MPhil (IT) - Lecture 1: Intoduction to Project Management

Information Technology Project Management (IPM)

MPhil (IT) 

Lecture 1: Introduction to Project Management

This is the First Lecture of MPhil (Information Technology) course titled "IT Project Management). In this lecture Initially, I discuss little bit about my self and my research activities. I gave a brief overview of MAGic Research Group that I have initiated along with various subject area of research interest.

Then in the lecture we discussed the basics of Project Management. Following are the outline of the lecture

Sometimes all this talk of business strategy, competitive edge, and technology gets a little hard to digest all at once. In the course of my work as a project consultant, I notice on a daily basis how rapidly computer software and technologies change, and it's getting difficult to keep up. Before you know it, another version of software is being introduced or a newer technology is on the market. Today, you can get state-of-the-art software applications that can be developed far more quickly than before, allowing organizations improved functionality and greater opportunities. Senior executives face the frontline, constantly bombarded by software companies and consultants who market information technology (IT) solutions that are able to revolutionize and improve their organizations. Sadly, not many of these software systems get developed or implemented to the extent that the client would have liked. The most important predictor of an organization's ultimate success or failure is the strategy that it chooses to adopt.

These organizations are challenged, as they need to keep pace with competitive markets, client needs, and marketplace trends. Winning is basically about who has the upper hand (either with new technology or quicker implementations): The only winners will be those executives who are able to reinvent their companies quickly enough to take full advantage of the efficiencies and better distribution that new technologies can offer. To overcome their competition and to be an industry leader, companies need to be able to provide their clients the latest products and available services. And project management plays an important role in all of this.

However, getting to the point of introducing a product or solution requires strategic assessment and planning, which must be done before anything can even commence. The senior executive team within the organization needs to come up with a strategic plan (or game plan, to use a sports metaphor) before any engagement takes place. Without a strategic plan in place, executives can literally move from one solution offering to the next, spending millions of dollars in the process, with the result being that many projects head south. The point, after all, is to make sure the organization is more valuable, has a business strategy in place, and is ready to start with this game plan.

Course Plan

Introduction 
Project planning
       Gantt chart and WBS
Project planning 
­       Network analysis I 
Project planning
      Network analysis II 
Project planning
     Resource analysis  
Risk management  
Quality  
Budgets and cost control
Project teams

This Lecture

• Introduction
• What is a project?
• The project management process
• Project management information systems

 

Lecture 1_ Introduction to IT Project Management