I had a conversation with the people from ISIS, a Work Automation Solutions provider. ISIS has spent the last 10 years building project management software solutions for the IT industry. They have a world class product christened iPlan enterprise to show for their effort. iPlan Enterprise is being used 50 organizations world wide.

So, how does iPlan help reaching "the 7 goals for PM software"?

1. Improve project reporting and tracking:

iPlan has integrated Project Planning (Planner module of iPlan) and team members work area (part of the Organizer module). This helps in real time work assignment, reporting and Tracking as explained below.

The Organizer module of iPlan has a field where a team member can not only report the progress of his work in hours or in percentage, but can also specify the work needed to complete a task. iPlan can then calculate the progress at a task , summary activity and project level based on the data entered.

iPlan users can also use Earned value management technique to review the progress of the project.

2. Improve estimating and scheduling:

Data from projects executed in the past is saved on "as is" basis by iPlan. Any user (with proper access rights) can use the Discover module of iPlan to search for projects based on criteria such as technology, domain etc.

3. Reduce cost or speed process up by automating workflows

iPlan is an Integrated Enterprise Project Management Solution, therefore data related to all the projects in an organization are stored in a central Server. The reporter module is used to create reports based on the data available in iPlan. The reports can then either be generated as per a predefined schedule or generated real time.

To support exception management we have an event based triggering mechanism which can send out system alerts or e-mails based on user defined events.

4. Improve resource assignments

Project Mangers using Planner module would be able to see the availability of any team member throughout the life span of a Project. There are also reports to monitor the utilization of a resource assigned to a Project.

iPlan also helps Project Managers(PM) in obtaining the best possible team for a project as explained below:

PMs in most of the organizations raise a request to the Resource Managers(RM) for a resource with a particular set of skills. Profiler module of iPlan makes the life of an RM easier as it can not only capture the current assignment of a resource, but can also remember the employment history of all the resources in an organization.

5. Improve project communication

iPlan has been designed to work in both a LAN and WAN scenarios. Access to Project data in iPlan is dependent only on the rights of a login.

6. Improve project team collaboration

iPlan has a web module which can work well in a Broadband connection.

7. Improve overall project process

iPlan has a concept of Process Templates. A process template is a workflow with all the activities, roles and possible schedule that will be needed to implement the workflow. It is possible scale up or down the schedule based on the needs of a project.

iPlan enterprise also features in a study of PM tools conducted by University of Osnaburck. The results of the study can be obtained from www.ispri.de.

For more information visit their website.

A large part of this site is dedicated towards software project management. I get a lot of question how this differs from general IT project management. Actually, it doesn't. In 90% of IT projects, software makes up a large part of the effort. Next to, hardware, networks, and other infrastructure related components. So, in a sense IT project management has a broader scope.

However, the general techniques, outlines, and processes are the same. By focusing my course on software projects I can put emphasis on typical application software related issues, like user requirements, but that's all. If you are looking for a IT project management guide, I highly recommend my course.

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Why is this basically the same… I need to go a step back to explain this properly.

Recent years a lot of complains about current project management practices have emerged. Methods are too rigid, too centralized in respect to planning, etc. (good examples of these methods are PMP and Prince 2) This even has resulted in a new breed of methods, agile a.k.a. light weight a.k.a. lean methods. Examples for project management are Last Planner (construction) and SCRUM (software development).

However, the replacement of one normative method for project management by another may not me the answer to the problems projects are faced with. Different circumstances may require a different approach. If you need creativity to solve a problem or to create a design, you need an easy going, stimulating approach; if you are running towards a deadline to get in to production, a rigid, centralized controlled environment is more the way to go. Depending on the environment and general circumstances a project manager should construct a process and organization that serves him or her best.

Key question is "what make up the circumstances?" Without hesitation I would say "people". In my personal experience all major problems concerning projects are caused by human stuff. Intuitively I would state that the source of the trouble lies within the interest of the individuals and (the lack of) information/knowledge. As humans are controlled by their own fears and wishes, it's more then logical that if they are working under a project, they use the same mechanism.

And it is just this assumption that form the basis of The Microwave Way to Software Project Management. See, the subject is software, the application area very general.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE is a non-profit project management association, which deals with task of setting principles, standards and code of ethics for project management professionals. It sets professional standards, monitor code of conduct; provide training and issues certifications to the individuals involve in project management work thus encouraging professionals from virtually every field some of which include, aerospace, automotive, business management, construction, engineering, financial services, information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and telecommunications.

The institute headquartered at PENNSYLVANIA USA, was set up in 1969 by five volunteers now has more than 100000 members. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania USA gave the official birth to the institute by issuing ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. In 1970's the institute issued its first PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUATERLY that was latter renamed as PROJECT MANAGEMENT JOURNAL. In the first annual seminar and symposium, the institute issued its first charter and a system of awarding the professionals was setup.

The institute set the codes of ethics and issues certifications checking the individual's knowledge and intelligence in the field of project management. The certifications include:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP):

The certification is available at two levels testing individuals' knowledge in core areas of project management and is both expensive and tough to clear. The levels include:

• LEVEL 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP)
• LEVEL 2: CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (CAPM)

CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (CAPM):

It is being offered to individuals who are relatively new in the project management profession. It aims at enhancing their skills and knowledge so that they can fulfill their project management responsibilities in a better way.

PMI awards those professionals who bring laurels to the institute. PMI PROJECT OF THE YEAR is the most prestigious award given to project and its associated team for their excellent performance in the area of project management. In addition to this, awards are also given in the following areas:

• Research and literature
• Outstanding volunteer contributions
• Demonstration of exceptional service to the profession and to PMI

Project management institute publishes various books and journals to assist its members and all those who are engaged in project management work. Due to the increasing demand, PMI publishing division was set up in North Carolina, USA. On a broader level the various periodicals publish by it, include:

• PM NETWORK
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• PMI TODAY

Projects are vital for all types and size of organization employing human resource. A PROJECT is an economic activity with well-defined objectives and having a specific beginning and end. A well-planned project includes a correct consideration of alternatives, identification of key issues, broad participation, compactness and enforceability. From the point of view of resource allocation, a project can be considered as a proposal involving capital investment for developing facilities to provide goods and services.

The discipline of PROJECT MANAGEMENT has evolved due to the burden on managers to achieve more from less and so the PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL TRAINING (PMP TRAINING) is provided to managers so that they are able to apply the principles, methods, concepts, skills and techniques of project management for accomplishing organizational goals in the best possible way. Projects consist of diverse set of activities, which need diversified specialist skills and thus break the traditional organizational lines, which required managers to apply same principles in more or less all situations.

PMP TRAINING is provided by PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI) a USA based institute established in 1969, having its headquarters at PENNSYLVANIA, USA. PMI is a globally recognized association that sets and maintains standards for PMP training. It offers two certificates namely:

• PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP)
• CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (CAPM)

BOSTON UNIVERSITY CORPORATE EDUCATION CENTER (BUCEC) is the charter member of PMI. It is also the only institute that a member of PMI corporate council. It besides providing project management training also issue PMP certification. It helps its students prepare for PMP exam through its special course called "PREPARING FOR PMP EXAM".

The candidates in order to get training must meet the minimum education and experience requirement and should agree to abide by project management institutes code of conduct.

The PMP training not only helps a person in learning fundamentals of project management in terms of scope, time, risk, communication, resource allocation but also help them in becoming better managers and marketing agents.

The BENEFITS of PMP TRAINING include following:

• Learning methodologies for working with project teams formed across traditional, functional and organizational boundaries.
• It teaches how to apply the methods and principles of project management.
• Helps in correctly estimating project cost and time schedules so that deadlines can be set and met.
• Helps in predicting customer needs and therefore helps in facing competition in a better way.
• It helps in overcoming with difficulties that project managers face due to complex nature of project, high risk of failure involved and long-term planning processes.
• It creates an environment of quality consciousness among the organization.

The dictionary meaning of Project is 'Speculative Imagination', a scheme of something to be done, a proposal for an undertaking. The World Bank has defined project as an "approval for a capital investment to develop facilities to provide goods and services". Projects are vital for the success of an organization. They can be found in every type of organization whether it is a PROJECT DRIVEN or PROJECT DEPENDENT.

Projects are unique set of activities that help in developing some new product or service. They involve high risk and lot of investment. The present days Project Management techniques originated during Second World War mainly through two industries namely:

• The Facilities Engineering and Construction Industry;
• The Defense/Aerospace Industries

It then slowly spread in all organizations, institutes and government agencies.

It due to its principles and techniques, which provide flexibility in dealing with situations, Project Management is today world's fastest growing profession. The fast growth can be evaluated from PMI, which started in 1969 with only 30 members and had around 8500 members in 1990. Today it has grown to over 112000 members in 120 countries.

Project Management due to its features will be used in all the organizations involving human beings in the future. The institutes offering certifications and training will be insisting more on knowledge, experience and proven capabilities. There will different levels of Training Programs each focusing on a particular area of knowledge. In coming years project management will be seen as a profession and will be a career path for individuals. It rather being a separate department or area in the organization will get combine with other areas of core competencies like finance, marketing or human relations departments that exist today.

Most of the activities will be undertaken using Project Management Software that will be integrated in all departments according to the project development and maturity stages. Most of the project teams will use laptops, wireless handheld devices and other technological advance gadgets that will make centralization of decision-making possible.

Thus to conclude Project Management in Future will be both a profession and a need for both individuals and organizations to grow and survive.

PROJECTS are the activities that result in some new product, service, technology, market or improvement in existing product or service or some innovation giving edge over competitors products. Thus, a project has three basic attributes INPUTS, OUTPUTS and SOCIAL COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS. The INPUT characteristics of a project define what project will consume. This includes raw materials, energy, work force, financial resources, and an organization set up.

The OUTPUT characteristics define WHAT the project will generate. This includes production of additional goods or provision of additional services.

The input and output characteristics of the project defines the impact of project on project implementing body and on overall environment.

Managers are expected to deliver more using fewer resources and that too in a shorter span of time. Managers are required to manage many projects simultaneously and decisions are made to ensure maximum returns for business. This requires use of specialized project management knowledge that is often borrowed from outside by employing PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS. A project management consultant is a professional that employs right people at right job and makes sure that right amount of resources are employed at the right time. He knows when to postpone, cancel or fasten the operations. Thus, a project manager consultant works in following core areas of project management:

• He/ she supports the managers by giving them proper consultancy needed.
• They develop and then implement a standardized process for completing projects.
• They even train the individuals of the organization according to the requirements of the project.
• They do centralization of all the activities from beginning to end thus leading to clearly defining of authority responsibility relationship.
• They select the various software tools to be employed for implementing the project.

The outside project management consultants provide the benefit of specialization of work. The project consultants are assigned one project at a time whereas internal managers work on several projects at the same time. In addition to this, the project consultants have good amount of experience in managing all types of projects.

Many even have certifications and training from project management institute and have sufficient knowledge about principles, methods and techniques of handling projects. They even are separated from the internal politics of the organization and therefore are able to overcome the obstacles that could derail the project. The job of project management consultants involves both patience and customization of work. The choice and need of project management consultants depend upon the risk, complexity, size and nature of the project.

Project management is a discipline that involves use of set standards, principles, code of conduct, methods and techniques. Today managers involve in project handling due to increasing competition and scarcities of resources are force to learn application of these rules.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL EXAM test individual's knowledge of decision-making, resource allocation and handling teamwork by testing him/ her in following areas:

• PROJECT INITIATION
• PROJECT PLANNING
• PROJECT EXECUTION
• PROJECT CONTROL
• PROJECT CLOSING
• PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

It is a computerized based exam held for 4 hours and consists of 200 multiple type questions each having 4 options. One needs to get 137 out of 200 to clear the paper.

The following weights have been assigned to each area:

PROJECT INITIATION:

It checks individual's knowledge in identification of project ideas that appear to be of high priority and can achieve important development objectives. 8.5% of the total questions are covered by project initiation.

PROJECT PLANNING:

It tests individual's ability to perform feasibility study along technical, financial, economic, social dimensions of project. It includes designing the project and making them adapt to local, political, administrative, economic and cultural needs.

Project planning covers 23.5% of the total questions.

PROJECT EXECUTION:

All the project implementation work is directed towards facilitating projects success. It checks individuals' excellence towards allocating resources, managing progress, communicating the results to top management and implementing quality assurance programs. It also covers 23.5% of the total exam.

PROJECT CONTROL:

The project cycle does not end with the implementation and project goes into operation even afterwards. The main purpose is to learn the lessons for design of future projects and help ensure accountability. Project control part of the exam test individuals excellence in doing the comprehensive and detailed review of the elements of success and failure of the project for enhancing the development impact of project work. It covers 23% out of the total paper.

PROJECT CLOSING:

A project is a scheme for investing resources in an enterprise. It tests individual's knowledge in getting the acceptance of deliverables, preserving records for products and processes used and facilitating closure. Around 7% of the exam focuses on this area.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

It tests individual's knowledge in applying professional standards and principles for achieving project objectives. It consists of 14.5% of the total paper.

Projects affect success rate of the organization and thus are vital for them. A project results in bringing something new. It can be a new product or service, increase sales or capturing of new market, reduce cost, or innovative feature in the existing product.

With the increase in globalization, integration of world markets, and rise in the concept of MNC's the importance of Project Management has increased many folds. Project management is a discipline that applies various tools, concepts, principles, practices, activities that help in improving the profitability of organization and results in overall growth. It helps organizations working in various parts of the world in integrating there operations and achieving goals. Though the principles and thought process involved in project management are same around the globe, still some differences exist due to the difference in economies of developed, developing and under developed nations. The project management concepts are based on principles of rationality in human behavior, and similarity of working culture over organizations that is a bit unrealistic due to differences in economic, political, social, demographic and technical conditions all over the world.

The developed and under developed countries depend upon fully developed nations for financing of their projects. These countries even borrow required techniques, skills and managerial knowledge from developed nations. To bridge the gap project managers need to be tactful, flexible and shall avoid bureaucracy. For Global Project Management to be successful a project manager and his clients should understand that different types of situations require variations in the basic principles. A project would need ad hoc adjustments as per the changes in environment. Today most of the organizations, institutes, associations and training centers are continuously making efforts to teach individuals working in organizations to work in a complex, dynamic and fast changing environment.

The cost reduction programs and management approaches of the past are not enough to meet today's challenges. Meeting the demands of the fast changing environment of modern business requires a focus on priorities, better tracking techniques, and effective structures for communication. Companies need to streamline operations, reduce risk and improve overall productivity.

Project Management is one part of solution to adopt and prosper. The practitioners, consultants, teachers, authors, researchers, editors, publishers, trainers, software developers, vendors, and various project management bodies involved in project management work have started giving a thought of regarding project management as a profession with established code of conduct, standards, ethics, development and maturity models.

Project Management is simply a combination of steps and techniques for keeping overall budget and schedule in line. Project Management tools offer a way to avoid the frustration of missed deadlines, unclear expectations and budget overruns. By clearly defining responsibilities or the activities, focusing resources on specific objectives and providing a structure for communicating within and across organizational boundaries, the project management process can help anyone meet project goals and that too with least frustration.

The Project Management Toolbox for business includes manual and computerized processes that are directly applicable to improving performance and efficiency in today's organizations. It helps in integrating and linking all the important activities of the organization. Project management techniques offer proven methods for working with project teams formed across traditional, functional and organizational boundaries. It extends beyond a professional knowledge or degree and extends itself in all the organizations departments and all levels involving humans.

It shall be promoted as a core competency needed by all the personnel working in the organization so that they can successfully work in groups and help organization in achieving its goals. It is no longer a choice but a need of the hour that helps in taking steps towards a healthier organization.

Thus to conclude Project Management goes beyond professional boundaries. It consists of systems, tools, practices, principles, methods that help in managing work by those who actually perform it.

A PROJECT connotes purposefulness, some minimum size, a specific location, the introduction of something qualitatively new, and the expectation that a sequence of further development moves will be set in motion.

Development projects are the privilege particles of development process. The PROJECT MANAGEMENT is a specialized branch of management capable of differentiation from others based on variety of factors, which include the organization structure, the process of planning and control, human relations etc.

Today formal training for professionals working in organizations is available from high school to doctoral level. The training programs are run by universities, training and consultant companies, government and non-government organizations, and independent consultants through their learning centers and internet programs.

One of the most valuable certificates today is PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL from PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI). The certification is available at two levels testing individuals' knowledge in core areas of project management and is both expensive and tough to clear.

The levels include:

• LEVEL 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL (PMP)


• LEVEL 2: CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (CAPM)

The test taken is completely based on the workbook provided by the institute and focuses on teaching handling single project at a time rather than multi-projects. Good amount of experience is needed to crack the exam.

Another valuable certificate is offered by IPMA. It offers certification at 4 levels namely:

Level A: Certificated Program Director (CPD):

It is offered to personnel's having experience and competence in managing and handling projects with a team of professionals.

Level B: Certificated Project Manager (CPM):

It is given to those having capability and knowledge to handle complex projects independently themselves.

Level C: Registered Project Management Professional (RPMP):

It is awarded to those having the skills to manage simple projects in a team.

LEVEL D: Project Management Fachman/Fachfrau/Practitioner (PMF):

It is given to those applying some specific area of knowledge in handling projects. Another renowned organization providing certification is the Association of Project Management (APM)

It is the British member of IPMA, offers certification in project management at three levels namely:

· IPMA Level B: Certified Project Manager

· IPMA Level C: Practitioner Qualification

· IPMA Level D: APMP

New institutes understanding the growing importance of project management in today's scenario are also coming up. Some of the latest institutes to join the race include:

The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM):

It judges individuals potential at three levels namely:

· PROJECT TEAM LEVEL

· PROJECT MANAGER

· PROGRAM MANGER

American Society for The Advancement of Project Management:

It will judge individuals capability at three levels and has been designed with the main of filling the gaps in PMP program offered by PMI.