During this week’s reading we discussed the project management process. The project manager, or system analyst, has many duties and should have many skills. They are required to be a leader, manager, have good customer relations, be a good technical problem solver, and can be called on to help resolve conflict.
The four parts of a project are:
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Closing
During the initiating process there are many meetings where the objectives and required resources are identified. During the planning of the project, the estimates are created for budgets and schedules. Gannt charts and critical paths are used and identified. Organizations can use the PERT technique to identify the critical path. Once the plan is created, the execution of the plan occurs. During this phase, metrics are taken to keep track of the progress. The oversight during this stage can help manage risk, resources, and ensure the scope changes are necessary, should they occur. Finally, the project is closed. Any outstanding issues are assigned and the hand-off to the maintenance team or post-implementation team occurs.
During this process, the IS auditor will want to make sure all the controls are in place and are being followed. They can evaluate the effectiveness of the controls and identify if there an any inadequacies. They can also be part of the post-implementation team to makes sure the appropriate steps are being followed. Finally, the IS auditor will want to make sure the entire process is documented correctly. If any of the processes are found to be inadequate, they will bring this to the attention of the process owner so it can be addressed.
In my opinion, the planning portion of the project management is the most important. During this portion of the process estimates are created, the dependencies are discovered, and the critical path is identified. During this process, the steps are created which will set the tone for the entire project.
IN THE NEWS
https://www.atlassian.com/project-management
This link isn’t exactly a news article. It is a link to Atlassian, who creates project management and other software. Atlassian is known for having very good documentation. I found this site to contain very detailed information about project management and what is expected in today’s business.
At the end of the documentation are templates which can be used by end users when looking to conduct projects. I find Atlassian is very good with this and incident response.
Project management is the most important aspect of an information systems development project as it ensures customer expectations are met and delivered within budget and time constraints. The project manager is a systems analyst responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project. I think the planning phase is the most important as it develops a roadmap for everyone to follow. During this phase, the scope of the project is defined, and a project management plan is developed. It involves identifying the cost, quality, available resources, detailed project schedule, creating a communication plan, and deliverables. The project plan also includes establishing baselines or performance measures to determine if a project is on track. Another element that should be included but is often overlooked is the change management plan as there can be changes in a project and a project manager should be ready to incorporate changes in the project to avoid bottlenecks. IS Auditor’s role in project management is to understand the system or application being developed in order to identify potential vulnerabilities and points requiring control. In order to do this, auditors must meet with project team members to determine the main user requirements of the system to identify the areas that require controls. An IS auditor may be involved during the project or post implementation.
I agree Priyanka, the planning phase is the most important phase when it comes to project management. When we think about project management as a whole and all the different steps involved in a project, I think we all can agree there is a lot that can go wrong throughout the whole process from initiation to project closure. Well, I think of it like this, a project manager can have everything go right after the planning phase, however if that initial plan was incorrect from the start, the project will be a failure. So it is absolutely critical that the planning for the project be accurate if the project is going to be successful.
Getting the plan right is critical – as you point out. However, I think this can also lead to ‘paralysis through analysis’. The essence of getting this right seems to be the ability to recognize how much data and how good is the data when creating the plan. If the data is very solid then the plan can be considered to be fairly solid. If the data is not solid then the process needs to account for that. Perhaps work can start, but rapid revisions to the plan should be expected?
I think this kind of an approach can be very difficult for an auditor to analyze and validate. It means looking at the situation more broadly and recognizing the fact that as an auditor we have more information than project teams and we need to work to improve the processes on a continuous basis.
Project management uses specialized knowledge, skills, tools, and methods to enable the project to achieve or exceed the set requirements and expectations under the limited resources. Project management is the overall monitoring and control of activities related to successfully achieving a series of goals. This includes planning, scheduling, and maintaining the progress of the activities that make up the project.
Strengthen project teamwork and improve project teamwork efficiency. The project management method provides a series of human resource management and communication management methods, such as human resource management theory, motivation theory, teamwork method, etc. Through these methods, teamwork spirit can be enhanced, and the morale and efficiency of project team members can be improved.
Reduce project risks and increase the success rate. An important part of project management is risk management. Risk management can effectively reduce the impact of project uncertainties on the project. In fact, these tasks are the most easily overlooked in the traditional project implementation process. They are also one of the factors that will have devastating consequences for the project.
In this week’s reading, a key point that I found interesting was that IT project management is the process of initiating, planning, executing, and closing a project to achieve information technology goals. A good project manager should be able to review historical project information, decompose major activities, identify individual tasks and identify skills and resources need to complete the project. As time develops with the project the level of project planning detail should be high in the short term and with less detail as time continues. Two charts used to visualize the project progressions are the Gantt chart and the network diagram. Lastly, projects are planned and managed in the context of 3 constraints: Scope, Schedule, and Budget. This is known as the PM Triangle. Project managers can trade among these three constraints. However, in one constraint necessitate changes in others or quality will suffer.
Hi Elias….I agree with your point around project management detail being high in the near term and less detailed in the long term. I think project teams struggle with true work breakdown too far in advance of the actual execution because new learnings working on a project may cause pivots in the later tasks. Well performing project teams gain velocity and drop unnecessary tasks as the project progresses. Good observation.
Some things you can plan in detail ahead of time, but as you noted, the detail usually comes as you get closer to those milestones. Even at a high level, though, you want your estimates to be accurate. If something you thought would take 4 weeks actually takes 8 weeks to do, and you don’t realize it until the task begins, there’s the possibility you just threw the whole project off by a month. I think that’s part of why things like Gantt charts and network diagrams are important. They can show the critical path so you know which activities to keep an especially close eye on and keep on track.
Having effective and efficient project management helps the organization achieve the goals of the project and align with the goals of the business strategy. For example, when the organization initiates to develop a new system, the managers will implement the project management with systems development life cycle. The processes of the systems development life cycle are part of the project management. They have one of the most important parts, planning, and many managers will put the most effort to complete it. Also, they are similar to the map and guide the management to keep tracking the progress. In doing this, the management begins with planning the project, they can allocate the budget and time, arrange the works, and identify some inherent risks. In the execution part, the management can use the risk assessment to help manage the risks and keep tracking the schedules so that they can meet the goal. If the team identifies a threat or a vulnerability during the executing phase, they can follow the risk assessment to control the risk and document the processes. After finishing the project, the team will close the project, and this means that the team achieves the goal.
I think IS auditor is a supplement while the organization implements the project. Since the IS auditor is familiar with the project and the organization’s environment and understands what may happen during the process of the project, the IS auditor can help the organization to check where it needs to put more resources to control the risk and where needs to be improved the implementation. In doing so, both the management and IS auditor need to have collaboration to solve any issues. The project management is not an individual work, and it is step-by-step to complete the project.
Hi Cami,
I agree with you that project management is not an individual work and it is a step-by-step to complete the project. The key to a successful project is in the planning. Project managers need to work closely with various personnel and departments and make sure there is accurate flow of information among all project stakeholders. Project management goes through various phases in order to successfully implement the project which are initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project. There are various activities and deliverables involved in every step.
The two readings had a number of overlaps on the project management roles and responsibilities, the phases and how projects can be represented in Gantt charts and network diagrams. There was even some overlap in the portfolio management and determining feasibility of the project from a cost benefit standpoint. The CISA materials went into greater detail around the different ways to estimate the cost of a project. The most significant difference was in the auditors role relative to project management. Primarily the auditor could be involved during or after the project and is focused on project management fundamentals including requirements and where controls are appropriate, references to authoritative sources to identify risks and controls on the project. The auditor is also concerned with ensuring the software development went through appropriate controls and approvals to ensure the software meets development standards. The auditor will also identify and test existing controls for security, testing of requirements and other documentation and evidence.
Project management refers to the use of systems theory and methods, in the case of limited conditions and resources, the whole process of project planning, organization, coordination until the final realization of project objectives. A project from concept to completion, the whole process is very complex.
In any industry, the ability to complete projects on time within budget is crucial to its success in a competitive global business environment.
With the rapid development of the economy and technology, enterprises should not only be good at optimizing the conventional process but also be able to immediately turn to and implement more flexible projects. Although they will face a lot of uncertainties and challenges, with a clear roadmap, enterprises can move towards their goals.
Generally, project management is divided into five phases, each with a different set of tasks, goals, and specific deadlines. For example, project initiation. The first stage of project management is called project initiation. Project Initiation includes initiating the project, naming the project, defining the project’s extensive plan, and determining the target according to the project’s limitation, risk, and participation. Also, the feasibility of the project will be determined according to the research results of the project. The second is project planning. In the planning stage, we need to develop a comprehensive operation roadmap that can guide the team through the implementation and termination of the project, and set the deadline at the key nodes. Also, we should do a good job in the allocation of resources. By decomposing tasks into smaller and easier to manage activities, risk, cost, quality, schedule, etc. can be more easily managed. At the same time, effective task decomposition will enable each participant to complete the project on time within the budget. Another is project execution. Project planning will be implemented at this stage when the project team will be responsible for the deliverable to ensure that the project can achieve the original set goals. A meeting is usually held to announce the formal start of project implementation. Team members can get to know each other and discuss their roles in the success of the project, and determine the routine communication methods and auxiliary tools before the implementation of the project plan. Also, team members should be familiar with the meetings and reports that will be held in the whole stage, to clarify their responsibilities. The implementation phase is the key point of project management because it will help everyone determine whether their efforts will ultimately be effective. In short, it is to prove the final result through implementation. 4. Project monitoring and control. The monitoring and control of the project will occur simultaneously with the implementation of the project. According to the plan, the responsibility of the project manager is to supervise the operation and ensure that everything is moving in the right direction. In addition to monitoring project performance, the project manager must also monitor resources, manage risks, and be responsible for relevant meetings and corresponding periodic reports. In case of unforeseen problems, the project manager must adjust the plan content and schedule.
Every project needs governance. A set of rules and guidelines, policies and procedures that dictate how to operate. However, these policies and procedures should strategically and tactically align with the organization’s goals. As IS auditors we should be able to audit these policies and also ensure that the rules of the systems development regarding SOD and that responsibilities are adhered to. A project portfolio is needed for every project and contains information on all the projects that are being ran concurrently. The document would also help too identify common objectives between these projects for the business organization, identify and manage risks, and also to identify resource connections.