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CIW~Exam
Lesson 10 IT Projects and Project Management
Term | Definition |
---|---|
• Project management | – applying knowledge, skills and processes to specific activities in order to meet deadlines and achieve desired results |
• Project | – a sequence of tasks that must be accomplished within a certain time frame to achieve a desired result |
• Task | – a unit of work during a project |
• Resource | – a person, department or device needed to accomplish a task |
• Assignment | – the appointment of a specific resource to a specific task |
• Scope | – the goals and tasks of a project, and the work required to complete them |
• Scope creep | – gradual increases in project scope that occur in small increments over time • A common problem in most projects because not all factors can be accounted for at the beginning of a project |
• Initiating phase | o Conduct needs analysis o Determine objectives (goals), assumptions (?) and constraints (money, time, scope, resources) o Create Statement Of Work (SOW) |
• Planning phase | o Develop project schedule o Assemble project team |
• Executing phase | o Perform project tasks |
• Controlling phase (happens with executing phase) | o Monitor progress and take corrective action as needed |
• Closing phase | o Evaluate schedule, budget, scope, resources and assignments (happens when customers is completely satisfied, “yeah, but…) o Formal acceptance of project deliverable |
• Schedule information includes: | – A project start date – A project calendar – Tasks and task durations – Project resources and their costs |
• Use software to: | – Track project progress and status – Save plans of successful projects |
• Paper trail | • Documents which team members worked on what task, and when they started and completed them |
• Issues log | • Documents and monitors problems that need to be escalated to managers or executives outside the project team for resolution |
• During the executing and controlling phases: | – Schedule meetings with team members to monitor progress – Schedule meetings with stakeholders and management around milestones to review project status – Avoid scope creep by managing requests and changes at regular intervals |
• Intranet | – an internal or in-house Web site used only by employees within a company |
• Extranet | – an internal network designed to provide access to selected external users; is not available to the Internet public |
• Webinars and Web conferences | – online training or conference sessions that utilize Internet technology to provide interactive and presentation elements to users |
• Webcasts | – audio/video Web events that are distributed over the Internet |
• Voice conferencing | – the traditional way to connect groups and individuals via telephone conference calls |
• During the closing phase: | – Test the product – Client evaluates and accepts/rejects project deliverable – Evaluate performances – Review performances of team members – Document lessons learned – Review what went well, what did not, and what could be done differently to i |
• Quality Assurance | - Three techniques to ensure quality: |
– Separation of duties | – project teamwork in which team members review the work of another team member and vice versa |
– ISO 9000 standards | – international benchmark for systemizing processes to help organizations produce products and services that meet government regulations and the quality standards set by customers |
– Six Sigma methodology | – seeks to identify and eliminate the causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and business processes in an effort to reach near-perfection |
– Organizational rules and policies | – IT projects are bound by the rules and policies that govern the organization |
– IT professionals have the right to: | • Acquire the necessary tools to accomplish their tasks • Receive clear, detailed objectives and instructions so they can produce the proper deliverables |
– IT professionals have the responsibility to: | • Provide services in a timely, cost-effective, secure manner • Keep workflow interruptions and system downtime to a minimum |
– Effects of IT projects on productivity | • IT projects and decisions impact employee productivity because they affect systems that employees use to do their jobs |
– IT project Return On Investment (ROI) | – IT project managers must determine the risk and value of each project to justify which projects to preserve and which projects to eliminate |
• Project Management Institute | – Non-profit member organization that publishes standards and offers education regarding the project management profession |
• Project Management Professional (PMP) – | – certification for project managers |
• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) | – nine topic areas that define project management |
– Program management | – the process of managing multiple interdependent projects to improve the performance of an organization |
– Program management consists of: | • Benefits management • Stakeholder management • Program governance |
– Program management life cycle | – five phases that define the activities and events that occur from the beginning of a program through to its conclusion |