IT Project Management topics covering definition, objectives, systems and solutions. >> To jump to the list of IT Project Management terms and phrases click here. >> To jump to IT Project Management resources, articles and reference guides click here. Managing an IT project is like juggling chunks of Jell-O: It’s neither easy nor pretty. Because good IT project management is difficult to execute, CIO.com has put together this guide to understanding IT project management. Traditional project management, as it’s used in construction or manufacturing, deals with solid, tangible elements. Managing an IT project is like juggling chunks of Jell-O: It’s neither easy nor pretty. Information technology is especially slippery because it’s always moving, changing, adapting and challenging business as we know it. IT project management is further complicated by shifting business needs and demanding stakeholders. Because good IT project management is difficult to execute, CIO has put together this guide to understanding IT project management that includes an overview of what’s required for successful project management as well as additional technology resources to learn more about it What Is an IT Project? An IT project is any information technology project that has an assigned start and end date, often with specific milestones and goals to be met during the development cycle. These are temporary, short-term efforts to create a unique product, service or environmentsuch as removing old servers, developing a custom ecommerce site, creating new desktop images or merging databases. All IT projects are constrained by three factors: time, cost and scope. For a project to be successful, these three constraints (often called the Triple Constraints of Project Management) must be in equilibrium. If any constraint is out of balance, the project is headed for disaster. All projects, IT or otherwise, move through five phases in the project management lifecycle: Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and controlling Closing Each phase contains processes that move the project from idea to implementation. Successful IT Project Management Requires a Standard Approach To be successful, organizations should create or adapt a standard approach to managing projects. A standard approach provides the following benefits: It establishes ground rules and expectations for the project team. It provides project managers, functional managers and the operational staff with a common language that eases communication and helps ensure that everyone is on the same page. Managers can quickly determine which ones are preceding smoothly and which are not when all projects follow the same processes and approaches, and use the same metrics for measuring project performance. Not using a standard approach is the biggest IT project mistake a business can make. It makes it possible for an organization to measure the success of its projects to determine which processes and methodologies are working and which ones need to be improved. Why Do IT Projects Fail? IT projects fail because they’re just plain hard. They include the usual project-management challenges, such as deadlines, budget constraints and too few people to devote to the project. But they also face unique technology challenges, from hardware, operating system, network or database woes, to security risks, interoperability issues, and the changes manufacturers make to their hardware and software configurations. The three most common reasons projects fail is due to a lack of planning, because the projects are rushed and because the scope is too unwieldy. 1. IT projects fail at the beginning not the end due to a lack of sufficient planning. An IT organization must consider the resources it needs to devote to a project, the skills required and the people who need to be involved, and realistically consider the time it will take to create, test and implement the project deliverables. 2. IT projects fail because they’re rushed. Because so many companies today rely on IT for a competitive advantage, they speed through development efforts and systems implementations in order to be first to market with new, IT-based products, services and capabilities. Organizations often feel that, to remain competitive, they must cut costs and maintain business operations, but that adds to the pressure on a big, expensive project such as an ERP implementation or a platform upgrade. A project with inadequate planning, risk assessment and testing is doomed from the start. 3. IT projects fail because the scope is too unwieldy. A project with a large scope can usually be better executed by breaking it down into a series of smaller, more manageable projects. For example, a project to convert all of an organization’s historical records, forms and transactions from paper to an online digital database can be incredibly complex and time consuming. A series of smaller projects allows for more manageable endeavors, such as first converting the existing records to digital, and then a second project to use the digital database internally, and then a third project to bring the database to the Web. These smaller projects can be completed sequentially and with more flexibility than a large, complicated and cumbersome project. During the project’s initiation, you should establish the criteria for success and failure. For example, to be considered successful, a project may have to adhere to certain quality standards (such as Six Sigma or an ISO program), fall within a certain budget, meet a particular deadline or deliver specific functionality. Another approach is to use an indicator such as the “15-15 Rule.” The 15-15 Rule states that if a project is more than 15 percent over budget or 15 percent off schedule, it will likely never recoup the time or cost necessary to be considered successful. What Strategies Get IT Projects Up to Speed? Slow and fast are subjective terms; what may seem slow to your organization may be entirely zippy somewhere else. It’s important to determine a reasonable time frame to complete an IT project based on the scope of the work, the expected deliverables and the conditions of the project. That being said, you can determine if your projects are, in fact, moving slowly. Do you have historical information against which to compare current projects’ speed, or have your projects always taken this long to complete? Second, ask if your projects are effort-driven or of fixed duration. Effort-driven projects can be “crashed” by adding more resources to reduce the project’s time line. Crashing a project, however, adds costs. If your project is of fixed duration, like testing software for two months before releasing it, there’s not much that can be done to reduce the project’s time line without increasing risk. Regulations, Laws and Standards to Consider Projects that must comply with laws and regulations require more up-front planning. For example, in the age of Sarbanes-Oxley, you have to do a lot more documentation when you’re developing a new business application or implementing new supply chain software. When project managers consider the regulations that govern their industry, from manufacturing to health care, the regulations become project constraints and result in more overhead. Factoring laws and regulations into projects also expands their scope and adds to their costs. >> To jump to the list of IT Project Management terms and phrases click here. >> To jump to IT Project Management resources, articles and reference guides click here. Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the director of education for Project Seminars. The author of numerous books on project management, Phillips has served as a project-management consultant for organizations creating project offices, maturity models and best practices. He can be contacted through jdp@projectseminars.com. Now that you understand what IT project management is, here are some related terms and phrases commonly associated with enterprise IT projects. >> To return to the historical overview of IT Project Management click here. >> To jump to IT Project Management resources, articles and reference guides click here. 10 More Project Management Terms and Phrases to Know 15-15 Rule In project management, the “15-15 Rule” is used to establish the criteria for success and failure. The 15-15 Rule states that if a project is more than 15 percent over budget or 15 percent off schedule, it will likely never recoup the time or cost necessary to be considered successful. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) This certification, also from PMI, is for project managers with considerably less project management experience than their PMP counterparts. CAPM candidates must also document their experience, education and supervisors on their exam application. Extreme Programming Sometimes abbreviated as XP (not to be confused with the Windows operating system.) Extreme Programming is a project management approach designed specifically for software development. XP uses a software development model that involves the users, customers and programmers in four iterative phases: planning, coding, designing and testing. IT Project An IT project is any information technology project that has an assigned start and end date, often with specific milestones and goals to be met during the development cycle. These are temporary, short-term efforts to create a unique product, service or environment, such as removing old servers, developing a custom ecommerce site, creating new desktop images or merging databases. Project Management Office Many companies have adopted a project-management office (PMO) to centralize and coordinate all project-management activities, including IT, across a company. PMOs establish ground rules and expectations around how projects should be conducted for the project manager, the project team and the stakeholders. PMOs corral requests for changes to the scope of a project and provide training, tracking software, project plan templates and process forms to the project manager and the project team to help ensure that projects proceed smoothly and conclude successfully. In some companies, PMOs prioritize which projects are going to get done and when. They also say which resources will work on which projects to prevent departments from fighting over resources. Project Management Professional (PMP) This designation is given by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and requires project managers to document their project management experience and the outcomes of the projects they have managed, and provide proof of educational experience. This documentation may be audited by PMI. PMP candidates must also take a 200-question, four-hour exam. Project Management Training Most organizations want to make sure project managers are fully prepared. There are plenty of off-the-shelf training solutions, but often an on-site class unique to your organization allows you to create a custom solution with more time focused on areas that need improvement and dismiss the areas your project managers have already mastered. To get a good return on your investment, first identify what you want the project managers to know at the end of the project. Examine your projects and determine where the pain is. Are your projects failing in scheduling, planning, executing, communications? Everything? By determining where your projects need help, a project-management training provider can help your managers deliver better projects. Project+ Professional This certification is from the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the same group that certifies A+, Network+, Server+ and other professionals. It requires that candidates pass an 80-question exam with a score of 499 or better in a 90-minute time period. The Project+ exam does not have the same pre-exam requirements as the CAPM or the PMP. This exam is ideal for candidates who aspire to manage larger projects or move into project management, or for recent college grads pursuing a career in project management. Scrum Scrum is a project management approach, named after a rugby term. It uses iterations of planning, coding, executing and testing software. Scrum employs its own vernacular and has some rigid rules about meetings, hitting milestones and the duration of planning activities. Traditional Project Management One of three leading approaches for managing IT projects. The traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of Typical development phase to be completed: initiation, planning and design, execution and construction, monitoring and controlling systems and completion. It works with any IT project regardless of the technology involved or the duration of the project work. >> To return to the historical overview of IT Project Management click here. >> To jump to IT Project Management resources, articles and reference guides click here. Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the director of education for Project Seminars. The author of numerous books on project management, Phillips has served as a project-management consultant for organizations creating project offices, maturity models and best practices. He can be contacted through jdp@projectseminars.com. >> To return to the historical overview of IT Project Management click here. >> To return to the list of IT Project Management terms and phrases click here. The following CIO articles and Web resources will help you to better understand IT Project Management and the different technologies and methodologies used today. IT Project Management Resources, Articles and Reference Guides 1. CIO: Project Management The CIO Project Management offers various materials on project management to help project managers launch their initiatives on schedule and to complete them on time and on budget. 2. Time and Distance Enemies of Agile Project Management If you haven’t read Nassim Taleb ‘Anti-Fragile,’ it’s time to break out your e-reader. Big software projects are constitutionally doomed because they’re fragile.Agile may be the way to go, but what can you do to make sure your agile project doesn’t become fragile? 3. Must-Have Project Management Skills for IT Pros A good–or bad–project manager can make the difference between a project coming in on time and on budget and it being a failure. How can you spot a good project manager? CIO.com talked to experts and IT executives to find out. 4. PMI – Project Management Institute PMI is the worlds largest not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession. PMI offers certifications, professional development and business solutions. 5. IT Project Management: 10 Less-Considered Keys to Success In the effort to complete an IT project on time and on budget, managers can easily overlook some key factors necessary to success. Consider these 10 less obvious but no less important keys to a project management win, from project managers who’ve been there. 6. Project Management: The 14 Most Common Mistakes IT Departments Make Nearly 70 percent of IT projects are dogged by cost-overruns or aren’t completed on schedule due to poor planning, poor communication or poor resource allocation. This story assess the impact of the 14 most common project management mistakes and offers ways IT groups can avoid them. 7. Method:Project Management Life Cycle The Project Management Life Cycle has four phases: Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure. Each project life cycle phase is described below, along with the tasks needed to complete it. You can click the links provided, to view more detailed information on the project management life cycle. 8. The Seven Top Wishes of IT Project Managers If IT project managers were granted three wishes by the IT genie, what would they wish for? Here are the seven desires you’d find on the list. 9. How to Develop Next-Gen Project Managers Good project managers can be a key differentiator for a business, so your company’s investment in their development and training is essential. Recent studies and industry experts agree that next-generation Project Management Offices that actively engage in helping employees put the skills learned in training to work on the job result in higher levels of maturity and success. 10. Delivering large-scale IT projects on time, on budget, and on value Large IT efforts often cost much more than planned; some can put the whole organization in jeopardy. The companies that defy these odds are the ones that master key dimensions that align IT and business value. >> To return to the historical overview of IT Project Management click here. >> To return to the list of IT Project Management terms and phrases click here. Joseph Phillips, PMP, Project+, is the director of education for Project Seminars. The author of numerous books on project management, Phillips has served as a project-management consultant for organizations creating project offices, maturity models and best practices. He can be contacted through jdp@projectseminars.com. 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