Is IT Project Management different?

IT Project Management has become known as its own separate field which is maintained by a body of research and knowledge spanning fields with approved professional certification. The IT field is fast becoming more dependable, quicker and more affordable, the costs, complications, and dangers of IT projects keep increasing.

Extensive cited studies and reports show the majority of IT projects are either discontinued or completed over budget and/or over schedule and failed to meet the original instructions. Failure can be credited to several factors, most of them which are easily fixed. Companies have to recognize information technology as a long-term investment to be controlled and not just a cost to be managed. New techniques of IT project management welcome the socio-technical approach and see the execution of new IT systems as planned organizational revision.

IT Project Management is rooted on a project life cycle that is a group of well-organized stages that defines the life of a project from its beginning to end in order to explain, build, and carry out the product of a project — that is, the information system.

The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) explains nine understanding areas for understanding project management:

• Project Integration Management
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project Human Resource Management
• Project Communication Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Procurement Management

These parts are all crucial to the successful result of any IT project and show the best practices in IT projects.
The start of an IT project begins with an idea and opening phase. This phase explains the project goal and measurable organizational value (also known as MOV). The MOV shows the real calculation of the success or failure of an IT project and is based on an organizational aim or master plan. Stakeholder examination and buy-in is a crucial function of this phase as well as the recognition and connection of the senior organizational sponsor. Another vital deliverable is the business case that interprets the project team, measurable organizational value (MOV), substitutes (if any), total price of ownership, total benefits of ownership, and the benefit-cost analysis of substitutes and recommended possible alternatives.

The next phase of the IT project focuses on the evolution of the project charter and project baseline plan. The project charter is an agreement between the organizational senior sponsor and the IT project manager that defines what is going to be, and needed to be, done, how it will be achieved, when it will be completed, and how much the total cost will be by the end of the IT project. The answers to these questions are clearly explained in the Project Charter or the baseline project plan and budget.

The next phase is the implementation of the IT project plan. This phase of the project puts the plan into effect. As work on the project moves forward, the scope, the schedule, the cost and budget, and the people, must be actively managed to make sure that the IT project reaches its desired goal. The communication of the project’s progress and operation production to the stakeholders is a vital component of the execution phase.

The concluding phases of the IT project require the official acceptance and assessment of the IT project. The rating of the IT project shows the critical importance of process advancement and improvement and the capture of organizational understanding for future IT projects.

Parallel Project Training offers a wide range of courses suitable for IT project managers including PMP certification from the USA based project management institute and APM qualifications from the UK Association for Project Management