Information System Project Management: Quality, Closure, and Issues

This report examines the key aspects of Information System (IS) Project Management, focusing on quality improvement, project closure activities, and potential challenges. It addresses critical components such as project plan development, project execution, and quality management and control within the IS project life cycle. The report highlights the significance of project closure, emphasizing the achievement of milestones within budget and schedule, alongside adherence to quality standards. It also delves into threats to quality improvement, including budget and time constraints, lack of developer experience, and the absence of predetermined quality standards. Furthermore, the report explores the impact of legal issues and ethnic cultural differences on global teams, emphasizing the importance of addressing these factors to ensure project success. Finally, it lists essential project management documents such as the PM plan, risk management plan, and stakeholder table, which are crucial for effective project execution and documentation. The provided references support the concepts discussed in the report.

Important project activities that are essential
components of Information System Project
Management are as follows.
Project Plan Development – This is the first
phase of an Information System Project Life
Cycle. In this phase, the entire plan for the
project is developed by analyzing the
predetermined requirements. During this
phase, the project milestones are also set and
time and budget estimations are done
accordingly.
Project Development – In this phase of
project life cycle, the project is executed in
order to achieve the final goal of the project.
The development may be done using various
frameworks of project life cycle like SDLC,
Waterfall Model, etc.
Quality Management and Control – This
phase is executed to ensure the quality
standards are maintained throughout the
course of the project.
Project Closure – In this phase, the project is
completed, evaluated and signed off by the
project manager.
BUDGET AND TIME CONSTRAINTS
In many IS projects, budget and time are limited
and hence, sufficient quality improvement is not
possible.
LACK OF EXPERIENCE
Lack of experience of the developers as well as
project manager regarding the necessary
quality standard required in a project is a major
threat and hence, inexperienced project
managers should not be allowed to take charge
of a major project.
LACK OF QUALITY STANDARDS
If the quality standards are not predetermined
before the project, it will become a challenge for
quality improvement of the project.
Key Threats in
Quality
Improvement
A project is closed only after it is ensured that all the milestones have been achieved within scheduled time
and budget. Moreover, it is also needed to be ensured that all the quality standards have been met while
executing and delivering the project.
The project output is determined based on the achieved milestones, overall time taken and the cost benefit
gained from the project. Moreover, the quality of the output must also be according to the predetermined
standard in order to tag the project as successful.
In IS Projects, project closing is an essential phase as the quality standard is always required. Unlike other
projects, quality of IS projects must be of the right standard without fail. Generally, the clients themselves
provide the quality standards to the developer so that they comply with the standards while executing the
project.
IS Project
Management
Project Closing Processes
After the end of a project development,
the closure activities must be conducted
to ensure the project goal is achieved.
“
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List of PM Documents
 PM Plan
 PM Quality Management Plan
 Risk Management Plan
 Risk Register
 Stakeholder Table
 Time Frame and Costing
 Procurement List and Budget
 Milestones and Deliverables
Project Closure Activities
 Project Documentation
 Project Evaluation
 Project Risk Analysis
 Project Validation
 Cost Benefit Analysis
 Feasibility Testing
 Project Approval
 Sign Off by All Stakeholders
Quality Improvement
in IS Projects
Can a project be impacted by legal issues
and ethnic cultural differences?
In IS Projects, quality is the most important part of the development
and hence, it must be ensured that sufficient quality standards are
met. Quality Improvement should also be done during the project.
LEGAL ISSUES
While working in global teams, legal issues can
become a setback for the IS projects. This is
mainly because different countries have different
allowable standards for projects as well as
limitations for project executions. Moreover, in
some countries, prior permissions must be taken
for implementing quality improvement processes
in the project. Non-compliance with any of these
may result in serious legal issues that will not
only stop the progress of the project but also
hamper the reputation of the organization.
ETHNIC CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Ethnic Cultural Difference is another major
problem of working in a global team. Different
cultures have different moral values, practices and
rituals that may be unknown by other cultures.
Without sufficient tolerance level and racism-less
mentality, the clash of cultures can easily occur
that in turn can hamper the progress of the
project. Hence, before selecting global teams, all
these factors must be considered and addressed
adequately and suitable steps must be taken so
that these do not occur further.
REFERENCES
Kerzner, H. (2013). Project management: a
systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John
Wiley & Sons.
Munier, N. (2013). Project Quality Management.
In Project Management for
Environmental, Construction and
Manufacturing Engineers (pp. 201-
208). Springer Netherlands.
Phillips, J. (2013). PMP, Project Management
Professional (Certification Study
Guides). McGraw-Hill Osborne
Media.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology
project management. Cengage
Learning.