Informatio​n technology part 2

A student asked: “What is Information Technology (IT)? What is the difference between an IT project and a software project? What is the role of an IT project manager? Where do I learn this skill?”

Answer: Basically, Information technology (IT) can be defined as using technology to manage information. Today in the global connected world, information can be transferred at the speed of the internet and there is much information available, but not all of them are useful. It is important to select only the useful information that a company can use. IT is the process of obtain, process, filter, storage then disseminate useful information to the right person at the right time. IT provides company significant advantages by automate business processes to speed up efficiency; provide information to the right person; connecting business with customers and suppliers; and improve productivity and reduce costs. Therefore, IT is much broader than just software as it involves both product and service; its role is also more in alignment with the business rather than just develop a software product.

IT project is a task or an amount of work that has specific objectives that requires time and efforts to complete. A project can deliver a product such as software or provide a service to support the business of the company. To be successful, a project must deliver the results and benefits as expected within the time, budgets and quality. For a software product, it must meet the requirements of the project; for a service, it must provide benefits to the company. To manage IT project effectively, project manager must select a life cycle for the project as well as the method to use according to the type and size of the project. Therefore, project manager must be trained and have experience in managing project. The project manager must decide how the management activities will be achieved, and who will be involved in the project team. The manager must assign roles, responsibilities and authority to each team member at the beginning of the project.

The role of the project manager varies depending on the company and business. In some companies, the roles are much broader as it involves more business alignment; in other, it may be restricted to the delivery of a product. Basically, IT project manager must ensure that the project is aligned with the business of the company by define and justify the need for the project. The project manager must plan how to deliver the product or service to customers; how to manage relationships with customers, users, suppliers (If needed); how to determine the resource requirements and ensure they can be made available when required. These are activities that should be done before the project starts.

The IT project manager must plan the project by understand the requirements; estimates time, costs, and resources needed to build the product or provide the service according to the customer‘s expectations and company business. The project plan must document estimates, schedule, as well as team members’ assignment, life cycle phases, model, methods, products or services, risks. The plan should be a dynamic document that frequently be updated when thing changes. The project plan must be reviewed and approved by management before the project start.

During the project, the project manager must monitor activities; check the completion of each activity against the plan and adjust the plan accordingly; provide status report to senior managers and customers; measure the quality and process compliance; monitor and manage all risks to the project.

At the end of the project, project manager should evaluate the outcome of the project against the project plan and expected outcomes; review any benefits achieved by the project; conduct a post project review to measure the benefits as well as any lessons learned during the project for further use; determine the need for any improvements or maintenance and ensure that the project is delivered to users or customers accordingly.

IT project manager is the skill often taught in Information System Management program (ISM). Software Project Management is the skill often taught in Software Engineering program (SE). Overall, there is not much difference between these two, although in details there are some minor differences in these two approaches.

Sources

  • Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University