Information Technology Project Management, Sixth Edition

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Chapter 1: Introduction to Project Management

Chapter Overview
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the field of project management. It defines what a project
is, what project management entails, the role of the project manager, key terms, a brief history of
project management, and discusses the project management profession.

Chapter Objectives

Understand the growing need for better project management

Explain what a project is; introducing the triple constraint
Describe project management; framework, stakeholders, knowledge areas, common tools
and techniques, and success
Discuss the relationship between project, program, and portfolio management and the
contributions they each make to enterprise success
What project managers do, what skills they need, and what the career field is like for
technology project managers
Describe the project management profession, including its history, the role of
professional organizations like the Project Management Institute (PMI), the importance
of certification and ethics, and the advancement of project management software

Chapter Notes
Introduction
Check out the statistics on pp. 2-3. Although many other professions and fields have
declined a lot in recent years, the need for people working in technology and for good project
managers is still strong.
Check out the figures in What Went Wrong. Were you surprised to learn that only 16.2% of
information technology projects were considered successful in the 1995 CHAOS study?
This number went up to 35% in 2006 (see the What Went Right), but back down again in
2009 to 32% (see http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-curious-case-of-the-chaos-report2009.html). Note that though the Standish Groups CHAOS report is often cited as the
definitive guide to success and failure rates, emphasis on failure, there are many who argue
that the numbers cannot tell the true tail of success or failure. Be careful. Standishs
measure of success is based on where the project ended relative to original estimates for
scope (functionality), time, and cost. It cannot judge changes based on valid and acceptable
trade-offs, and it cannot measure the effect of challenges or the level of acceptable variances
that DO NOT IMPACT a firms definition of success.
Good project management is very important to making effective use of technology and
people.

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What is a Project?
... a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
(PMI.org, PMBoK, Ch.1). Think of examples of projects you have undertaken.
A project:
Has a unique purpose.
Is temporary.
Is developed using progressive elaboration.
Requires resources (money, people, things often from various areas internal and
external to the company).
Should have a primary sponsor (executive lead) or customer.
Involves uncertainty (risk!).
The triple constraint of project management is balancing scope, time, and cost goals.
The triple constraint is NOT always evenly weighted and projects will have a stronger
emphasis on different constraints, depending on whether the project is driven by Politics,
Cost, Scope/Quality, and/or Belief! In order to make trade-offs within the triple
constraints a project manager must know and understand what drives the project and
which constraint(s) are more important than others.
This course is a project. The time and cost of the course are fairly inflexible, so the main
constraint that might be controlled is the scope. Agreed?
Other common types of projects driving emphasis on constraints:
Special Project or Sacred Cow All about the politics
Operating Necessity (KTLO) when undertaking projects to Keep the Lights On,
businesses usually want to minimize costs in order to meet time and scope.
Competitive Necessity projects done to enhance, maintain, or ensure survival for a
companys position in the market. Generally, driven by scope to achieve market wants
and needs within cost and time.
Product Line Extension driven by scope and not necessarily undertaken for a firms
profitability. May be done to fill a gap, strengthen a weak product line, or to expand or
extend current product offerings.
Comparative Benefit This type of project is generally selected for the portfolio based
on a belief that it will benefit the company. The project itself must be examined when
underway to determine then which triple constraint is the emphasis.
What is Project Management?
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities in order to meet project requirements. Tools that are unique to project management
and common include: WBS (Ch. 5, 187-198), Gantt chart (Ch. 6, p. 224), network diagram
(Ch. 6, p. 221), and earned value chart (Ch. 7 p. 276).
The Role of the Project Manager
What DO project mangers do? They lead! They plan, schedule and control activities,
negotiate for and manage money and resources, build teams, lead people, resolve conflicts,

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solve problems, and build bridges between upper and lower levels of project teams, integrate
activities among internal stakeholders and team and between external stakeholders and teams
interacting on the project. All this takes a number of skills in the soft and hard sciences in
order to do it well.
History of Project Management
While I do not advocate using Wikipedia as the sole reference for information on any topic, it
does provide one of the most comprehensive historical timelines for project management that
Ive been able to find and is referenced by many (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_project_management).
The Project Management Profession
Still think project management is not a real job, see the CIO.com survey results in Table 14, p. 26.
Note that the PMP certification and code of ethics are an important part of the profession,
validating both knowledge and experience and upholding the integrity of the profession.
Note that there are other international certifications offered by other PM organizations that
may be as desired in a global market, e.g.; the U.K.s Projects in Controlled Environment
(PRINCE2), Australias Certified Practising Project Practitioner, Manager and Director
(CPPP, CPPM, and CPPD) offered by Australian Institute of Project Management, the four
levels of certification offered by the International Project Management Association, which
was founded four years before PMI and is also globally recognized, CompTIA
Organizations CompTIA Project+, and certifications from the American Academy of Project
Management, as well as specialized certifications in Scrum and Agile offered by PMI, and
the Scrum Alliance Organization.

Key Terms

best practice An optimal way recognized by industry to achieve a stated goal or

objective
critical path The longest path through a network diagram that determines the
earliest completion of a project
enterprise project management software Software that integrates information from
multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an
entire organization; also called portfolio project management software
ethics A set of principles that guide our decision making based on personal values
of what is right and wrong
Gantt chart A standard format for displaying project schedule information by
listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar
format
green IT or green computing Developing and using computer resources in an
efficient way to improve economic viability, social responsibility, and environmental
impact
leader A person who focuses on long-term goals and big-picture objectives, while
inspiring people to reach those goals

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manager A person who deals with the day-to-day details of meeting specific goals
portfolio project management software Software that integrates information from
multiple projects to show the status of active, approved, and future projects across an
entire organization; also called enterprise project management software
program A group of projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and
control not available from managing them individually
program manager A person who provides leadership and direction for the project
managers heading the projects within a program
project A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or
result
project management The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to
project activities to meet project requirements
Project Management Institute (PMI) An international professional society for
project managers
project management knowledge areas Project integration management, scope,
time, cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk, and procurement
management
Project Management Office (PMO) An organizational group responsible for
coordinating the project management functions throughout an organization
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification provided by PMI that
requires documenting project experience and education, agreeing to follow the PMI
code of ethics, and passing a comprehensive exam
project management tools and techniques Methods available to assist project
managers and their teams; some popular tools in the time management knowledge
area include Gantt charts, network diagrams, and critical path analysis
project manager The person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the
project team, and the other people involved in a project to meet project goals
project portfolio management or portfolio management When organizations group
and manage projects as a portfolio of investments that contribute to the entire
enterprises success
project sponsor The person who provides the direction and funding for a project.
stakeholders People involved in or affected by project activities.
triple constraint Balancing scope, time, and cost goal
virtualization Hiding the physical characteristics of computing resources from
their users, such as making a single server, operating system, application, or storage
device appear to function as multiple virtual resources