project.

The five perspectives of quality.

The product, process, and business perspectives on quality.
Introduction

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 U.S. spends $2.3 trillion on projects every
year, or one-quarter its gross domestic product,
and the world as a whole spends nearly $10 trillion
of its $40.7 gross product on projects of all kinds.*
*PMI, The PMI Project Management Fact Book, Second Edition, 2001.
Project Management Statistics

Worldwide IT spending continues to grow, and Forrester
Research predicts that U.S. IT spending will grow by another
5.7 percent in 2005, to reach $795 billion.*

In 2003, the average senior project manager in the U.S.
earned almost $90,000 per year, and the average Project
Management Office (PMO) Director earned more than the
average Chief Information Officer ($118,633 vs.
$103,925).**

The Apprentice, the number-one U.S. reality television show
in 2004, portrayed the important role of project managers.
*Butler, Steve, “IT Spending,” Analyst Views, February 2004.
**PMI, Project Management Salary Survey, Third Edition, 2003.
Motivation for Studying Information
Technology (IT) Project Management

IT projects have a terrible track record.


A 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS) found that only
16.2 percent of IT projects were successful in meeting
scope, time, and cost goals.
Over 31 percent of IT projects were canceled before
completion, costing over $81 billion in the U.S. alone.*
*The Standish Group, “The CHAOS Report” (www.standishgroup.com) (1995).
Another reference is Johnson, Jim, “CHAOS: The Dollar Drain of IT Project Failures,”
Application Development Trends (January 1995).
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 (less stress).

Introduction to IT Project Mgmt Mgrs


IT Project Mgrs play a key role in project success.
More professionals are seeking more
education/certification in Project Mgmt.



PMI—issues PMP—claimed to have 40K in 2002 and 57K
CompTia offers Project+
Fortune Magazine has called it Career Number 1

Average salary according to a 2000 report was $87,800
and some project mgrs can make up to $100K in base
pay
Table 1-5. Top Ten Most
In-Demand IT Skills
Rank
IT Skill/Job
Average Annual Salary
1
SQL Database Analyst
$80,664
2
Oracle Database Analyst
$87,144
3
C/C++ Programmer
$95,829
4
Visual Basic Programmer
$76,903
5
E-commerce/Java Developer
$89,163
6
Windows NT/2000 Expert
$80,639
7
Windows/Java Developert
$93,785
8
Security Architect
$86,881
9
Project Manager
$95,719
10
Network Engineer
$82,906
Paul Ziv, “The Top 10 IT Skills in Demand,” Global Knowledge Webcast
(www.globalknowledge.com) (11/20/2002).
The Project Management Profession
Professional societies such as the Project
Management Institute (PMI) have grown
significantly.
 There are specific interest groups in
many areas, such as engineering,
financial services, health care, and IT.
 Project management research and
certification programs continue to grow.

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.
 PMI and other organizations are offering
new certification programs (see Appendix
B).

Figure 1-7. Growth in PMP
Certification, 1993-2003
80,000
76,550
70,000
# PMPs
60,000
52,443
50,000
40,000
40,343
30,000
27,052
20,000
18,184
10,000
0
10,086
1,000
1,900
2,800
4,400
6,415
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Year
Figure 1-3. Top Information Technology
Skills
70%
60%
60%
Percentage of
Respondents
58%
50%
42%
41%
Database
management
Networking
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Application
development
Project management
Information Technology (IT) Skill
Cosgrove, Lorraine, “January 2004 IT Staffing Update,” CIO Research Reports (February 3, 2004).
What Is a Project?

A project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken
to create a unique product, service, or result.”*

Operations is work done to sustain the
business.

A project ends when its 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.
*PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide) (2004), p. 5.
Examples of IT Projects

A help desk or technical worker replaces
laptops for a small department.

A small software development team adds
a new feature to an internal software
application.

A college campus upgrades its
technology infrastructure to provide
wireless Internet access.
Examples of IT Projects

A cross-functional task force in a company
decides what software to purchase and
how it will be implemented.

A television network develops a system to
allow viewers to vote for contestants and
provide other feedback on programs.

A government group develops a system to
track child immunizations.
Project Attributes

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.
Project and Program Managers

Project managers work with project sponsors,
project teams, and other people involved in
projects to meet project goals.

Program: “A group of related projects managed in
a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control
not available from managing them individually.”*

Program managers oversee programs and often act
as bosses for project managers.
*PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide) (2004), p. 16.
The Triple Constraint


Every project is constrained in different ways by
its:

Scope goals: What work will be done?

Time goals: How long should it take to complete?

Cost goals: What should it cost?
It is the project manager’s duty to balance
these three often-competing goals.
Figure 1-1. The Triple Constraint of
Project Management
Successful project
management means
meeting all three
goals (scope, time,
and cost) – and
satisfying the
project’s sponsor!
What is Project Management?

Project management is “the application
of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques
to project activities to meet project
requirements.”*
*PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide) (2004), p. 8.
Figure 1-2. Project Management Framework
Project Stakeholders
Stakeholders are the people involved in
or affected by project activities.
 Stakeholders include:









Project sponsor
Project manager
Project team
Support staff
Customers
Users
Suppliers
Opponents to the project
Nine Project Management
Knowledge Areas

Knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project
managers must develop.

Four core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives











Scope
Time
Cost
quality
Four facilitating knowledge areas are the means through which
the project objectives are achieved
human resources
Communication
Risk
procurement management
One knowledge area (project integration management) affects
and is affected by all of the other knowledge areas.
All knowledge areas are important!
Project Management Tools and
Techniques
Project management tools and techniques
assist project managers and their teams in
various aspects of project management.
 Specific tools and techniques include:





Project charters, scope statements, and WBS
(scope).
Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path
analyses, critical chain scheduling (time).
Cost estimates and earned value management
(cost).
See Table 1-1 for other examples.
Project Portfolio Management

Many organizations support an emerging
business strategy of project portfolio
management:

Organizations group and manage projects as a
portfolio of investments that contribute to the
entire enterprise’s success. (For more
information, see Chapter 7, Project Cost
Management.)
Improved Project Performance

The Standish Group’s CHAOS studies show
improvements in IT projects in the past
decade.*
Measure
Successful projects
Failed projects
Money wasted on
challenged and
failed projects
1994 Data
16%
31%
$140 B out
of $250 B
2002 Data
34%
15%
$55 B out of
$255 B
Result
Doubled
Halved
More than
halved
*The Standish Group, “Latest Standish Group CHAOS Report Shows Project Success Rates
Have Improved by 50%” (March 25, 2003).
Why the Improvements?
“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.”*
*The Standish Group, “CHAOS 2001: A Recipe for Success”
(2001).
Project Success Factors*
1. Executive support
2. User involvement
3. Experienced project
manager
4. Clear business
objectives
5. Minimized scope
6. Standard software
infrastructure
7. Firm basic
requirements
8. Formal methodology
9. Reliable estimates
10. Other criteria, such
as small milestones,
proper planning,
competent staff, and
ownership
*The Standish Group, “Extreme CHAOS” (2001).
What the Winners Do*
 Recent research findings show that companies that
excel in project delivery capability:
 Use an integrated project management toolbox that
includes standard and advanced tools and lots of
templates.
 Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and soft
skills.
 Develop a streamlined project delivery process.
 Measure project health using metrics, including
customer satisfaction and return on investment.
*Milosevic, Dragan and And Ozbay, “Delivering Projects: What the Winners Do,” Proceedings
of the Project Management Institute Annual Seminars & Symposium (November 2001 ).
The Role of the Project Manager

Job descriptions vary, but most include
responsibilities such as planning,
scheduling, coordinating, and working with
people to achieve project goals.

Remember that 97 percent of successful
projects were led by experienced project
managers.
Table 1-3. Fifteen Project
Management Job Functions*






Define scope of project.
Identify stakeholders,
decision-makers, and
escalation procedures.
Develop detailed task list
(work breakdown
structures).
Estimate time
requirements.
Develop initial project
management flow chart.
Identify required resources
and budget.









Evaluate project
requirements.
Identify and evaluate risks.
Prepare contingency plan.
Identify interdependencies.
Identify and track critical
milestones.
Participate in project phase
review.
Secure needed resources.
Manage the change control
process.
Report project status.
*Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, “Building a Foundation for Tomorrow: Skills Standards
for Information Technology,” Belleview, WA, 1999.
Suggested Skills for Project
Managers

Project managers need a wide variety of
skills.

They should:

Be comfortable with change.

Understand the organizations they work in and
with.

Lead teams to accomplish project goals.
Suggested Skills for Project
Managers

Project managers need both “hard” and
“soft” skills.

Hard skills include product knowledge and
knowing how to use various project
management tools and techniques.

Soft skills include being able to work with
various types of people.
Suggested Skills for Project
Managers






Communication skills: Listens, persuades.
Organizational skills: Plans, sets goals, analyzes.
Team-building skills: Shows empathy, motivates,
promotes esprit de corps.
Leadership skills: Sets examples, provides vision (big
picture), delegates, positive, energetic.
Coping skills: Flexible, creative, patient, persistent.
Technology skills: Experience, project knowledge.
Media Snapshot – Good Project
Management Skills from The Apprentice





Leadership and
professionalism are
crucial.
Know what your sponsor
expects from the project,
and learn from your
mistakes.
Trust your team and
delegate decisions.
Know the business.
Stand up for yourself.





Be a team player.
Stay organized and don’t
be overly emotional.
Work on projects and for
people you believe in.
Think outside the box.
There is some luck
involved in project
management, and you
should always aim high.
Table 1-4. Most Significant Characteristics of
Effective and Ineffective Project Managers
Effective Project Managers
• Leadership by example
• Visionary
• Technically competent
• Decisive
• Good communicator
• Good motivator
• Stands up to upper
management when
necessary
• Supports team members
• Encourages new ideas
Ineffective Project Managers
• Sets bad example
• Not self-assured
• Lacks technical expertise
• Poor communicator
• Poor motivator
Importance of Leadership Skills

Effective project managers provide
leadership by example.

A leader focuses on long-term goals and
big-picture objectives while inspiring
people to reach those goals.

A manager deals with the day-to-day
details of meeting specific goals.

Project managers often take on both
leader and manager roles.
History of Project Management

Some people argue that building the
Egyptian pyramids was a project, as was
building the Great Wall of China.

Most people consider the Manhattan
Project to be the first project to use
“modern” project management.

This three-year, $2 billion (in 1946 dollars)
project had a separate project and technical
managers.
Key People in Early Project Mgmt

Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) an American
industrialist and early pioneer of mgmt
techniques.

In 1911 Taylor publishes a book Principles of
Scientific Management, where he proposed
work methods designed to increase worker
productivity.
Taylor’s Management Principles







Analyze each job to specify optimal procedures
Match skills with tasks to be accomplished
Understand worker characteristics that are
important for increased productivity
Train workers to be more productive
Set a ‘fair day’s work’ standard for productivity
Document worker performance
Reward performance with incentives and bonuses
Henry Gantt (1861-1919)


Became famous for developing the Gantt chart
that is used in project mgmt.
Invented techniques such as




Milestone deliverables
Task durations
Estimate
Interesting enough his techniques have been
virtually unchanged for over 100 years
• The WBS is shown on the left, and each task’s start and finish dates
• are shown on the right. First used in 1917, early Gantt charts were
• drawn by hand.
Figure 1-5. Sample Network Diagram
Each box is a project task from the WBS. Arrows show dependencies
between tasks. The bolded tasks are on the critical path. If any task on
the critical path takes longer to complete than planned, the whole
project will slip unless something is done. Network diagrams were
first used in 1958 on the Navy Polaris project before project
management software was available.
Dr. W. Edwards Deming




Often referred to as the father of quality.
His focus on quality led to the formation of the
American Society of Quality Control
His techniques were first rebuked by US mgrs
and were instead made famous by Japanese
adoption.
Deming realized that mgmt was wrong to be
committed to quotas and punishing for
mistakes—instead they would have to be
visionary leaders to achieve quality.
Deming’s 14 Points






Create constancy of purpose for the improvement
of all products and services
Adopt new management philosophy.
Cease dependence on mass inspection
End the practice of awarding business on price
tag alone
Improve constantly and forever the system of
production and service
Establish training and retraining
Deming’s 14 Points Cont








Create mgmt leadership
Drive out fear-do not punish for mistakes
Break down barriers between staff areas
Eliminate slogans, targets for the workforce
Eliminate numerical quotas
Remove barriers to pride of proficiency
Institute a vigorous and continuous program of
education
Tack action to accomplish the transformation
Project Management Office (PMO)


A PMO is an organizational group responsible for
coordinating the project management function
throughout an organization.
Possible goals include:






Collect, organize, and integrate project data for the entire
organization.
Develop and maintain templates for project documents.
Develop or coordinate training in various project
management topics.
Develop and provide a formal career path for project
managers.
Provide project management consulting services.
Provide a structure to house project managers while they
are acting in those roles or are between projects.
Project Management Software
Enterprise PM software integrates
information from multiple projects to show
the status of active, approved, and future
projects across an entire organization.
 It also provides links to more detailed
information on each project.
 Many managers like to see status in color
– red, yellow, and green.

Figure 1-6. Sample Enterprise
Project Management Tool
Ethics in Project Management
Ethics is an important part of all
professions.
 Project managers often face ethical
dilemmas.
 In order to earn PMP certification,
applicants must agree to the PMP code of
professional conduct.
 Several questions on the PMP exam are
related to professional responsibility,
including ethics.

Project Management Software


There are currently 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
$200-500 per user; Project 2003 most popular (includes
an enterprise version).
High-end tools: Also called enterprise project
management software; often licensed on a per-user basis;
VPMi Enterprise Online (www.vcsonline.com).
Changing Business Environment
IT flexibility is needed in the changing
business environment.
 Competition has moved to a more global
platform for industries.
 Companies must now deliver quality,
efficient, market-driven strategies that
require an IT intensive set of procedures.

Corporate Behavior Changes

Historically









Functional hierarchy
Monopolistic, regulated
Stable, predictable
conditions
Reactive
Energy
Loyalty and seniority
Mergers and acquisitions
Traditional sales approach
Operational support

Future









Teams or networks
Competitive, free market
Dynamic business
conditions
Proactive, flexible,
adaptive
Targeted services
Performance
Strategic alliances
Aggressive acquisition
Strategic enabler of
business vision
Impact on IT

IT has changed significantly from the past
environments.





IT is now integrated into critical business strategies.
Senior management is more involved in IT planning.
Modular client / server systems are more prevalent.
Rapid development cycles replaced long development
projects.
Customer needs and demands are more important in
system development requirements.
Corporate View of Technology
Six 6 fundamental principles make the
most of IT:
1)
2)
3)
Align all IT decisions, actions, and measurement of
performance with the business strategy of the
organization as a while adds value to the business.
Most effective applications of technology emerge
from industry-specific applications that make it
possible to do new things of value in the
marketplace.
Technologies evolve fast enough that new economies
of scale and new functions become cost-effective or
practical, providing new opportunities to use
information technology in innovative, productive
ways.
Corporate View of Technology
(Continued):
4)
Best practices in IT require a coordinated and effective
use of many resources simultaneously: best
organization, best skills, best people, best processes,
and best computing.
5)
Reorganizing organizations and redesigning work flows
to make them technology friendly are rapidly turning
out to be of key importance to improving the value of
IT.
6)
Since technology and business circumstances keep
changing, the habits of continuous improvement,
being curious to learn how others do things, and
adopting the most relevant practices for your
company’s operations are crucial to success.
Best Practices

A best practice is defined as:


Processes that are recognized as being the best by
function or within an industry.
Benefits of best practices include:





Inspiration
Benchmarking
References
Skills Transfer
Continuous Improvement
Best Practice Pitfalls

Five best practice implementation pitfalls
include:
1)
Copying a practice “as is”.

2)
This can be a quick fix when you copy another organizations
best practice. However, it does not address the specifics of
your organization.
Failing to verify a best practice.
–
You make an assumption a practice you see at another
company is a best practice without validating your assumption
is true. If you compare this practice to your business
activities, you may find you already have a better practice
implemented.
Best Practice Pitfalls

(Continued)
3)
Not keeping current.

4)
If your business does not continue to improve and innovate,
you are not keeping current. You need to understand if your
business is current with practices or if you are falling behind
others who continue to innovate and improve.
Not establishing relevance.
–
This occurs when a business does not align the practices with
their overall business goals. At times, this practice may be
popular, but not relevant to the business. Understanding
success criteria can help alleviate problems with this practice.
Best Practice Pitfalls

(Continued)
5)
Following trends.

The identified practice may be a fad in the business world. You
must understand how this trend will help your business reach
its objectives. Business politics can initiate this bad practice
through individuals looking for a way to stand out among their
co-workers.
Role of Benchmarking
Benchmarking can help identify best
practices.
 Benchmarking can be:


Measurement-based


These are often used to measure vendor performance, data
center audits, product testing, and cost measurements.
Process-based


These are often used to help IT learn how to improve the
value of a process.
Process-based benchmarking is expensive but it moves into
the core of best practices.
World-Class, Best in Class

Organizations must be competitive


Best in Class is when you are the best at something
within your industry.
World Class is when you are the best at something
across industries.
Quality

What is a Quality Project?


A product that meets or exceeds customer expectations.
Quality Perspectives





Ideal View
User View
Manufacturing View
Product View
Value-based View
Quality Type Examples

Ideal View



User View


Quality is conceived in the minds eye.
This is an ideal we would like to achieve.
Measure of quality from the user’s perspective.
Manufacturing View


Defines how quality conforms to manufacturing
specifications.
Quality is measured during production and after delivery
to the customer.
Quality Type Examples

Product View


Looks at product quality from the inside-out, whereas
the User and manufacturing perspectives look at quality
from the outside-in.
Value-based View

Quality is determined by the amount the customer is
willing to pay. The automobile market is an example of
a value based quality perspective.
Product Quality

A quality product should:




Perform as expected.
Be learned easily.
Operate intuitively.
Have a goal of zero development defects.
Process Quality

A quality process should consider:





Where problems may occur.
When problems may surface.
How faults can be identified early in the project.
If fault management processes could detect and fix
problems early.
If options exist to streamline the process, reduce
complexity, and increase quality.
Business Perspective Quality
Business quality should consider how
technical quality translates to business
value or quality.
 Quality measurements:





Product up versus down time
Maintenance costs
Costs associated with product modifications
Dependent on expensive technology?
Chapter Summary





As the number and complexity of projects continue to grow,
it is becoming even more important to practice good project
management.
A project has several attributes, such as being unique,
temporary and developed incrementally.
A framework for project management includes project
stakeholders, the nine knowledge areas, tools and
techniques, and creating project portfolios to ensure
enterprise success.
Successful project managers must possess and development
many skills and lead their teams by example.
The project management profession continues to mature as
more people become certified and more tools are created.
Summary Continued





IT is now a part of a corporations strategic planning.
Changes in information technology add more
demands to the business and technology
professionals.
Best practices give companies ideas to improve
operations.
Benchmarking provide a measurement tool for
comparison.
Quality should be integrated into the business and
projects