IT project management

Author: Kathy Schwaltz
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-01-01
Features: IT Project Management is structured into three main parts to discuss project management, including: detailed discussions on major knowledge areas of project management, the application of project management processes, and successful cases of information technology project management. The first two chapters primarily introduce the project management framework. Chapter 1 discusses the urgent need for improving project management in the IT field. This chapter provides an overall overview of project management, including the definition of basic concepts, the interrelationships between project management and other disciplines, the history and evolution of project management, and a brief introduction to project management professional certification and code of conduct. Chapter 2 introduces the environment of project management. It emphasizes the need to understand how the project organization is integrated with the entire organizational system and how general project management terminology is applied to the IT field. Chapter 2 also introduces the basic process groups of project management, including project initiation, project planning, project execution, project control, and project closure. These processes are briefly described, along with their differences from the product process groups, and a matrix summarizing the relationships between these process groups and knowledge areas is presented.
Chapters 3 to 11 discuss the theory of each project management knowledge area in the context of the IT industry. This primarily includes project integration management, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management. Each chapter focuses on a specific knowledge area and includes some content explaining the corresponding processes described in PMBOK. For example, the chapter on project integration management includes project planning, project execution, and integrated change control, among other topics; while the chapter on project scope management contains several examples of project charters, net present value analysis, and work breakdown structures from IT projects. Each chapter also includes detailed examples demonstrating the application of major project management tools and techniques in IT projects.
Chapters 12 to 16 provide a detailed account of the entire process of a successful IT project from start to finish. These chapters apply the basic processes of project management to a real IT project. In the mid-1990s, Northwest Airlines' ResNet project was completed, resulting in a completely new flight booking system. The success of this project added profit revenue to the company. In its first year of operation, ResNet saved Northwest Airlines $15 million, and the next year, cost savings exceeded $33 million. The new flight booking system increased the company's revenue fourfold within five years. Through the real project documentation of Northwest Airlines, some of the project methods mentioned in earlier chapters (such as project certification, work breakdown structures, Gantt charts, cost estimation, status reports, and audit reports, etc.) are vividly demonstrated here. By using this case study of a large-scale real-world IT project, you will gain a better understanding of how the concepts discussed in earlier chapters are applied in practice. Some authoritative figures who have reviewed this book believe that this work, which examines a real project over a long time span from multiple perspectives, holds significance far beyond other textbooks.
IT Project Management also includes two appendices. Appendix A is the "Microsoft Project 98 User Guide," designed to help readers learn Microsoft Project 98 step by step and assist in managing project scope, time, cost, human resources, and communication. Appendix B provides information for those preparing to obtain PMP certification or maintaining it (PMP certification is valid for 3 years and can be renewed by meeting certain requirements. —Translator’s note).
IT Project Management is the first comprehensive application of the nine knowledge areas—project integration management, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management—as well as all five process groups—initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure—in IT project management. This book also includes in the appendix a "Microsoft Project 98 operation guide" and a 120-day trial version of Microsoft Project 98 software. The other part of the appendix provides guidance on how to obtain "Project Management Professional Certification" (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the United States.