Department of Environmental
Protection
STD-11061801.1.0
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Project Management Standard for DEP-Managed Information
Technology (IT) Projects
Purpose
The purpose of this standard is to establish project management requirements for IT projects
directly managed by DEP.
Scope
This standard applies to all IT projects, or projects that have a significant IT component, that are
managed by DEP staff. This includes projects managed by IT consultants working in a staff
augmentation capacity. Projects staffed and managed wholly by vendors must comply with
DEP’s Project Management Standard for Vendor-Managed Information Technology (IT)
Projects (STD-09052701).
This standard applies to projects that are classified as medium to very high complexity
according to the IT Project Scaling Worksheet, available from the Project Management Office
(PMO) Toolkit at http://sharepoint.dep.state.fl.us/OTIS/planning/PMO/toolkit.aspx.
Projects that are classified as low complexity are usually handled through individual IT units’
internal service request processes. However, at the discretion of the Chief Information Officer
(CIO), any IT project may be required to comply with this standard, regardless of project scale.
Standard
This standard adopts by reference the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) (2008). The PMBOK® is recognized by
both the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IIEE) as an international standard for project management.
The following sections identify the minimum PM requirements. The DEP Project Management
Office (PMO) has created a DEP IT Project Manager’s Guidebook to assist DEP project managers
in complying with the requirements of this standard.
Project Proposal and Business Case
All projects of medium or higher complexity must have a project proposal approved by the DEP
PMO and the CIO. After its review, the PMO will forward the project proposal for final
review/approval by the DEP Chief Information Officer.
Project proposals must first be reviewed and signed by the sponsoring Division/Office Director
and IT Coordinator before submitting to the PMO for review. Project proposal forms and
instructions are available from the Project Management Toolkit at
http://sharepoint.dep.state.fl.us/OTIS/planning/PMO/toolkit.aspx.
A full business case analysis for projects that are of significant complexity may be required.
Additionally, for projects funded by an IT legislative budget request (LBR), a business case and
feasibility study may be required. The PMO will communicate any requirement for a business
case or feasibility study to the project stakeholders after review of the project proposal. Refer
to the business case instructions and associated documents at
http://sharepoint.dep.state.fl.us/OTIS/planning/PMO/toolkit.aspx.
Required Components of a Project Management Plan
All IT projects of medium or higher complexity must be governed by a Project Management
Plan. All PM Plans must address these items:
Project Background: a brief history and background of the project.
Project Critical Success Factors: constitute the Project Sponsor’s answer to the
question: “How will you define the success of the project?” These factors are prioritized
and serve as a guideline for the Project Manager to do trade-off analysis. Critical
Success Factors should be specified in the categories of scope, time, cost and quality.
Assumptions & Constraints: identify any known assumptions and constraints that could
impact the project scope, schedule, budget or quality.
Detailed Scope of Work (SOW): specifically document what is in-scope and what is outof-scope for the project, and include the specific goals and objectives that the project is
meant to accomplish.
Itemized List of Major Deliverables and Deliverables Acceptance Criteria: a complete
list of project deliverables with associated deliverable acceptance criteria and the
review process. Deliverables must include both project management and productspecific deliverables.
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Schedule Management: document how the project schedule will be managed and
maintained, and include a reference to the location of the active project schedule.
Project schedules shall be baselined at project start and then continually managed
throughout project. If a change event results in approved changes to the schedule, the
schedule must be re- baselined accordingly. Project schedules should be developed and
maintained using Microsoft Project, Daptiv PPM, or a similar project scheduling product.
Change Management: document how change requests shall be initiated, documented,
analyzed, approved, executed and tracked.
Communications Management: specify the frequency, type and audience for ongoing
project communications. This should also include project status reporting, the identity
of the stakeholders who whould receive communication, frequency of meetings and all
other types of project communications appropriate to the project.
Project Performance Indicators: these are the performance measures that will be used
to monitor the project’s progress. Include details about how the measures will be
monitored and reported on throughout the project lifecycle. At a minimum, these
measures shall relate to scope, schedule and budget performance areas. Additionally,
document any project performance measures that will be used to determine if the
stated project objectives have been met by the close of the project. These measures
should be specific, measurable and attainable within the project scope, time, budget
and quality constraints.
Quality Management: document how project and product deliverable quality will be
assessed and managed. Detail what specific quality processes shall be used to monitor
and confirm the quality of deliverables, as well as any business or technical standards
that must be followed. Also include any external quality monitoring bodies or review
processes that will be used in the project.
Risk and Issue Management: document the known project risks and how they will be
monitored and managed throughout the project. Include a plan for risk management,
and describe how this plan will be monitored, maintained and acted upon throughout
the project. All projects shall document, manage and report on issues and any risk
events that are realized.
Human Resource Management: specify the required project resource skills and identify
when they will be needed during the project. Projects shall clearly identify the roles and
responsibilities of project staff during the project lifecycle. Project management plans
may include a responsibility assignment (RACI) matrix that cross walks individuals/roles
with their specific responsibilities. Plans may also include a project organizational chart
to clarify individuals/roles and the project reporting structure.
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Cost/Budget Management: document the project costs/budget and how
budgetary/cost changes shall be addressed, monitored and managed throughout the
project. Any changes to the original budget baseline shall be managed through the
documented change management process. The project management plan should also
include initial cost estimates and the basis for these estimate.
Guidelines and Templates
The PMO maintains a library of templates and associated guidance documents in the DEP PMO
Toolkit at http://sharepoint.dep.state.fl.us/OTIS/planning/PMO/toolkit.aspx. Project managers
are encouraged to use these documents when developing their own project-specific
management plans and associated project deliverables. However, each project is unique and
may require extensive customization to the provided templates and sample documents to fit
the project’s needs. All projects must comply with the specifications of this standard,
regardless of the specific documentation format used.
Additional Requirements
Additional requirements may be imposed on projects. These requirements will be determined
during project proposal review and will be formally communicated to the responsible parties by
the PMO.
Deviation from Use
Any deviation from use of this standard must be approved by the PMO.
Definitions
1. IT Project – a temporary endeavor, having a defined start and end date and resulting in a
unique product or service dealing with an IT subject area. Projects have distinct teams of
resources created specifically to conduct project tasks and generate deliverables.
Repetitive operational or ongoing maintenance activities are generally not considered
projects. Examples of IT projects include:
• Design, development and implementation of a software application
• Purchase and installation of a commercial software product
• Systems hardware and network installations, modifications or upgrades
• Planning, analysis and feasibility studies for IT projects
2. Project Management Institute (PMI©) – an international non-profit membership
association for professional project managers. PMI is a standards-setting body for the
project management profession.
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3. Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) – a compendium of project
management fundamentals and best practices that apply to a variety of project types
(software development, construction, engineering, etc.). The PMBOK® is an internationally
recognized standard published by the Project Management Institute.
4. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) – a United States non-profit standardssetting body that oversees the creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and
guidelines for a variety of industries, including information technology.
5. International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IIEE) – an international, nonprofit organization that is a leading developer of standards related to telecommunications,
information technology and power generation products and services.
6. RACI Matrix – a responsibility matrix that documents the level of responsibility for all
associated project roles. The acronym is derived from four main levels of responsibility:
Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed.
Bibliography
(2008). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®),4th Ed., ANSI/PMI
99-001-2008. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute/ANSI.
FL Dept. of Environmental Protection. (2009). DEP Directive 370: Information Technology
Resource Management. Tallahassee: FL DEP.
Approved by Jon Canter, Acting Chief Information Officer
DEP PM Standard
___6/18/11____
Approval Date
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