IT Project Management

IT project management is a sub-discipline of project management in which informatiom technology projects are planned, monitored and controlled.

Which Life Cycle Is Best for Your Project?

When choosing a development life cycle, don't just trust your feelings. Decide based on factors that really matter. Which life cycle will work best for your project? This is an important strategic question because making the wrong choice could lead to disastrous results of catastrophic proportions. Think about delayed deliveries, unhappy clients, project overruns, and cancelled projects.

Build Versus Buy: Making the Right Decision

Many project teams have faced the time when they need to make a major decision. Should one try to custom build a solution or buy an off-the-shelf product and customise it? These solutions can run the gamut of being a full enterprise class package that does nearly everything but feed the dog to small programs or libraries that do something very specialised such as drawing graphs or providing encryption functions. Frequently, a wrong decision can result in cost overruns, project delays, or a solution that does not fit business needs very well.

Factors that Influence Project Management in Package Implementation Projects and Bespoke Projects

Business requirements are solved either by building a new system or by buying a readily available product or by a combination of both. The 'Build vs Buy' decision is made by the stakeholders after weighing various parameters. A 'Build' decision results in tailor made projects (also known as bespoke projects or custom development projects) whereas a 'Buy' decision results in product or package implementation projects. The technical, functional and managerial challenges vary between these two categories and therefore the practices during project execution vary as well.

The Beginning of the End: Defining Project Closure

When undertaking a software development project, an effectively designed closure plan serves as an outline of required tasks that must be carried out appropriately in order to result in successful project delivery, and adequate preparation is one significant element when it comes to ensuring a smooth transition to implementation. The closure plan must be considered at the outset of the project, as the client outlines their specific software requirements.

PMP and ITIL: Framework Methodologies with Valuable Synergy

For a long time, IT professionals were apt to believe that ITIL and project management certification (PMP) were conflicting frameworks, and you were either certified in one or the other, but rarely both. The ITIL framework and project management framework both serve different purposes to be sure, but when combined within an organisation, they ultimately create great synergy. The ITIL framework, a lifecycle that addresses the way an IT organisation operates, is first and foremost business driven and answers the question "Are we doing the right things?" The project management framework addresses the implementation of projects throughout the organisation, requiring that companies ask "Are we doing things the right way?"

9 Steps to a Hassle Free and Effective Software Development Project

Has your company developed entirely new software or added to software already in use throughout the organisation and found the process cumbersome, frustrating, and sometimes not living up to expectations or meeting organisational goals? If so, the solution to a smooth and effective development programme may be as easy as staffing a well-qualified project manager and adopting a proven development process.

The Problem with IT Project Management

One of the most challenging aspects of Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in particular, is that rather than address a discrete problem or set of problems in the enterprise, it attempts to address a range of interconnected and perplexing issues that have long troubled IT. Specifically, SOA approaches to EA address long-term issues of integration in environments of continued heterogeneity, application development in the face of continuous change, governance, management, and quality in environments of continuous complexity, increasing reuse and reducing redundancy across multiple IT initiatives, and organisational and methodology approaches that favour iteration over monolithic, waterfall-style approaches to development.

The IT Worker Shortage: Practical Considerations for Tech Buyers

The shortage of skilled IT workers is not like global warming. We are certain the worker shortage is real, and we are definitely feeling its effects now. Heavy users of technology tend to focus on how the worker shortage is affecting them most directly; that is, their present inability to fill open technical positions. Perhaps less obvious is the impact the IT worker shortage has on organisations' use of outside vendors and consultants for their projects. Vendors and consultants are also finding it difficult to hire the talent they need, which is limiting their engagement capacity and growth opportunities.

Managing An SEO Project

All projects start with one common theme: a vision of where the project will end. Whether you're building a skyscraper, designing a piece of software, or creating a new website you've got to identify the scope that the project will fulfill. The second thing that all projects have in common is their desire to accomplish one of two business fundamentals: increase revenue or reduce costs. Let's talk about increasing revenue through one of the most prevalent channels to your organisation: your website.

How to Recruit an IT Project Manager

A lot of job roles have claimed the title "project manager," but in reality many are a far cry from the traditional role with responsibility for budget and resource on a single project. So how can you be sure you're recruiting the right person?

Must Project Managers Be Technically Savvy?

Must project managers be technically savvy? This topic always seems to cause quite a stir. While some believe that all you need to manage a project is a PMP certification, others are convinced that you can't successfully manage a software development project unless you truly understand the intricacies of the product.

Most IT Projects Fail. Will Yours?

Studies on project failure are easy to find and make depressing reading. Gartner studies suggest that 75% of all US IT projects are considered to be failures by those responsible for initiating them. But what do they mean by failure?

Eight Easy Steps to Managing Your Website Development

Managing your website development need not cause you sleepless nights providing you learn the secrets of successful project management. Perform the best practices in project management and give your project the best chance of success.

Effective Management of E-Commerce Projects

Although you may be tempted to manage the e-commerce project yourself and to use the consulting firm's developers as extensions of your own staff, try to resist the urge. Your consultant's estimates and timelines are only valid if they are allowed to manage the Internet store project to your specifications. They should provide a project manager, who will likely be your main point of contact, to be responsible for managing resources and timelines on the project. Having someone on the consultant's team also may help to keep the scope of the project under control.

The Waterfalls And Rapids Of IT Projects - Can Project Managers Survive Them?

There are a number of problems with both traditional and RAD methods of controlling custom and or complex IT projects. Many projects would be improved if expert help and more time were spent restructuring the project at the start to help the IT supplier clarify the design choices and the IT client clarify the business requirements. Whilst this does involve an explicit acceptance that money will be spent "investigating" and "researching;" this is actually nothing more than bringing present good practice out into the open.

Six Rules for Great IT Project Success

Between cost overruns, project delays, unfulfilled expectations and quality control issues, less 30% of IT projects are successful. This is unfortunate because, conducted and delivered well, projects are one of the most powerful ways IT contributes to a company's bottom-line. Use these six rules to get your project back on track today.

Better Behaviour For More Effective IT Development Projects

How well equipped do you feel to carryout an IT development project. Do you always get the best from your team, engage your stakeholders and retain their interest to arrive at a successful conclusion? This article looks at some of the behaviours managers need to exhibit to run successful IT development projects.

Avoiding the Duplicate Application Trap

Have you ever wondered how much time and money is being spent by businesses developing or purchasing duplicate software applications just because they do not know they already exist somewhere else in the organisation. Experience and research suggests that a large proportion of IT budgets (particularly in large decentralised organisations) is spent on unnecessary duplication. What if this money was put to better use elsewhere or used to improve the quality of what is being developed?

Why Software Projects Fail and How to Make Them Succeed

Let's start with a worrying statistic. According to the Standish Group only about 16 percent of software projects are successful, 53 percent challenged and 31 percent cancelled. Failure has become the IT industry norm. So what can we do about it?

Managing IT Projects: Theory or Practice?

What is the best approach for successfully managing IT projects, knowing the theory or applying your experience? This article aims to provide some answers and suggest the best way forward to ensure a successful outcome for your future projects.

Successful Projects: It's Not Rocket Science

There is often a misconception that managing an IT project is difficult. Avoiding the common pitfalls of IT project management is not rocket science, it is simply a case of taking some sensible measures. This article identifies 5 killer mistakes of project management and their solutions.