bhuvan unhelkar, phd, facs university of western sydney [email protected] mobile: 0413-821-454;...

Bhuvan Unhelkar, PhD, FACSUNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY

[email protected] Mobile: 0413-821-454;

Autumn, 2006 Autumn, 2006

Introduction to IT Project Management

© Bhuvan Unhelkar, 2006 2

Module Outline

• Introduction to Information Technology (IT) Project Management

• Understanding various aspects of IT Project Management

• Some Statistics on IT PM• ITPM Lifecycle and Variables• The Role of a Project Manager• CLASSROOM DISCUSSION…

Introduction

What is IT Project Management?


Introduction

•Opportunity to research & discuss the knowledge, values and skills of IT project management & consultancy

•Covers preparing & presenting project proposals, project management, resource management, time management, communication skills, & evolving legal, ethical, & social responsibilities of IT professionals

•Via the practical application of these findings students will develop project artefacts that will be of use to them within the industry.

•Working in teams: plan & investigate a project, (preferably for a client,): prepare & present project proposals to a public forum. (Approved project proposals may be further pursued as part of IT Project Implementation or Computing Research Project A)


Understanding an IT Project

• A project is a temporary endeavour to create a unique product or service.*– Typically, a piece of Software/Database– A Project has a start and (hopefully) a completion

date

• A project is outside of the normal operations of a business

*IT Project Management: On Track from Start to Finish: Joseph Phillips


What is Project Management?

Project Management is “the application of knowledge, skill, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements”(PMI*, Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 2000, p.6)

*The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional society. Web address is www.pmi.org


The Need to Understand Project Management

• Project Management (PM) permeates all aspects of a Business – Not Just IT Projects, although they may be a major

component of Projects in a business• Number of new IT Projects continues to increase• Very poor success rate for IT Project completions

- Chaos Report(1995) found only 16.2% of all IT Projects were a success. 31% were cancelled before they were finished. Cost in US, $81 billion alone*

*The Standish Group:”Chaos 2001: A Recipe for Success”

• Recent Sydney Experience with Dock-side Software


Some Statistics related to PM

• Over 16 million people see Project Management as their primary profession

• $10 trillion of the World’s $40.7 trillion GDP is spent on various projects

• US$2.3 trillion spent every year on projects: = ¼ of US GDP

*PMI: The PMI Project Management Fact Book, 2001


IT Project Management Includes..

• Development Management• Deployment Management• Release Management• Training Management• Incident Management• Test Management• Risk Management• Change Management• Configuration Management• Quality Management• Database Management

• Service Level Management• Support Management• Outsourcing Management• Capacity Management• Financial Management• Security Management• People Management• Standards Management• Documents Management• Process Management• ….?


Generic IT Project Lifecycle


Scope Time

Cost Quality

CRITICAL PM VARIABLES

Curry/Stanford(2005)


Why use formal techniques?

• Justification of work and changes• Improved tracking of critical variables• Identify tasks at differing levels of complexity• Decrease project costs• Everyone knows how they fit in• Improved client reporting• Opportunities to decrease development time/costs and

increase productivity and reusability

“If you fail to plan then plan to fail”


Project Manager

• Accept Project Assignments & Responsibilities• Plan, monitor and control the Project through to

completion• Deliverables Tracking & Change Management• Report to Program Director / Steering Committee• Balance time/cost/functionality Constraints• Identify Risks and Plan mitigation Strategies• Build and Motivate Project Team• Resource Identification, Recruitment and Replacement• Provide single and responsible Point Of Contact for the

Team• Chair Project Meetings• Ensure adherence to Methodologies and Standards• Close the Project


Conclusions

• Introduced IT Project Management– Roles and Responsibilities

• Discussed Challenges to PM• Discussed Variables in IT Projects


NEXT STEPS…

• Questions?? – – PLEEASE ASK IN CLASSROOM FORMAT

• Need to Form Groups (4 students)– List Last Name, First Name, Student Number,

Email/Phone– Make two copies – one for you and one for me.

• Individual Assignment– Format / Topics provided on WebCT– Students from same group MUST write on

SEPARATE topics• Classroom Discussions:

– Background Papers need to be Read (on WebCT and also mentioned in Classroom)

Classroom Discussions

Part of Individual Credit Topic:

How it IT PM different to other Project Managements?