Introduction to IT Project

Management
Prof. Dr. Daning Hu
Department of Informatics
University of Zurich

Sep 22th, 2016

Adapted from “Managing Information Technology Projects, Chapter 1, Schwalbe”

 Outline

 Why IT Project Management?

 History of Project Management (PM)
 Basic Concepts of Project Management
Projects

Features of A Project
Project Management
 Project Lifecycle
 Project Management Tools
 MISC

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 Poor Track Record
 1995 Standish Group study (CHAOS)
 only 16.2% of IT projects were successful in meeting scope, time,
and cost goals

 Over 31% of IT projects were canceled before completion, costing

over $81 billion in the U.S. alone

 Though report over 10 years old, information still valid

 Also has project success factors

 [Link]
 Some Improvements

Measure 1994 2006

Successful Projects 16% 35%
Failed Projects 31% 19%

US Spending on IT $250B $346B

Projects
Money Wasted on Failed $140B $53B
Projects
 Really Improved??

 CHAOS Summary 2009

 32% of all projects successful

 44% late, over budget, and/or with less required features and
functions

 24% failed – cancelled or delivered and never used

 Represent the highest failure rate over a decade!

 [Link]
 Career for IT Project Managers
In a 2006 survey by [Link], IT executives ranked the skills that would be the most
in demand in the next two to five years

SKILL PERCENTAGE OF
RESPONDENTS
Project/program management 60%
Business process management 55%
Business analysis 53%
Application development 52%
Database management 49%
Security 42%
Enterprise architect 41%
Strategist/internal consultant 40%
 Project Management Statistics

 The U.S. spends $2.3 trillion ($2.4 trillion in 2008) on

projects every year, or one-quarter of its gross
domestic product.

 More and more people are getting the Project

Management Professional (PMP) certification –
some statistics later.
 The Project Management Institute
 The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an
international professional society for project managers

 Founded in 1969, US

 PMP is one of the certification for project managers

 Published the PMBOK – Project Management Body

of Knowledge

 [Link]
 Growth in PMP Certification, 1993-2008

350'000
318'289

300'000

267'367
250'000
221'144

200'000
# PMPs

175'194

150'000

100'000 102'047

76'550

50'000 52'443
40'343
27'052
18'184
6'415 10'086
2'800 4'400
-
1'000 1'900

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year

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Total PMI Members & PMP Certifications
Worldwide – 2010 Figures

Source: [Link]
 History of Project Management
 A long history:
 referred back as far as the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids and Great
Wall of China.

 The famous Gantt Chart: the history of project planning techniques can be
accurately traced back to the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century
when Henry Gantt (1861-1919) designed the barchart as a visual aid for
planning and controlling his projects.

 motivated by contemporary approaches to management in general

(Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henry Gantt) – every task should be
 divided into sequence of elementary activities (movements),

 useless activities must be eliminated,

 the remaining activities must be accomplished efficiently (stress on every

individual’s top performance, foundations of modern manufacturing lines)
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 An Example of Gantt Chart
 Gantt chart - How to publish a brochure in twelve
days?
Date
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Text Preparation
Graphics Preparation
Final Layout
Final Corrections
Printing
Binding
Expedition

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 An Example of Gantt Chart

 Gantt chart can be easily used as a tool for project

control

Date
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Text Preparation Plan
Progress
Graphics Preparation Problem

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 History of Project Management
 Remington Rand etc. developed Critical Path Method (CPM) - a management
tool to improve the planning and control of a construction project (processing
plant for Du Pont Corporation) - it was first used in 1957.

 US Navy together with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation developed Program

Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) - it was used as a planning tool for
the Polaris Submarine project (in 1958)

 Both methods are based on project presentation in the form of network

diagram, the difference is mainly in the way how activity time durations are
addressed (PERT - probabilistic approach, CPM - deterministic approach).

 In the example of the PERT chart for a project with

five milestones (10 through 50) and six activities (A
through F), this project has two critical paths:
activities B and C, or A, D, and F – giving a
minimum project time of 7 months with fast tracking.
Activity E is sub-critical, and has a float of 1 month. 14
 History of Project Management
 The mid 1960s saw a dramatic rise in the number of projects in the construction
industry

 Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in 1969 - its goal is to bring
forward the best practices and to create standard terminology and guidelines for
project management.

 The Fourth Edition (2008) of PMI guidelines was recognized by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standard
(ANSI/PMI 99-001-2008) and by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers — IEEE 1490-2011 (so called PMBOK Guide – A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge)

 There is a whole variety of software packages available for personal computers

today - it makes our life easier, but still we have to understand the basic
foundations and principles of PM to be able to make right decisions:
 [Link] 15
 What is a Project?
 Definition of a project in the context of project management:
 Project can be defined as a group of activities that have to be
performed in a logical sequence to meet preset objectives.

 Examples:
 Construction project - designing and constructing a house, bridge,
supermarket
 Product development project - designing and testing a new car or refrigerator
 Advertising and marketing project – launching and promoting some product
or service
 Travel project – planning a study/business trip or holiday/vacations
 Entertainment or cultural project – fashion show, exhibition, Madonna’s world
tour
 IT projects – designing and implementing a new information system 16
 Some Other Examples of IT Projects
 A help desk or technical worker replaces ten laptops
for a small department.

 A small software development team adds a new

feature to an internal software application for the
finance department of a firm.

 A college campus upgrades its technology

infrastructure to provide wireless Internet access
across the whole campus.

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 Features of A Project
 A project has a clear beginning and end.
 There are several distinct phases between the beginning and the
end of a project – we call it the lifecycle of the project.
 Projects are often has time constraint. It means that they must
finish by a certain time point.
 Project usually has a clear estimate of cost (i.e., budget) that is
often broken down to a budget per work package.
 There is a single point of responsibility – project manager (project
leader) who is responsible for the success of the whole project
and the project team (i.e., team formed to complete the project).

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What do Project Managers Manage? The Triple
Constraint of Project Management

•Scope
(&Quality)

•Time

•Cost
 What is Project Management?

 Project Management is the application of knowledge,

skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order
to meet stakeholders’ needs and expectations from a
project (definition by the PMBOK guide).

 Project Management
-> MAKING THE PROJECT SUCCESSFUL

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 How?

 Successful project management requires that we

 know WHAT is to be delivered (goals and
deliverables)
 canrecognise if it HAS been produced (Evaluation:
Quality)
 know WHEN it must be completed (Time)
 know WHAT resources are needed (Cost: money,
personnel, machinery)
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 Project Objectives
 Scope & Quality (fitness for purpose)
 Budget (to complete it within the budget)
 Time (to complete it within the given time)
 It is clear that these objectives are not in harmony!

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Project Lifecycle

 Every project passes through a number of distinct

phases or stages. These phases are known as the
“Project Life Cycle”.

 The project life cycle can be conveniently

represented by a bar chart which clearly indicates
the duration of each phase and its overlap (if any)
with the other phases.

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Project Lifecycle

 Example:
 The construction of a house.

 Feasibility study (Requirement Analysis) – is

conducted to consider all the options and alternatives.
The output of this phase is an outline of the preferred type
of house and estimated budget. 24
Project Lifecycle
 Example:
 The construction of a house.

 House design (Project planning) – on acceptance

of the feasibility study, a detailed design of the house is
produced together with detailed scope of work and
planning documents (ranging from planning schedules,
procurement, resources and budget up to the building
permission). 25
Project Lifecycle

 Example:
 The construction of a house.

 Building phase (Project implementation) – on

acceptance of the design of the house detailed baseline
plan, the contracts are negotiated and settled. The house
is built to the detailed plans developed in the previous
phase.
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Project Lifecycle
 Example:
 The construction of a house.

 Commissioning phase (Project termination) –

on completion the building is inspected and approved by
the client and responsible authorities. The house is
handed over for occupation and the project is terminated.
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Project Lifecycle

 Different phases of the project are associated with different level of effort.
The greatest level of effort usually occurs during the implementation phase
(as well as most of the costs are incurred) and that is why many tools and
techniques are focused right on this phase.

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Project Management Tools and Techniques
 Project management tools and techniques assist
project managers and their teams in various aspects of
project management

 Some specific ones include:

 Project charter, requirement analysis statement, and
work breakdown structure (quality)
 Gantt charts, network diagrams, critical path analysis,
and critical chain scheduling (time)
 Cost estimates and earned value management (cost)

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Sample Gantt Chart Created with MS Project

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Sample Network Diagram in Microsoft Project

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 Project Success and Evaluation

 There are several ways to define project success

 The project met its requirement, time, and cost goals

 The project meets or exceeds stakeholders’ expectations

 The results of the project met its main objectives, e.g.,

 making or saving a certain amount of money

 providing a good return on investment, or

 simply delivering the product/services

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Project Stakeholders
 Stakeholders are the people (or organizations)
involved in or affected by project activities

 Stakeholders include:
 The project sponsor
 The project manager
 The project team
 Support staff
 Customers
 Users
 Suppliers
 Opponents to the project

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 Success Factors

 Key ones:
 User involvement

 Executive support

 Experienced project manager

 Well defined requirements

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What the Winners Do….

 Use an integrated project management toolbox

(use standard/advanced PM tools, lots of templates)

 Grow project leaders, emphasizing business and

soft skills

 Develop a streamlined project delivery process

 Measure project health using metrics, like customer

satisfaction or return on investment
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 Ten Most Important Skills and Competencies
for Project Managers
1. People skills
2. Leadership
3. Listening
4. Integrity, ethical behavior, consistent
5. Strong at building trust
6. Verbal communication
7. Strong at building teams
8. Conflict resolution, conflict management
9. Critical thinking, problem solving
10. Understands, balances priorities

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