Information Technology Project Management

Transcription

1 Information Technology Project Management Dr. Mohammad A. Rob Management Information Systems University of Houston-Clear Lake 1

2 Introduction Outline Why Study Information Technology Project Management? What is a Project? Project Characteristics Information Systems Project Triple Constraint of Project Management What is Project Management? Project Management Framework Project Stakeholders Project Management Knowledge Areas Project Management Tools and Techniques Why Study Information Technology Project Management? According to a study in 1995 by Standish Group, a consulting firm, to 365 information technology managers in the U.S. who managed over 8,380 different information technology projects, it is found that The average cost of a project from a large company was over $2.3 million. It was over $1.3 million for a medium company. It was over $434,000 for small company. Only 16% of information technology projects were successful. Over 31% of information technology projects were cancelled, costing the U.S. over $81 billion. Thus, good project management is very important in making effective use of money, time, technology and people. It also helps to improve quality and reliability of the system. 2

3 What is a Project? A project can be defined a set of temporary activities conducted by an ad hoc organization (a group of people) to create a unique product or service. A project can be any of the following: Constructing something a road, a dam, a building, an information system Organizing something a meeting, an election campaign, a symphony, a movie Doing anything the first time Accomplishing a new, complex activity Project Characteristics A project has several characteristics: A project has a unique purpose: Every project is designed to accomplish a well-defined objective (product or service) of an organization. This product or service is distinguishable in some way from other products or services of the organization. A project is temporary: A project has a definite beginning and definite end, i.e. a project has a lifetime. The end is reached when the project s objectives have been achieved, or when it becomes clear that the project objectives will not or cannot be met, or the need of the project is no longer exists. A project has a unique set of activities: Every project has a unique set of activities of its own, which may not be duplicated in another project. If one activity is late, other activities may be delayed. A project cuts across organizational line: Projects usually cut across organizational lines, drawing people from a variety of functional specialties. Some projects may involve a single person and some others involve hundreds and thousands of people in many organizational units. 3

4 A project requires resources: Resources include people, hardware, software, and other assets that are necessary to complete the project. A project should have a primary sponsor or customer: Most projects have many interested parties or stakeholders, but someone must take the primary role of sponsorship. The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project. A project involves uncertainty: Because every project is unique, it is sometimes difficult to clearly define the project s objectives, estimate how long it will take to complete, or how much it will cost. The uncertainty makes the project management challenging. Information Systems Project Information systems projects have many similarities to generic projects. They consist of activities, each with durations, predecessor relationships, and resource requirements. They involve high level of uncertainty and often suffer from time and cost overruns, while rarely experiencing time and cost underruns. However, information systems projects are different from other projects in that it follows a standard methodology of systems development life cycle: Requirements gathering Analysis Design Coding Testing, and Installation. 4

5 Triple Constraint of Project Management Every project is constrained in different ways by its scope, time, and cost. These limitations are sometimes referred to as the triple constraint of project management. Scope: What is the project trying to accomplish? What unique product or service does the customer or sponsor expect from the project? Time: How long should it take to complete the project? What kind of schedule the project is following? Cost: What it will cost to complete the project? Managing the triple constraint involves making trade-offs between scope, time and cost goals of a project. Although the triple constraint describes how the basic elements of a project - scope, time, and cost interrelate, other elements can also play significant roles. Quality is often a key factor in projects, as is customer satisfaction. Some people, in fact, consider scope, time, cost and quality as quadruple constraints of project. A project team may meet scope, time and cost goals, but fail to meet quality standards or satisfy their customers. How all of these can be achieved? The answer is good project management - that includes more than triple constraint. 5

6 What is Project Management? Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project. Project management is accomplished through the use of processes such as: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. The project team manages the work of the projects, and the work typically involves: Competing demands for scope, time, cost, risk, and quality. Stakeholders with differing need and expectations. Identified requirements. 6

7 Project Management Framework Project management framework involves three areas: project stakeholders project management knowledge areas project management tools and techniques Project Stakeholders: Project stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities and include the project sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents to the project. People s needs and expectations are important in the beginning and throughout the life of the project. 7

8 Project Management Knowledge Areas: The project management knowledge areas describe project management knowledge and practices in terms of their component processes that a project manger must follow. There processes are organized into nine knowledge areas, which can further be divided into core, facilitating, and integration management areas. There are four core knowledge areas: project scope management, project time management, project cost management, and project quality management. There are four facilitating knowledge areas: project human resources management, project communication management, project risk management, and project procurement management. The nine knowledge areas and their associated processes are briefly described below. They will be discussed throughout the semester in various chapters. Project integration management: It describes the processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consists of project plan development, project plan execution, and integrated change control. Project scope management: It describes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the work successfully. It consists of initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and scope change control. 8

9 Project time management: It describes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. It consists of activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development, and schedule control Project cost management: It describes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting, and cost control. Project quality management: It describes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It consists of quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control. Project human resources management: It describes the processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It consists of processes such as organizational planning, staff acquisition, and team development. Project communications management: It describes the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and ultimately disposition of project information. It consists of communication planning, information distribution, performance reporting, and administrative closure. Project risk management: It describes the processes concerned with identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk. It consists of risk management planning, risk identification, qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning, and risk monitoring and control. Project procurement management: It describes the processes required to acquire goods and services from outside of the performing organizations. It consists of procurement planning, solicitation planning, solicitation, source selection, contract administration, and contract closeout. 9

10 Project Management tools and Techniques: Project management tools and techniques assist project mangers and their teams in carrying out scope, time, cost, and quality management. Additional tools help project managers and teams carry out human resources, communication, risk, procurement, and integration management. Popular project management tools include Gantt charts and PERT diagrams. 10

11 Project Success There are several ways to define project success: The project met scope, time, and cost goals The project satisfied the customer/sponsor The results of the project met its main objective, such as making or saving a certain amount of money, providing a good return on investment, or simply making the sponsors happy What Helps Projects Succeed? Executive support User involvement Experienced project manager Clear business objectives Minimized scope Standard software infrastructure Firm basic requirements Formal methodology Reliable estimates Other criteria, such as small milestones, proper planning, competent, staff, and ownership Suggested Skills for Project Managers They should: Be comfortable with change Understand the organizations they work in and with Be able to lead teams to accomplish project goals 11

12 The Role of the Project Manager Job descriptions vary, but most include responsibilities like planning, scheduling, coordinating, and working with people to achieve project goals Remember that 97% of successful projects were led by experienced project managers, who can often help influence success factors Suggested Skills for Project Managers The Project Management Body of Knowledge Application area knowledge, standards, and regulations Project environment knowledge General management knowledge and skills Soft skills or human relations skills Reading: Read the following papers found on the course website: Dr. Rob: Project Failures in Small Companies. Robert Glass: Short-Term and Long-Term Remedies for Runaway Projects. Assignment: Search the web for IT Project management jobs and write a 3-5 page summary report about your knowledge such as demand of the profession; education, experience and skills needed; salary range, and anything that might be important. Format your report as professional report. Submit in two weeks. 12