About this course
Course Overview
We used our years of experience training IT professionals to develop a course uniquely suited to the needs of the IT professional. Students of this project management training course report major improvements in project estimation, increased credibility with their customers, effective risk management, better control over scope creep, and an overall satisfaction with the positive impact on their company's operations.
Learn the fundamentals and best practices of project management methodology as applied to IT initiatives, and practice and master the skills you need to deliver IT projects on time, within budget, and to specification. Examine all aspects of IT projects, including hardware, software, vendor relationships, communicating with different audiences, and working with virtual teams. Learn to determine project scope through effective requirements identification, set and manage stakeholder expectations, identify and manage IT risks, and meet quality standards. Learn how to overcome the most common pitfalls of IT project success.
Students pursuing a university-recognized and/or accredited certificate in Canada or continuing education units in the US must attend at least 90% of class time, participate in class exercises and section-knowledge checks, and score at least 70% on an end-of-class, multiple-choice assessment.
Target Audience
IT professionals, IT project managers, IT managers, IT project team members, associate project managers, project managers, project coordinators, project analysts, project leaders, senior project managers, team leaders, product managers, and program managers.Course Objectives
- Foundations of project management
- IT project life cycle
- Quality requirements
- Project stakeholders, scope, and uncertainty
- Project requirements
- Create a work breakdown structure
- Create a network diagram based on activity sequence and duration
- Assign responsibility for project activities
- Estimate project cost
- Create a communication management plan
- Assess project risk and determine risk response strategies
- Manage vendors
Course Content
1. IT Project Foundations
- IT Project Success and Failure
- Practical Project Methodologies
- Software Development Methodologies and Processes
- Definition of a Project
- Project Management as a Service Industry
- Formal vs. Informal Management
- Complexity and Uncertainty in Projects
- Influences of Organizational Structure on Project Management
- Project Management Institute (PMI®)
- Project Management Life Cycle
- Project Management as a Subset of Overall Management Skills
- Iterative Nature of the Project Management Life Cycle
2. Quality in IT Projects
- Quality Management
- IT Project Testing
3. Project Initiation
- Activities of Project Initiation
4. Project Scope Definition
- Scope
- Defining and Gathering Requirements
- Tracing
- Work Breakdown Structure
5. Time Management and Scheduling
- Time Decomposition
- Network Diagramming
6. Resource Planning
- Identification of Required Project Resources
- Roles and Responsibilities Chart
- Staffing Management Plan
- Resource Constraints
- Responsibility Assignment Matrix
7. Cost Management and Control
- Cost Planning and Analysis
- Cost Estimating Techniques
- Levels of Accuracy in Estimates
- Cost Estimates at Planning Milestones
- Contingency and Management Reserves
8. Communications Management
- Management of Stakeholder Expectations
- Considerations for Effective Communication
- Lines of Communication
- Forms of Communication
- Communication Management Plan
- Project Status Report
9. Risk Management
- Essentials of Project Risk Management
- Risk Sources for the IT Project
- Stakeholder Risk Tolerance
- Risk Identification Techniques
- Risk Ranking
- Risk Triggers
- Risk Response Strategies
10. Vendor Management
- Procurement and Sourcing Management
- Overview of Vendor Management
- Vendor Management Success
- Measures of Vendor Management Success
11. Change Management
- Project Changes
- Integrated Change Control
- Change Control Process
12. Phase and Project Closure
- Phase and Project Closing
- Lessons Learned
- Phase and Project Reports
Course Prerequisites
- If you have previously taken Project Management Fundamentals, you should not take this course, as there is significant content overlap.
Follow on Courses
- Project Management, Leadership, and Communication
