IT Project Management

Course Objectives:

This course aims to:

• Teach the fundamentals and best practices of project management methodology as applied to IT initiatives, and practice and master the skills you need to deliver IT projects on time, within budget, and to specification. Examine all aspects of IT projects, including hardware, software, vendor relationships, communicating with different audiences, and working with virtual teams.
• Learn to determine project scope through effective requirements identification, set and manage stakeholder expectations, identify and manage IT risks, and meet quality standards.
•  Learn how to overcome the most common pitfalls of IT project success.

Who Should attend?

• IT professionals, IT project managers, IT managers, IT project team members, associate project managers, project managers, project coordinators, project analysts, project leaders, senior project managers, team leaders, product managers, and program managers.

Content:

Day one:  IT Project Foundations

• IT Project Success and Failure.
• Practical Project Methodologies.
• Software Development Methodologies and Processes.
• Definition of a Project.
• Project Management as a Service Industry.
• Formal vs. Informal Management.
• Complexity and Uncertainty in Projects.
• Influences of Organizational Structure on Project Management.
• Project Management Institute (PMI).
• Project Management Life Cycle.
• Project Management as a Subset of Overall Management Skills.
• Iterative Nature of the Project Management Life Cycle.

Day Two: 

Quality in IT Projects:

• Quality Management.
• IT Project Testing.

Project Scope Definition:

• Scope.
• Defining and Gathering Requirements.
• Tracing.
• Work Breakdown Structure.

Time Management and Scheduling:

• Time Decomposition.
• Network Diagramming.

Day Three: 

Resource Planning:

• Identification of Required Project Resources.
• Roles and Responsibilities Chart.
• Staffing Management Plan.
• Resource Constraints.
• Responsibility Assignment Matrix.

Cost Management and Control:

• Cost Planning and Analysis.
• Cost Estimating Techniques.
• Levels of Accuracy in Estimates.
• Cost Estimates at Planning Milestones.
• Contingency and Management Reserves.

Day Four: 

Communications Management:

• Management of Stakeholder Expectations.
• Considerations for Effective Communication.
• Lines of Communication.
• Forms of Communication.
• Communication Management Plan.
• Project Status Report.

Risk Management:

• Essentials of Project Risk Management.
• Risk Sources for the IT Project.
• Stakeholder Risk Tolerance.
• Risk Identification Techniques.
• Risk Ranking.
• Risk Triggers.
• Risk Response Strategies.

Day Five: 

Vendor Management:

• Procurement and Sourcing Management.
• Overview of Vendor Management.
• Vendor Management Success.
• Measures of Vendor Management Success.

Phase and Project Closure:

• Phase and Project Closing.
• Lessons Learned.
• Phase and Project Reports.