How to Manage IT Project Management Systems Effectively

What does a proper IT project management system look like? What benefits does it deliver and what challenges does implementing a system such as this come with?

Whether studying for finals, buying a house, learning a language, or planning a once in a lifetime trip, any major milestone in life comes with a lot of planning – so why should successful software management be any different?

Integrating new software into their systems, with the help of proven software development models, can often be seen as a milestone for many organizations. However, these milestones will not happen if these companies do not work with a dedicated software team.

Furthermore, working with experienced professionals makes the management of IT systems and every individual project surrounding them much simpler. This, in turn, enables many organizations to experience the benefits of nearshore outsourcing in LATAM and Europe.

But what does working with experienced software teams look like and what are the challenges and benefits of implementing a working IT project management system into any modern organization? The following blog will address these points, but first a particularly important question needs to be answered…

What is IT project management?

In short, IT project management is exactly what it sounds like – managing a project in the IT space from inception to close. Because of this, IT project management shares a lot of overlap with other types of project management often found within any organization and includes leading a project team, managing deliverables and tracking milestones as they are reached.

However, there are some key differences between IT project managers and project leaders in other departments. These include the fact that IT project managers’ sponsors are often the CIO/CTO, the costs they manage are often more specific rather than the more generalized budgets of their counterparts and they inherently deal with more risk than other managers, making their projects more controlled than most.

With all that in mind what does overseeing IT project management systems involve from day one all the way to close?

Phases of an IT project

Managing IT projects can sometimes seem daunting – especially to those who are not familiar with software development in general. But just like any problem it can be overcome if it is separated into smaller, more manageable tasks. This is why there are typically five main stages to managing any IT project. These are:

Initiation – where objectives, customer needs and any potential problems are identified. The project manager is also brought on board here.

Planning – here the project manager works with their team to plan how to make what their client wants a reality. It is important to have a plan in place before the next stage is begun as it helps everyone know their role and key deadlines that need to be reached throughout the project. Additionally, this stage can be revisited throughout the project as challenges and obstacles arise.

Execution – at this stage, the project team executes the plan created in the previous stage to deliver the project.

Monitoring and controlling – once the project is underway, the IT project manager monitors and controls cost, scope, quality, risk and communications etc. to ensure their project meets all its targets and milestones while being delivered on time and within budget.

Closing – at the end of each phase and at the end of the project itself, closure processes ensure that all work has been completed, signed off on, and ultimately transferred to operations.

Just remember that all these stages come with their own challenges that organizations need to overcome if they want to deliver the projects their clients need to succeed in today’s market.

Challenges of an IT project management system

The main challenge organizations need to overcome when it comes to the proper management of IT project systems is the handling of the various knowledge management areas that come with any project.

Whether it is to do with budget, people, scope, schedule, costs, quality, communications, risk, procurement, integration, or stakeholders, project managers in the IT field have a lot to deal with just like managers in other departments. However, since they are often dealing with innovative technologies, they also need to handle the problems commonly associated with this, while also dealing with the common project problems outlined above.

Working with new, unproven technology means system downtime is part of managing IT projects and while this problem can be limited it cannot be eliminated. Therefore, the best strategy to ensure any IT project in any organization is smoother from initiation to close is to ensure clear and open communication across teams and shareholders to ensure everyone is on the same page and the project can live up to client expectations.

Benefits of a proper IT project management system

Once a need has been identified, and the backing of a shareholder has been secured, properly implementing IT projects with the help of an experienced IT manager makes several key roles in the running of such projects much easier for businesses. These include:

• Determining scope, schedule, and budget at speed – IT project managers help everyone understand what will, and will not be, done during their project, while also ensuring stakeholders have a realistic idea of the costs and milestones the project can achieve within the given timeframe.
• Implementing the best methodology possible – experienced IT project leaders make deciding whether an agile, waterfall, or hybrid model works best for any project much more straightforward, depending on project type, timeframes, and client needs.
• Planning for risks ahead of time – working with IT project managers who have a wealth of experience under their belt also enables obstacles to be overcome much faster by putting a robust risk plan in place for them ahead of launch and referring to, or updating it, when needed.
• Highlighting key milestones before execution – good IT project managers enable everyone to know what the project’s key milestones and objectives look like even before one software professional begins working on it.
• Monitoring progress, feedback and updates – they also guide project progress, gather accurate user feedback and provide updates users want quickly and easily with minimal effort on the organization’s part.

Keeping the launch and closures front of mind – finally, experienced IT project managers also simplify system testing, user training and bug fixes pre and post launch, while also ensuring technical challenges and lessons learned are taken note of for the future.

Managing IT projects effectively – final thoughts

In conclusion, IT project management is here to stay, but implementing a system around this that works need not be difficult, so long as organizations take the steps needed to create something that works from day one.

At Software Mind, we know that managing IT projects can be challenging. Moreover, we understand the benefits these projects can deliver, what they can do for you, and how to implement them in your company at speed. Which is why our dedicated software team is happy to talk about the types of IT project management systems they can create for your business.