Introduction
Traditionally, project management has dealt only with managing the project planning and implementation process. This view of project management specifically views the project as a task or process that needs to be completed following the specifications, budget and time given. This approach has provided universally accepted metrics of cost, schedule and performance to evaluate the success of the project.[1] However, these metrics do not provide the necessary view of success from the perspective of the organization and its stakeholders.
Take construction for example. In most scenarios, one individual, or group leads a project as stakeholders, who then designate another individual or group, e.g. an architect or engineer, who prepares the working drawings. The construction is then managed by a construction project manager either employed directly or by a general contractor.
IT, on the other hand, tends to be in a unique situation as many projects are actually created within the IT department. That is, they are designed and developed within IT, implemented, presented to the stakeholders for approval and then maintained all by the same staff. This further points to the need for looking outside the "on time, on budget and to specs" paradigm when IT may be defining one, two, or all three of the product responsibilities.
1. Pinto, J.K.
& Slevin, D.P., 1998, pp. 67-73, Project success: definitions and measurement techniques,
Project Management Journal, 19 (3); Meredith, J.R. & Mantel, S., 2003, pp. 78-85,
Project management: a managerial approach, John Wiley & Sons, New York New
York.
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Abstract
