ComparisonbetweenISO21500and PMBOK Guide 5th Edition.Theoretical background and practical usage of ISO 21500 in IT projects. Katarzyna Wojnar katarzyna.wojnar@wp.pl 2 | P a g e Table of Contents 1.Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.Problem statement .................................................................................................................. 3 2.ISO 21500 background and overview ............................................................................................. 4 2.1.ISO organization ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.The driver and development process of ISO 21500 ................................................................ 4 3.Project definitions ............................................................................................................................ 5 4.Project Management Processes ....................................................................................................... 5 4.1.Project Management Process Groups ...................................................................................... 6 4.2.ISO 21500 Subject groups ....................................................................................................... 6 4.3.Structure of Processes ............................................................................................................. 7 4.4.Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 8 5.Practical usage of ISO 21500 .......................................................................................................... 9 5.1.Additional benefits of ISO 21500 .......................................................................................... 10 6.Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 10 7.Literature and Internet sources ...................................................................................................... 11 3 | P a g e 1.Introduction Last two decades are the fastest time of changes in the companies in history. The ability of the enterprises to invent and implement changes in their operations is the key factor of companys success. This is also time when the lack of ability to implement change can cause the financial andorganizationaltroublesinthecompany.Itisnoteworthy,thatthewayofmanagingthe companyischangingveryfastnowandthesuccessrelaysonthepaceofadaptingtothe changingenvironment.Inthemanagement,thetrendsofprocessmanagementaswellas projectmanagementbecameveryimportantandtheideaofdealingwithprocessesand projects went into the highest level of Management. Project management is one of the key skill sets demanded by organizations around the world. Some facts: One-fifth of the worlds GDP, or more than $12 trillion, will be spent on projects each year in the decade 2010-2021. Inthecomingyearsmanyskilledprojectmanagementpractitionerswillbeleavingthe workforce due to retirement a trend which will have a major strategic impact for over 60% of the organizations worldwide. 1.1.Problem statement Intodaysworld,investmentsandorganizationalchangesarerealizedviaprojectsand programs of related projects. For many of these projects a variety of disciplines and a mix of internalandexternalworkersareinvolved.Allthesepeopleneedtocooperateinaproper way,everyonehastocarryouthis/hertaskseffectivelyand,atthesametime,allthiswork mustbealignedandexecutedinaprocess-drivenway.Agreatnumberofproject managementmethodsandpracticesexist.Whocanapplytheseproperly?Whichmethod shouldbechoseninamultidisciplinaryproject?Howdoesonecommunicatewiththe stakeholders? These questions do not have easy answers. 4 | P a g e 2.ISO 21500 background and overview 2.1.ISO organization ISO(InternationalOrganizationforStandardization)istheworldslargestdeveloperof voluntary International Standards. The organization was founded in 1947, and since then has published more than 19 500 International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology and business. From food safety to computers, and agriculture to healthcare, ISO International Standards impact all our lives. The ISO story began in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries metattheInstituteofCivilEngineersinLondonanddecidedtocreateanewinternational organizationtofacilitatetheinternationalcoordinationandunificationofindustrial standards.InFebruary1947theneworganization,ISO,officiallybeganoperations.Today theyhavemembersfrom162countriesand3368technicalbodiestotakecareofstandard development.Morethan150peopleworkfulltimeforISOsCentralSecretariatinGeneva, Switzerland. 2.2.The driver and development process of ISO 21500 Inthepasttherehavebeenanumberofinitiativesaimedatdevelopingglobalproject management standards, like Global Project Management Forum (from 1994), PMBOK Guide (ANSIstandard,FirstEditionin1996),OperationalLevelCoordinationInitiative(OLCI, from 1999), Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS, from 2002) and ISO 10006 Quality management systems - Guidelines for quality management in projects, 2003). Theyallfailedtoproduceonebodyofprojectmanagementknowledgethatwasaccepted globally.ISO21500Guidanceforprojectmanagementisthesteptowardsthetrueworld standard for project management. In 2006 the British Standard Institute, a member of ISO, has initiated a request toward ISO to workondefiningastandardforProjectManagement.ISOlaunchedanewISOproject committee ISO/PC 236, Project management. This committee started its activity in 2007 and has already produced the ISO 21500 standard titled Guidance on Project Management. ISO 21500:2012 was released on 10th of September 2012 and as of today, ISO 21500 is the fifth best-selling ISO standard in the world (ISO 9001 is the best-selling standard). 5 | P a g e After the release ofISO21500, PC 236 became the permanent committee TC 258 and deals with the creation of standards for Project, Programme and Portfolio Management. The next standard to be created by ISO TC 258 is for Portfolio Management. ISO 21500 is the first in a plannedfamilyofprojectmanagementstandards.Itisdesignedtoalignwithrelated InternationalStandardssuchasISO10006:2003,QualitymanagementsystemsGuidelines forqualitymanagementinprojects,ISO10007:2003,Qualitymanagementsystems Guidelinesforconfigurationmanagement,ISO31000:2009,RiskmanagementPrinciples and guidelines, and some sector-specific standards in industries such as aerospace and IT. 3.Project definitions ThePMIdefinitiondescribesprojectastemporaryendeavorundertakentocreateunique product,serviceorresult.ThePMBoKGuidedefinitionisprobablythelastone,thatsays aboutproducingdeliverables.AccordingtoISO21500projectisauniquesetofprocesses consistingofcoordinatedandcontrolledactivitieswithstartandfinishdates,undertakento achieveanobjective.Achievementoftheprojectobjectiverequiresdeliverablesconforming tospecificrequirements,includingmultipleconstrainssuchastime,costandresources. ProductsareabsentfromtheISO21500definition,howevertheuniquenessinboth definitionsmaybedoubtful.Whenaprojectisinitiated,thesetofprojectprocessesisnot defined.AccordingtoISO21500thesetofprojectprocessesaredefinedbecauseof performingprocess4.3.3Developprojectplans,longafterprojectinitiation.Soyoudonot knowwhetherthissetofprocessesisunique(orhaveanyothercharacteristics)whenyou initiate a project. So if you strictly follow such definition, you may initiate something what is not a project according to this definition. 4.Project Management Processes ThePMBOKGuide5thEditiongavethemainideaforcreationISO21500,sowhen analyzing ISO 21500 the associates to PMI are easy to identify. 6 | P a g e 4.1.Project Management Process Groups ISO21500thesameasPMIdividestheprojectprocessesintofiveprocessgroups.Thereis only slightly different naming of those: Table 1. Process groups in ISO 21500 vs. PMBOK Guide 5th Edition 4.2.ISO 21500 Subject groups KnownfromPMBOKGuide5thEditionKnowledgeAreasevaluatedintoSubjectsin ISO21500,howevertheyarecalledalmostthesamewithminorchangeforResourcevs. Human Resources. Table 2. Subjects and Knowledge Areas 7 | P a g e 4.3.Structure of Processes The structure of description of processes in ISO 21500 differs from that in PMBOK Guide. ThemaindifferenceisthatISO21500doesnot providedescriptionoftoolsandtechniques. ThedescriptionofeachprocessinISO21500consistsofgeneraldescriptionandatable containing primary inputs and primary outputs. ISO 21500 descriptions are also substantially shorter than those of PMBOK Guide. In fact ISO 21500 describes 39 processes on 36 pages ofguidanceforprojectmanagement,where47processesofPMBOK5thEditionare presented on over 400 pages of the guide. Table 3. Processes of ISO 21500 8 | P a g e Table 4. Processes of PMBOK Guide 5th Edition 4.4.Conclusion The important consistency between the ANSI and the ISO standards will definitively help the profession. PMI certifications will continue to promote structured project managers and these projectmanagers(orassociates)willdefinitivelyhelpalotoforganizationstoaligntheir projectmanagementprocessestowardISOrecommendation.Thismutualcontributionis likely to continue since a new technical committee has been set-up to deal with program and portfoliomanagement.Andtheorganizationofthisnewcommitteeisthesamethanthe committeeproducingtheISO21500standard.ThismightalsoleadPMItocertifyportfolio managersinthefuturePMIconfirmsitsleadingpositiontocertifyprogrammanagers, project managers and associates who will feel at home in ISO oriented organizations. In the future, ifISO/DIS 21500 becomes the basis of acertification, there will be an advantagefor companies to have PMI certified project and program managers onboard. 9 | P a g e 5.Practical usage of ISO 21500 One can use the ISO 21500 guideline as follows: As a reference in an audit If an organizations project management practice complies with the requirements and criteria ofISO21500,ithasagoodfoundationforcompetentprojectmanagerstoachieveproper projectresults.Atthesametime,theorganizationcanprovebothinternallyandexternally thatitdeliversqualityprojects,becausetheyhavebaseditontheindependentstandard. Indeed,thisguidelinedoeshavedirectinfluenceontheprojectexecution,butnotonthe project result as such; As a link between different project management and business processes ISO21500cansupplementtheISO9001forqualitymanagement,especiallyintheareaof continuousimprovement:realizingthenecessaryandwantedimprovementprocessesin operations with minimal disturbance of the production and service processes; As a checklist to prove the knowledge and skills of project managers and project workers in executing projects The guideline looks at one project at a time. It does not refer to more complex situations, like multi-projectmanagementorsub-projects.Thismakestheguidelineaccessibleforabroad targetgroup,whocansimplyrelatetheirownroletotheguideline.ISO21500strongly emphasizes the role that the environment plays during the execution of the project in order to maximize the added value of the deliverables of the project; As a common reference (bridge function) between different methods, practicesand models ExistingprojectmanagementmethodslikePRINCE2,collectionsofgoodpracticeslikethe PMBOKGuide,andcompetencemodelslikeICB3.0,provideananchortotheproject manager when running a project. A concise and clear guideline will attract parties that are not familiar with these existing methods, practices and models; As a common language in project management ISO21500bridgesthedifferencesandreinforcesthesimilaritiesbetweenthemanyparties thatoftenworktogetherinaproject:sponsor,projectmanagerandhiscolleagues,project organization,projectworkers,customers,usersand/ortheinternalorganization.ISO21500 supportsthecommunicationbetweentherelatedpartiesbyofferingacommonlanguage.A common language is also essential with international and/or multi-disciplinary projects, where differentteamsworkwithdifferentmethods,andwherecooperationisnecessary.The 10 | P a g e guidelinecanthenbeabindingfactorbyrelatingtheprocessesanddeliverablesofthe different methods to those of ISO 21500. 5.1.Additional benefits of ISO 21500 Encouragetransferofknowledgebetweenprojectsandorganizationsforimprovedproject delivery Facilitateefficienttenderingprocessesthroughtheuseofconsistentprojectmanagement terminology Enabletheflexibilityofprojectmanagementemployeesandtheirabilitytoworkon international projects Provide universal project management principles and processes Karl Best, Secretary of the project committee, comments: In an increasingly global economy projectmanagersneedguidancetohelpthemunderstandthebasicprinciplesofmanaging projects. ISO 21500 can help those involved in projects improve the success of a wide variety of project types. 6.Summary ISO 21500:2012, Guidance on project management, can be used by any type of organization, including public, private or community organizations, and for any type of project, irrespective of complexity, size and duration. Project management is now big business. According to the Anderson Economic Group study commissionedbytheProjectManagementInstitute,over24.4millionemployeeswere participatinginprojectsin11majoreconomiesin2006.By2016,thisdemandwillexistto support 32.6 million employees in the same countries. ISO21500provideshigh-leveldescriptionofconceptsandprocessesthatareconsideredto formgoodpracticeinprojectmanagement.Newprojectmanagersaswellasexperienced 11 | P a g e managerswillbeabletousetheprojectmanagementguidanceinthisstandardtoimprove project success and achieve business results. Miles Shepherd, Chair of the ISO project committee that developed the new standard, states: ISO21500enablespeopleinanyorganizationtounderstandhowthedisciplinefitsintoa businessenvironment.Itisalsointendedtobeusedasabasicguide,aimedattheinformed reader without an in-depth knowledge of project management. 7.Literature and Internet sources ANSI 2013, A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide) 5th Edition LABINET T., STS: Comparing PMBOK Guide 4th Edition,PMBOK Guide 5th Edition, and ISO 21500 REHACEK P.: Standards ISO 21500 and PMBOK Guide for Project ManagementZANDHUIS, A., STELLINGWERF R. 2013 ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management. A Pocket Guide. http://www.sybena.pl/iso21500pmbok_ang.htm http://www.slideshare.net/Robert_/discussion-fifth-edition-pm-bo-k-and-iso-24920679 http://www.pmi.org/ http://blog.vanharen.net/project-management/iso-21500-guidance-on-project-management-in-3-minutes/ http://pmworldjournal.net/iso-tc-258-project-programme-portfolio-management-committee-meeting-sweden/ http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm