1. CHAPTER 12 IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

2. IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
IT Project management requires knowledge of system development methodologies:
SDLC
Prototyping
RAD
Purchasing life cycle
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3. IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project Management Institute (PMI)
International society of project workers
Certified thousands of professionals since 1984
PM competencies certified by PMI include eight areas:
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Figure Eight Project Management
Competencies
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4. IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Most projects share common characteristics:
Risk and uncertainty highest at project start
Ability of stakeholders to influence project greatest at project start
Cost and staffing levels lower at project start and higher toward end
(PMI, 1996)
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5. IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project:
Temporary endeavor to create unique product or service
Typically is a one-time initiative
Can be divided into multiple tasks
Requires coordination and control
Has a definite beginning and end
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6. IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project:
Temporary endeavor to create unique product or service
Typically is a one-time initiative
Can be divided into multiple tasks
Requires coordination and control
Has a definite beginning and end
Program – a group of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually
(PMI, 1996)
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7. IT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
IT Portfolio – set of IT project initiatives currently in progress, as well as requests for IT projects that have not yet been funded
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8. IT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Project categories to help with prioritization:
Absolute must A mandate due to security, legal, regulatory, or end-of-life-cycle IT issues
Highly Desired/Business-Critical Includes short-term projects with good financial returns
Wanted Valuable, but with longer time periods for ROI (more than 12 months)
Nice to Have Projects with good returns, but with lower potential business value
(Denis, et al., 2004)
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9. PROJECT INITIATION Project charter Scope statement
Feasibility analyses
Economic
Operational
Technical
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10. PROJECT INITIATION Economic feasibility
Formal cost-benefit analysis usually conducted
ROI calculated when benefits can be easily measured
Alternatives to ROI:
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Figure Alternatives to ROI for
Justifying Investments
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11. PROJECT INITIATION Project manager can be:
Project Manager Characteristics
Project manager can be:
IS manager
Business manager
Both
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12. PROJECT INITIATION Project Manager Characteristics Page 425
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Figure Nontechnical Skills for
Superior Project Management
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13. PROJECT INITIATION
Project Sponsor and Champion Roles
Sponsor:
Participates in the development of the initial project
proposal and the feasibility studies
May personally argue for project approval
Is usually the business manager who financially “owns”
the project
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14. PROJECT INITIATION Has high credibility as organizational spokesperson
Project Sponsor and Champion Roles
Champion – a business manager who:
Has high credibility as organizational spokesperson
among user community
Is successful communicator of vision and benefits
throughout the project
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15. PROJECT PLANNING Three major components: Schedule Budget
Staff (project team)
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16. PROJECT PLANNING Work breakdown analysis: Scheduling
Identifies phases and task sequence to meet project goals
Estimates time of completion for each task
Results in a project master schedule that identifies date and deliverable milestones
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17. PROJECT PLANNING Scheduling
Timeboxing – organizational practice in which a system module is to be delivered to user within a set time limit, such as 6 months
Work breakdown – a basic management technique that systematically subdivides blocks of work down to the level of detail at which the project will be controlled
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18. PROJECT PLANNING Two traditional approaches to estimating costs:
Budgeting
Two traditional approaches to estimating costs:
Bottom-up
Cost elements are estimated for lowest level of work tasks and then aggregated to give total project cost estimate
Top-down (parametric cost estimating)
Provides cost estimates for major budget categories based on historical experience
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19. PROJECT PLANNING Inexperienced estimators may: Budgeting
Be too optimistic about what is needed to do the job
Tend to leave out components
Not use a consistent methodology, and have difficulty recreating their rationales
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20. PROJECT PLANNING Project staffing involves: Staffing
Identifying IT specialist skill mix needed
Selecting personnel who collectively have necessary skills and assigning them to work
Preparing personnel for specific team member work
Providing incentives to achieve project goals
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21. Counterproductive Characteristics
PROJECT PLANNING
Staffing
Counterproductive Characteristics
(Based on productivity study by Hughes Aircraft Company in Roman, 1986)
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Figure Counterproductive Characteristics
of Project Team Environments
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22. PROJECT PLANNING Planning Documents Two typical planning documents:
Statement of Work (SOW)
For the customer
High-level document that describes what project delivers and when
Contract between project manager and executive sponsor
Project Plan
Used by project manager to guide, monitor, and control execution of project
Reviewed by managers or committees that oversee project
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23. PROJECT PLANNING Planning Documents Two typical planning charts:
PERT (or CPM)
Gantt
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24. PROJECT PLANNING PERT (or CPM) Planning Documents
Graphically models sequence of project tasks and interrelationships using a flowchart diagram
Depicts a critical path – sequence of activities that will take longest time to complete
Helps managers estimate effects of task slippage
If used, less likely to have cost and schedule overruns
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25. PROJECT PLANNING Planning Documents Page 430
(Reprinted from Valacich, George, and Hoffer, Essentials of Systems Analysis & Design, Prentice Hall, 2001)
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Figure PERT Chart Example
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26. PROJECT PLANNING Gantt Planning Documents
Graphically depicts estimated times (and later actual times) for each project task against a horizontal time scale
Tasks presented in logical order along with bar graph showing estimated time duration for each task on a calendar
Useful for displaying a project schedule and tracking progress of a set of tasks against project plan
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27. Page 431 Figure 12.7 Gantt Chart Example
(Reprinted from Valacich, George, and Hoffer, Essentials of Systems Analysis & Design, 1st Edition,
Copyright © Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ)
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Figure Gantt Chart Example
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28. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Project plan needs to be refined and reassessed throughout life of project
Software project management tools commonly used to help initiate and monitor project tasks
Communication among project team members critical for task coordination and integration
Communication throughout project to all stakeholders is key to project success
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29. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Routine Project Status Reporting
(Roman, 1986)
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Figure Status Reporting
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30. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Managing Project Risks
PM Goal:
Manage risk of failing to achieve project objectives
Causes of Risk:
Human error
Project scope changes
Unanticipated technology changes
Internal politics
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31. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Managing Project Risks
(Bashein, Markus, and Finley, 1997)
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Figure Ten IT-Related Risks and
Potential Consequences
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32. Managing Project Risks
(Adapted from Hamilton, 2000)
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Figure Risk Controllability and
Impact Grid
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33. Managing Project Risks
(Adapted from Frame, 1994)
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Figure Risk Exposure:
Risk versus Stake
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34. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Managing Business Change
Change management:
Ability to successfully introduce change to individuals and organizational units
Key to project success
Often involves change to power structures that must be recognized
Can be facilitated by using change models, such as Lewin/Schein change model
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35. PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Managing Business Change
Lewin/Schein Change Model
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Figure Three Stages of
Lewin/Schein Change Model
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36. PROJECT CLOSING IT project deliverables completed
Formal user acceptance obtained or failed project terminated
Common questions for team members:
What went right on this project?
What went wrong on this project?
What would you do differently on the next project, based on your experience with this project?
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37. SPECIAL ISSUE: MANAGING COMPLEX IT PROJECTS
Three factors critical to success of large, complex IT projects:
The business vision an integral part of project
A testing approach used at program level (not just individual application level)
Used a phased-release approach (rather than single rollout strategy)
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38. SPECIAL ISSUE: MANAGING COMPLEX IT PROJECTS
(Adapted from Poria, 2004)
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Figure Complexity Increases with
Offsite and Offshore Resources (1 of 2)
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39. Page 437 Figure 12.15 Complexity Increases with
(Adapted from Poria, 2004)
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Figure Complexity Increases with
Offsite and Offshore Resources (2 of 2)
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40. SPECIAL ISSUE: POST-MERGER IT INTEGRATION PROJECTS
What makes for a successful merger?
Well-honed IT project management skills, and a program management structure
Retaining IT talent needed for post merger IT integration efforts
Quickly offering attractive retention contracts to key personnel
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