IT Project Management: A Comprehensive Report and Analysis

This report delves into the realm of IT project management, commencing with an examination of a Hewlett Packard (HP) case study that highlights the implementation of a training program to enhance employee proficiency and drive product innovation. The report then explores the crucial process of identifying and categorizing stakeholders, emphasizing their diverse roles, such as application engineers, database administrators, and network architects, within IT projects. Subsequently, it addresses the identification of main risks and uncertainties inherent in IT projects, acknowledging potential challenges at various stages. Finally, the report evaluates the role of the project manager, underscoring their significance in guiding project activities, monitoring progress, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. The report provides a comprehensive overview of IT project management, offering insights into key concepts, real-world applications, and best practices for successful project execution.

IT Projects Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION:..........................................................................................................................1
1) CASE STUDY.............................................................................................................................1
2) IDENTIFYING AND CATEGORISING THE STAKEHOLDERS OF PROJECT..................3
3) IDENTIFY THE MAIN RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THE PROJECT FACED...............5
4) EVALUATING THE ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGER..........................................................7
CONCLUSION:.............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION:
Information technology plays a vital role in managing the information and data of
organisation. It helps in storing data in database and protecting it. The data is protected by
installing various devices and equipments (Heldman, 2018). These should be properly installed.
For this IT project management is implemented. It helps in planning, organising, etc. of IT
components. It helps in achieving company goals and objectives related to IT. Project manage
plays a vital role in achieving IT goals and objectives of organisation.
1) CASE STUDY
IT projects management is process of planning, organising, etc. of IT components. By
this a network is established that helps in sharing data and information. Also, it helps in
protecting those sensitive data. Any specific occurrence of event can affect the entire project.
This case study is related to Hewlett Packard (HP) project management. It shows that how HP
has taken project management to higher level. The goal was to make changes according to
change in trends in technology (Sharbatoghlie, and Sepehri, 2015). Also, they focused on
professional program in order to increase efficiency of employee knowledge and business
expertise. They faced several issues regarding how technology was used in business. By
implementing project management at global level they want employee to follow defined career
path. A learning portfolio was created that offered employee training resources so that career
path can be followed. It consists of hard skills and business acumen development. A new model
was created that guided employee to communicate with stakeholder to take decision for new
development. It was useful in proving training to workers worldwide. It included six level of
training that is entry, intermediate, specialist, expert, master and strategist. They developed a
registered education provider (REP). With this company was able to solve issues in professional
development (Obeidat, and North, 2014).
They developed knowledge centre that was used to give online simulation that provided
training to employees. Also, this helped them to understand how decisions was taken and what
affect it has on all levels or organisation. Moreover, how a wrong decision taken affect bottom
level and how ideas and action of manager further affects it. There was some major
consequences that occurred in HP (Kerzner, and Kerzner, 2017). It was mostly happening in
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employee and conflicts was arising. So this simulation helped in controlling this by providing
education to employees.
It also provided educational opportunity for students to learn and gain knowledge from it.
It created a website through which employee can access information and data. Also, they can
share their skills, communicate and guide. This created a portfolio on which all task was done
together to save time and cost. Also, it provided experience to work by following holistic
approach. Due to effective training given to employees in order to enhance their productivity
(Flouris, and Lock, 2016). This resulted in bringing better working environment in HP. They
were able to work effectively resulting in completion of goals in less time. There were many new
products developed after completion of project Their services was improved. HP received two
major awards from American society for training and development (ASTD) and in 2005 PMI
professional development product of the year award.
Summary of case – This case highlights the training program that was implemented by HP to
increase employee proficiency. It shows that how HP implemented a program to provide training
to employees. It helped them to hire new talent so that product innovation can be done. It was
easy for company to start this project as there arose certain issues that was not solved by top
management (Dybå, Dingsøyr, and Moe, 2014). They developed knowledge centre that was
used to give online simulation that provided training to employees. this simulation helped in
controlling this by providing education to employees. It created a website through which
employee can access information and data. A portfolio was developed on which all task was
done together to save time and cost. For this effective training given to employees in order to
enhance their productivity .HP received two major awards from American society for training
and development (ASTD) and in 2005 PMI professional development product of the year award.
Need of implementing REP- It was implemented at global level so that each unit should have
equal calibre of employee (Rosemann and vom Brocke 2015). This will help them to increase
their business operations and innovate products. Also, it was done to solve various issues that
was affecting company performance. Along with this HP needed a system that helped them to
hire best people around the world. This aim was to invite new talent within organisation.
Moreover, it was done so that technological advancements can be implemented. However, HP
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wants to become an innovative company who developed computer and laptops. With innovation
in technology HP required person that could handle resources.
Requirements for the project- For this project HP required several resources in order to
develop an online simulation website ( Lientz, and Rea, 2016). They needed experts who can
build the design of website and a project manager who will be responsible for completing this.
Many persons are needed in project management. They are people capital and material goods.
Also, a huge amount of fund will be needed for this. HP should analyse what information and
data will be inserted in website and how entire process will be followed. Also, system and server
is needed that can store data. Besides this, all resources are required for completing IT project.
HP can call experts from its different company offices. For people they have to either hire or take
exiting employees. It will be beneficial if they hire new talent for this. Materials and goods can
be acquired from the market. For this they need to issue tender or contact existing suppliers.
Simulation system can only be developed if there are the latest system and application available.
Otherwise, it will be difficult for company to execute project management. Along with this, HP
can analyse its existing resources so that it can provide some materials (Hornstein, 2015). For
capital HP can use its existing assets or borrow funds from banks. Other than this they can
manage resources from its different company offices. They can take
2) IDENTIFYING AND CATEGORISING THE STAKEHOLDERS OF
PROJECT
Every project consists of stakeholders that help in planning, organising and implementing
project. They provide essential resources through which project tasks are executed. In project
management, each person plays a different role (Avgerou, and Walsham, 2017). They are given
with specific roles and responsibilities that have to be performed. Moreover, IT contains
complex tasks and it is important that it has to be done effectively. Stakeholder helps in
achieving the goals and objectives of organisation. They are the main elements in project
management. It is necessary to categorise them as it will be easy in assigning duties. Roles are
assigned on the basis of their specialised areas.
Also, standards will be set that will help in measuring their performance. By this, weak
areas can be identified and improved. Also, training can be provided to them to increase their
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efficiency (Aykin, 2016). Moreover, a proper structure is set so that they can communicate
effectively, it will be helpful in completing the IT goals and objectives. For example- if an
organisation wants to develop a network then each person will be assigned with different roles.
There are different people in IT project management that have various roles such as application
engineer, network engineer, programmer, system administrator, etc. (IT project stakeholder list,
2016). All these are having their distinct roles (Collyer, 2016).
Application engineer- This person is responsible for developing or creating application. These
applications are designed on the basis of requirement of IT project. An individual must be having
enough skills and capabilities so that apps can be effectually designed. His role is to design a
plan so that it can be identified which app will be installed and where. Besides this, he is
responsible for managing technology evaluation stage of sales process. He maintains a strong
relationship with other people throughout the sales cycle.
Database Administrator- The role of person in this is managing entire database. He develops
policies and procedure on how data will be managed and accessed. Also, what software will be
installed in database. The operations related to database have to be managed by him. He controls
and maintains the records of data.
Network Architect- A network architect plays a crucial role in IT project management. This
person is responsible for designing the structure of network (Dillon and Taylor, 2015) He
creates diagram on network structure. What applications will be places and where. Moreover, his
role is to change network design according to change in technology. Also, in which department
how data and information will be shared depends upon design of network. The entire success of
network is dependent on its design. An effective and flexible network will help in easy sharing of
data. It will be very useful in managing the operations of organisation.
Network System Administrator- He is responsible for maintaining and controlling network
structure. He ensures that systems and applications are inserted at the right place so that there
will be smooth flow of business operations. Moreover, person is responsible for the maintenance
of structure (Ptak and Schragenheim, 2016). Any network related issues and problems are
solved by him. Person is known as the administrator of network system. His role is to ensure that
all systems are updated properly maintained. Regular auditing of system is done to improve the
efficiency of network. However, person is coordinated with database administrator to identify
what improvements are required in it.
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Stakeholders are people who are related form project either directly or indirectly. They
can be customers, government, suppliers, etc. The approach followed by each stakeholder is
effective communication in between them. This helped them to analyse the needs of organisation
and accordingly, designing project management. However, it was easy for them to assign the
roles and responsibilities (Verzuh, 2015). There was a proper structure that has to be followed.
Moreover, sometimes, there was flexibility in communication so that tasks that are completed are
informed to others. Besides this, assigning different roles helped in planning, organising, etc.
Project management is an effective way. Short term goals was created and standards was set. It
was used to measure the performance. Team member communicated with stakeholder to take
decision about how task can be done in more creative way. They also approached to them telling
about which task they have completed. This was beneficial to stakeholder to monitor project
progress. Each member was given responsibility to perform. They all managed work according
to structure that was developed by manager. It allowed them to focus on their role so that goal
can be achieved easily. Also, there was such a bog gap between manager and stakeholder. This
gap was filled by team member as they approached to them directly. This brought more
efficiency in their work and provided them resources to do it. There was project manager
appointed that look after all activities of team. It helped them to guide what task they have to do
and not (Azhar, Khalfan and Maqsood, 2015). Also, stakeholder monitor project progress by
communicating with team. It was useful in identifying where improvements were needed. Also,
how activities will be organised and what next step will be. Team will manage stakeholder by
identifying the needs and what changes can be made in projects. Also, how project should be
implemented and what results will be obtained after completion of project.
3) IDENTIFY THE MAIN RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES THE PROJECT
FACED
Every project faces some kinds of uncertainties and challenges at certain stage. It can
occur due to improper planning or some external factors. This can affect the overall quality of
project or goals and objectives that are to be achieved. However, these risks have to controlled or
minimised by taking appropriate actions (Olson, 2014). It will help in maintained the efficiency
of project. Manager is responsible for minimising risk by ensuring that activities are performed
according to process developed. Also, it is important to identify tee degree of risk. It means that
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if risk is of high or low level. Then, accordingly measures are taken. An uncertainty is an event
that can put a hold to project. It can put manager and team in a dilemma. As it was very complex
IT project There was many risks that was involved during execution of project. It is as follows :-
Scope risk – this is related to how project will be completed as project grows it became very
complex to manage it. In context to above case study the project was of developing a online
simulation project. It was very difficult to take next step as growth of project leads to more
complex task to be performed (Kucharska, and Kowalczyk, 2016). Besides this , there was
chances of having hardware and software defects. After the completion of project the integration
part was very challenging. There was risk of having failure of project as activities were not been
integrated. For controlling this manager involved employees in decision making. With this views
were considered on how activities will be integrated. Manager effectively analysed what pros
and cons it can have on project, then only decision was taken to move forward.
Technology risk – This is the major risk that any IT project can face. Any change in technology
can affect the overall project adversely. It will lead to software or hardware failures thus delaying
completion of project. Similar situation happened in developing online simulation project in HP.
There was sudden change in technology that affected developing simulation system . Due to this,
project was kept at halt till further step (Verzuh, 2015). It resulted in delayed of performing next
activities. For minimising risk manager took effective decision and developed strategy to solve
it. It was decided that system will be made flexible so that it can be updated with new
technology. Also, the services of cloud computing was taken in order to minimise technological
risk. This provided a base for manager to decide what next activity will be done. Manager
created benchmarks to measure performance. It was useful in completing project on given time.
Failure of systems- This is most common risk that can occur in IT project management. It
affects the project adversely. For developing simulation system high quality system are required.
As HP has utilised its existing resources there were chances of having system failure. This risk
was involved in completing project (Lehmann, and Joseph, 2015). So in order to minimise this
manager developed strategy. Manager find out that what was the reason of system failure and
how it can be solved. Thus, an effective measure was taken in which a backup was installed in
case of system failure. This backup can be utilised so that project is not affected. It was very
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effective as it helped in smooth flow project operations. Also, evaluation was done to find out
whether back up was successful or not.
Resource risk- It is related to finance that is required in project management. It is the most
essential source that in needed. The risk associated with this is during project it there can be need
to extra fund that is needed. It may be related to lack of funds. HP project also faced this issues
as in between project there was lack of fund. It affected project in negative way ( Too, and
Weaver, 2014). A situation arise in which there was need of more employees. But this was not
possible because of lack of funds. Due to this project was kept at hold. Thus, to manage funds
manager decided to allot minimum resources to them. It was allotted only at time of intense
need. Besides this, organisation exiting resource was used till need of extra funds was fulfilled.
Manager decided to perform task in creative way so that task can be completed in less time and
resources.
Therefore, these all risk was occurred at time of project. This affected its quality and
activities. But, manager effectively minimised these risks and took proper decisions to execute
next activity. Also, flow of project operation was continued without any interruption (Peng,
Heim and Mallick, 2014).
4) EVALUATING THE ROLE OF PROJECT MANAGER
In a project management, project manager plays a very important role in assigning duties
and roles to stakeholders. A project manager is a person who has the overall responsibility for
the successful initiation, planning, design, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure of a
project From initiation to completion of project, the manager is responsible for it. This person is
responsible for managing and controlling for all activities that has to be performed in order to
achieve goals and objectives (Stevenson and Starkweather, 2017). He handles and controls
tasks and activities that have to be performed. Also, manager ensure that structure developed by
him is been followed or not. Beside this, person ensure quality of project is maintained and helps
in improving efficiency. The goals and objectives after implementation of project can only be
achieved with the help of project manager. There care various roles that project manager
performed. These are as follows :-
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Leadership – Project manager guides and directs team members on how tasks will be
performed. Manager shows the way by which activities can be completed in effective way. Also,
leading the entire team is main role of manager (Azhar, Khalfan, and Maqsood, 2015).
Manager leads the team from front. Manager designs blueprint on how project will be started and
completed. Also, his role is to apply his idea and implement them. It helps in doing task in
creative way. This saves time and cost
Managing and controlling activities- Manager role is to manage and control activities and
tasks. He assigns roles to team member and ensure that tasks is been performed in effective way
or not. Also, he set standards to measure their performance. This help in identifying weak areas
and improving them. Moreover, manager takes the responsibility of entire project until it gets
completed (Kucharska, and Kowalczyk, 2016). All the processes, methods are developed by
manager so that there is no mistake in performing tasks. Besides this, manager develops
strategies to minimise risk.
Measure performance- Manager set standards on which basis he measures the performance of
team member. This helps in identifying which task has been completed in what time and how
many resources are been used in that (Lehmann and Joseph, 2015). Manager evaluates this on
basis of several measures. This helps in finding out effectiveness and efficiency of project. Also,
with this manage takes decision on what next step will be. Measuring performance help in
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finding out whether project quality is better or not. Furthermore, manager monitors the progress
of project. It ensures that activities are going in right way. If not then areas are identified that
needs improvement. Then manager develop strategy accordingly.
Planning- Manager develops plans and strategies on how project goals will be completed. In
this processes, procedure, methods , etc. are designed that will be used while implementation of
project. Besides this, manager involves team member in decision making so that roles and task
can be assigned to them (Too and Weaver, 2014). Also, manager taken decision on what task be
will be done by whom and when. It is important to assign roles to member so that goals and
objectives can easily achieved. It is easy for member to know what their roles are.
Resource planning- Manager do resource in order to allot resources to people. This is done to
ensure that member have enough resources to execute their task. Manager ensures that resources
are utilised effectively and there is no wastage of that. Providing sufficient resource to them will
help in completing task in less time.
Minimising risk and issues- A manager role is to minimise risk that occur during project
management. Manager analyses threats that can affect the implementation of strategy and take
appropriate actions to minimise them. It helps in providing efficiency to business operations in
organisation (Peng, Heim and Mallick, 2014). Along with this manager solve issue that arise
among team members. Manager interrupts and discus it with them to solve it. Also, it is the duty
of manager to build a better working environment so that members can put more efforts in
completing their tasks. Manager creates strong communication channel between team.
Manager effectively performed his roles and responsibility. First of all manager was
involved in planning of project with stakeholders. A proper plan was developed so that project
goals can be achieved. Manager lead the overall team and guided them to perform their task.
Apart from this , manager assigned role to each person according to their skills and abilities. At
time of taking decision, manager allowed team members to participate. The ideas and opinions
was considered so that work can be done in more effective way. Manager was able to control and
manage each activity (Stevenson and Starkweather, 2017). This helped in bringing quality to
project. Also, in critical situation manager took decision and changed his leadership style so that
project is not affected. However, when there seems to be risk in implementing particular activity
manager ensured that it was minimised by taking proper actions. For this stratifies was
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developed to achieve long term goals. The resource allocated by manager was in way that it
allowed team to utilise it effectively. Each member was given sufficient resources to perform
their task. The manager evaluated each member performance and helped them. (Lientz and Rea,
2016). Manager himself did task that was complex to help in achieving goals and objectives.
Moreover, there was a strong communication between stakeholder and member. This was the
reason manager allowed flexibility in communication. It helped a lot to team as they were
focused on their task. Manager created short term goals on that was easy to achieve. On that
basis long term goals was created. In case of any critical situation , manager effectively analysed
what pros and cons it can have on project, then only decision was taken to move forward. This
was beneficial in completing project. Manager took tactical decisions by analysing risk. Strategy
was developed by identifying its pros and cons. This gave benefit in taking next step. Also,
manager changed process with change in project phase. This gave flexibility in performing
activities and maintained smooth flow of operations. However, it was successful in determining
how change can be adopted by involving member in decision making (Dillon and Taylor, 2015).
Thus, manager provided boost to project by performing his job in effective way.
CONCLUSION:
From this report it is concluded that IT project management is process of planning,
organising, etc. of IT components to achieve specific goals and objectives. Every project consists
of stakeholders that helps in planning, organising and implementing project. There are different
people in IT project management that have various roles and responsibilities. In a project
management, manager plays a very important role in assigning duties and roles to stakeholders.
There was many risks that was involved during execution of project.
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REFERENCES:
Books and journals:
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Perspective of Developing Countries: Studies from the Perspective of Developing
Countries. Routledge.
Aykin, N. ed., 2016. Usability and internationalization of information technology. CRC Press.
Azhar, S., Khalfan, M. and Maqsood, T., 2015. Building information modelling (BIM): now and
beyond. Construction Economics and Building.12(4). pp.15-28.
Collyer, S., 2016. Culture, communication, and leadership for projects in dynamic
environments. Project Management Journal.47(6). pp.111-125.
Dillon, S. and Taylor, H., 2015. Employing grounded theory to uncover behavioral competencies
of information technology project managers. Project Management Journal.46(4). pp.90-
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Dybå, T., Dingsøyr, T. and Moe, N.B., 2014. Agile project management. In Software project
management in a changing world (pp. 277-300). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Flouris, T.G. and Lock, D., 2016. Aviation project management. Routledge.
Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley &
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Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
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Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kucharska, W. and Kowalczyk, R., 2016. Trust, Collaborative Culture and Tacit Knowledge
Sharing in Project Management–a Relationship Model.
Lehmann, J. and Joseph, S. eds., 2015. Biochar for environmental management: science,
technology and implementation. Routledge.
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Lientz, B. and Rea, K., 2016. Breakthrough technology project management. Routledge.
Obeidat, M. and North, M.M., 2014. A comparative review of information technology project
management in private and public sector organizations. International Management
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Olson, D., 2014. Information systems project management. Business Expert Press.
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of project complexity on the use of information technology tools and new product
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Rosemann, M. and vom Brocke, J., 2015. The six core elements of business process
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Too, E.G. and Weaver, P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual
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Verzuh, E., 2015. The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.
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Online:
IT project stakeholder list, 2016. [Online] Available through : <
https://www.stakeholdermap.com/stakeholders-it-project.html>
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