What Is a Project? is a temporary effort to create a unique product, service, or result.

it can be large or small and take a short or long time to complete.

• Operation is work done in organizations to tolerate the business.

• Projects end when their objectives have been reached or the project has been terminated.

• People focusing on operations and projects must work together for a smooth transition.

In software development, DevOps : is a relatively new term that describes a culture of collaboration between
software development and operations teams to build, test, and release reliable software more quickly.

Advantages of Using Formal Project Management

1) Better control of financial, physical, and human resources.

2) Improved customer relations.
3) Shorter development times.
4) Lower costs.
5) Higher quality and increased reliability.
6) Higher profit margins.
7) Improved productivity.
8) Better internal coordination.
9) Higher worker morale.

Project Attributes

1) Has a unique purpose.

2) Is temporary.
3) Drives change and enables value creation.
4) Is developed using progressive explanation.
5) Requires resources, often from various areas.
6) Should have a primary customer or sponsor.
7) Involves uncertainty (think)

An effective project manager is essential to a project’s success.

The project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for the project.

Project and Program managers :

Project managers work with project sponsors, project teams, and other people involved to meet project goals.

Program: is a group of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities managed in a coordinated
manner to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually.

A program manager : provides leadership and direction for the project managers heading the projects within a
program.
Project Constraints - The Triple Constraint

Every project is constrained in different ways by its:

• Scope goals: What is the project trying to achieve?

• Time goals: How long should it take to complete?
• Cost goals: What should it cost?

The main problem is to meet project objectives under the constraints.

What is Project Management? is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to
meet project requirements.

- Project managers must attempt to meet specific scope, time, cost, and quality goals of projects and facilitate the
complete process to meet the needs and expectations of people involved in project activities or affected by
them.

Project Management Framework

Ten Project Management Knowledge Areas

Project management knowledge areas : describe the key competencies that project managers must develop.

Four core knowledge areas lead to specific project objectives : (scope, time, cost, and quality).

Five facilitating knowledge areas are the means to achieve the project objectives : (human resources,
communication, risk, stakeholders, and procurement management).

One knowledge area (project integration management) affects and is affected by all other knowledge areas.

*All knowledge areas are essential!

Project Stakeholders

Stakeholders : are the people involved in or affected by project activities, include:

1) The project sponsors

2) Project manager.
3) Project team.
4) Customers.
5) Users.

Project Management Tools and Techniques

It assists project managers and their teams in various aspects of project management. Some specific ones include:

1) Project Charter
2) A work-breakdown structure (WBS) (Scope)
3) Gantt charts
4) Network diagrams
5) Critical path analysis (time)
6) Cost estimates
7) Earned value management (cost)

Super tools : are those tools that have high use and high potential for improving project success, such as:

1) Software for task scheduling (project management software).

2) Scope statements
3) Requirements analysis.
4) Lessons-learned reports.

Tools already extensively used that have been found to improve project importance include progress reports,
kick-off meetings, Gantt charts, and change requests.

Project Success

There are several ways to define project success:

• The project met scope, time, and cost goals.

• The project satisfied the customer/sponsor.
• The project’s results met its primary objective, such as making or saving a certain amount of money,
providing a good return on investment, or simply making the sponsors happy.
• Attractive and valuable project.

What helps projects succeed?

1) Skilled resources.
2) Execution
3) Executive support.
4) User involvements.
5) Clear business objectives.
Top three reasons why technology projects succeed

• Engagement from all stakeholders

• Expertise Staff
• Adequate Funding

Project Portfolio Management : organizes and manages projects and programs as a portfolio of investments
contributing to the enterprise's success.

• Portfolio managers assist their organizations in making wise investment decisions by helping them choose and
analyze projects from a strategic perspective.

Qualities of a top IT project manager

1) Clear vision
2) Strong communication
3) Passion
4) Technical understanding
5) Effective Delegation
6) Team Building
7) Problem-solving
8) Good Decision Makers
9) Well Organized

Project managers must

1) Collaborate
2) Familiar
3) Responsibilities

Essential Skills Every Project Manager Should Have

1) Team management
2) Time management
3) Risk management
4) Leadership
5) Organization

PMI provides certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

A Project Management Office (PMO) : is an organizational group responsible for coordinating the project
management function throughout an organization.
What does an IT project manager do? The types of projects an IT project manager may be responsible for
include the following :

1) Database management.
2) Infrastructure management
3) IOT management
4) Software implementation.
5) Network configuration

Ethics in Project Management

PMI recognizes four core values that project managers across the globe must exhibit: fairness, responsibility,
respect, and honesty.

A Systems View of Project Management

The term systems approach emerged to describe a holistic and analytical approach to solving complex problems.

Three parts include:

1. Systems philosophy: View things as systems, which are interacting components that work within an
environment to fulfill some purpose.
2. Systems analysis: Problem-solving approach.
3. Systems management: Address business, technological, and organizational issues before making changes
to systems.

Three Sphere Model for Systems Management

1. Business
2. Technology
3. Organization

Understanding Organizations

Structural frame: Focuses on roles and responsibilities, coordination, and control. Organization charts help define
this frame.

Human resources frame: Focuses on providing harmony between needs of the organization and needs of people.

Political frame: Assumes organizations are coalitions composed of varied individuals and interest groups. Conflict
and power are key issues.

Symbolic frame: Focuses on symbols and meanings related to events. Culture is important.

Three basic organizational structures:

1. Functional: Functional managers report to the CEO.

2. Project: Program managers report to the CEO.
3. Matrix: Middle ground between functional and project structures.
Ten Characteristics of Organizational Culture

1) Member identity
2) Group emphasis
3) People focus
4) Unit integration
5) Control
6) Risk tolerance
7) Reward criteria
8) Conflict tolerance
9) Means-ends orientation
10) Open-systems focus

Importance of Top Management Commitment

Top management can help project managers:

1) Secure adequate resources.

2) Get approval for unique project needs in a timely manner.
3) Receive cooperation from people throughout the organization.
4) Learn how to be better leaders.

Need for Organizational Commitment to Information Technology (IT)

▪ If the organization has a negative attitude toward IT, it will be difficult for an IT project to succeed.

▪ Having a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a high level in the organization helps IT projects.

▪ Assigning non-IT people to IT projects also encourages more commitment.

Project Phases
Project Feasibility:

Concept

• Develop a very high level or summary plan for the projectdescribes the need for the project and basic
underlying concepts.
• Rough cost estimation
• Overview of the work
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Development

• Explain the concept

• Create more detailed project plans
• More accurate cost estimate
• More through WBS
Project Acquisition :

Implementation

• Creates a definitive or very accurate cost estimate

• Deliver the required work
• Provide performance reports to stakeholders

Close-out

• All of the work is completed

• Customer accept the entire project
• Document experiences on the project

Figure 2-3. Phases of the Traditional Project Life Cycle

Product Life Cycles

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC): is a framework for describing the phases involved in developing
information systems.

Systems development projects can follow:

- Predictive life cycle: The scope of the project can be clearly articulated and the schedule and cost can be
predicted.

- Adaptive Software Development (ASD) life cycle: Projects are mission driven and component based, and use
time-based cycles to meet target dates.
Predictive Life Cycle Models :

1) Waterfall model
2) Spiral model
3) Incremental build model
4) Prototyping model
5) Rapid Application Development (RAD) model

The Importance of Project Phases and Management Reviews

▪ Management reviews, also called phase exits or kill points, should occur after each phase to evaluate the
project’s progress, likely success, and continued compatibility with organizational goals.

The PLC vs the SDLC

The Context of IT Projects

▪ IT projects can be very diverse in terms of size, complexity, products produced, application area, and resource
requirements.

▪ IT project team members often have diverse backgrounds and skill sets.

▪ IT projects use diverse technologies that change rapidly. Even within one technology area, people must be highly
specialized.

Recent trends affecting IT project management include

1) Globalization: IT projects are increasingly global, involving team members and stakeholders from different parts
of the world.

2) Outsourcing: Organizations are outsourcing IT services and projects to external vendors, sometimes from other
countries (offshoring), to reduce costs and leverage specialized skills.

3) Virtual Teams: Teams are working across time zones and locations using communication technologies

4) Agile Project Management: Agile methodologies are being adopted to allow for iterative and incremental
development, enabling teams to respond quickly to changes and collaborate closely with business experts.
What is Project integration management?

Project integration management is merging every aspect of a project, from inception to completion, to ensure that
task objectives are met. It includes merging and tailoring several project management methods to the
association's strategic goals.

Good Project Integration Management

1) Project managers must coordinate all of the other knowledge areas throughout a project’s life cycle.
2) Many new project managers have trouble looking at the “big picture” and want to focus on too many
details.
3) Project integration management is not the same thing as software integration.
4) This integration ensures that all project elements come together at the right times to complete a project
successfully.

Project Integration Management Processes

• Main Processes:

1) Developing the project charter.

2) Developing the project management plan.
3) Directing and managing project work.
4) Managing project knowledge.
5) Monitoring and controlling project work.
6) Performing integrated change control.
7) Closing the project or phase.

Strategic Planning and Project Selection

• Strategic planning involves determining long-term objectives, predicting future trends, and projecting the need
for new products and services .

• Organizations often perform a SWOT analysis

• Analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

• As part of strategic planning, organizations identify potential projects and use realistic methods to select which
projects to work on and formalize project initiation by issuing a project charter

Methods for Selecting Projects

Methods for selecting projects include:

1) Focusing on broad organizational needs

2) Categorizing information technology projects
3) Performing net present value or other financial analyses
4) Using a weighted scoring model
5) Implementing a balanced scorecard
Developing a Project Charter

A project charter: is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project and provides direction on the
project’s objectives and management.

• Key project stakeholders should sign a project charter to acknowledge agreement on the project’s need and
intent.

– A project charter is a key output of the initiation process.

Inputs for Developing a Project Charter :

1) A project statement of work:

2) A business case.
3) Agreements .
4) Enterprise environmental factors.
5) Organizational process assets: which include formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines,
information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons learned, and historical information

What are the main tools and techniques for developing a project charter ?

1) Expert judgment and facilitation techniques, such as brainstorming and meeting management.
2) Experts from inside and outside the organization should be consulted when creating a project charter to
make sure it is useful and realistic.
3) Facilitators often make it easier for experts to collaborate and provide useful information.

Developing a Project management plans

A project management plan: is a document used to coordinate all project planning documents and help guide a
project’s execution and control.

Plans created in the other knowledge areas are subsidiary parts of the overall project management plan

Project Management Plan Contents

1) Introduction/overview of the project

2) Description of how the project is organized
3) Management and technical processes used on the project
4) Work to be done
5) Schedule and budget information.
6) References to other project planning documents
7) A list of definitions and acronyms, if appropriate