BUS605: Strategic Project Management

Processes are important to project management because they support all of the activities needed to develop and manage the development of an IT solution. Product-oriented processes focus on the development of the application system itself and require specific domain knowledge, tools, and techniques. On the other hand, project management processes are needed to manage and coordinate all of the activities of the project. A balance of both product-oriented processes and project management processes is needed; otherwise, the result may be a solution that is a technical success but an organizational failure. In addition, five project management process groups were introduced that support both the project and each phase of the project. These include: (1) initiating, (2) planning, (3) executing, (4) controlling, and (5) closing.

Project integration management is one of the most important Project Management Body of Knowledge areas. Its purpose is to coordinate and integrate the other knowledge areas and project processes. Project integration management processes focus on (1) develop project charter, (2) develop preliminary project scope statement, (3) develop project management plan, (4) direct and manage project execution, (5) monitor and control project work, (6) integrated change control, and (7) close project.

The project charter serves as an agreement and as a communication tool for all of the project stakeholders. The project charter documents the project's MOV and describes the infrastructure needed to support the project. In addition, the project charter summarizes many of the details found in the project plan. A well written project charter should provide a consolidated source of information about the project and reduce the likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding. In general, the project charter and project plan should be developed together - the details of the project plan need to be summarized in the project charter, and the infrastructure outlined in the project charter will influence the estimates used to develop the project plan.

The project plan provides the details of the tactical plan that answers these questions: What needs to be done? Who will do the work? When will they do the work? How long will it take? How much will it cost?

A project planning framework was introduced and recommended a series of steps to follow in order to develop a detailed project plan. The details with respect to carrying out these steps will be the focus of subsequent chapters. Once the project charter and plan are approved, the project plan serves as a baseline plan that will allow the project manager to track and assess the project's actual progress to the original plan. A kick-off meeting usually brings closure to the second phase of the IT project methodology and allows the project team to begin the work defined in the plan.