Processes Involved in Planning, Scheduling, and Budgeting of Information Technology Projects

An old adage-plan the work and work the plan, in essence this is the key to successful project management. Project Managers (PM) must first plan out the project and then monitor and control the execution of the program work. There is a tendency for projects to short change the planning process. This is a common mistake. The time spent properly planning will result in reduced cost and duration, and increased quality over the life of the project. Using tried and true best practices for a PM will provide assurance that the program /project will be beneficial and successful.

The paper is divided into three sections, the first of which will establish a timeline of events. This project background will serve as a case study for the analysis in the following section that will be structured such that each of the previously mentioned facets will be independently analyzed and contrasted with project management principles. Finally the paper will conclude with a summary of the analysis and recommendations based on

This course provides the foundation for successful project planning, organization, and implementation within the realm of information technology. The course uses real-world examples and identifies common mistakes and pitfalls in project management. Topics covered include project scoping, estimating, budgeting, scheduling and staffing, tracking and controlling, and software tools for project management.

IT projects are influenced by various factors that ultimately cause a project to either reach successful completion or face heavy challenges. Planning is one of the key factors among these. Good planning comprises of determining project objectives, documenting those objectives, allocation of clear responsibility and accountability of various tasks, creating schedule by taking into account scope and budget specifications and continuous revision to the plan based on evaluation. Additionally, maintaining control over schedule, scope and budget, is another factor that plays an important role. Certain factors like organizational changes, technological changes etc also have a big impact on IT projects.

Nowadays, Project scheduling plays lot of benefactor in executing any type of project in allotted time and cost. Project scheduling is a vital stage in project development phase due to technological advancement in information technology where lot of IT projects have led different way of

The key to a successful project is in the planning. Creating a project plan is the first thing we should do when undertaking any kind of project. A project plan can allow a Project Manager to complete a project within a specified timeline and a specified budget.Reaching these important goals, will make the project customer happy and help the organization to build a good relationship with the customer for future projects. Project planning is fundamental in order to avoid failure and disappointment. In project management, effective planning is absolutely required if the individual or group wishes to deliver a finished project on time and on budget. From a Project Management article (http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/40904.aspx) I read that during the project planning phase, plans are developed in the form of project baselines for schedule, cost, scope, quality and risks, all of which are components of the overall project plan. This gives the Project Manager basis for monitoring project progress and upon which to base decisions necessary for managing changes needed to help get the project back on track.

Eichenberger, J. (1998). Project management, part III budgets for projects. AAOHN Journal, 46(5), 268-70. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/101346

Project Integration Management | Expert Judgment|-PM Plan is Formal, single document, approved (becomes officially the project plan. It defines how project is executed and controlled. Scope, schedule, and Cost, Change, and Configuration Management plans are created in this process and are part of the PM plan- Scope Management plan is developed here as well.|

By using the proper resources for the structure of planning it helps the organization of the team and last but not least each team will be able to reflect on the change while the manager evaluates the process. After the new changes are put in place it is vital for the manager or leader to complete the evaluation of the project planning in order to see how the changes put in place made the company improve. This is the time which important decisions are made based on the result of the beginning changes.

There is an old adage which insists “time is money.” While simple, in concept, it has been proven true, in fact. In a global, technologically driven society, however, the very idea of time has changed. Having once implied a spanning space between the hours of “nine to five” relative to the person or organization from whose vantage money was viewed, time is now irrespective of person, organization, or location; it is, literally, “24/7.” With this shift in perception, organizations, especially, have taken on the greater challenge of ensuring efficiency in their operations, allowing their customers the

We used PV (planned Value), AC (actual cost), and EV (earned value) to calculate SPI (schedule performance index), SV (schedule variance), CPI (cost performance index), and CV (cost variance). Among these indicators, SPI and SV show whether a project is behind schedule or not, and CPI and CV indicate whether a project is under budget. Therefore, the statuses of the schedule and cost of technical infrastructure, software customization, and combined projects can be easily and clearly checked, respectively.

One of the main concerns during the meeting was the impact of cost and time constraints on networking techniques and project schedules. Under the ideal situation, the project start and end dates are fixed. Adding resources is not usually feasible as it increases cost. There should be a balance between time and cost constraints as it avoids wasting of resources. Also most people are willing to accept that costs could exceed expectations, and might even take a perverse delight in recounting past examples, the same is not true for time constraints. This is probably due to the fact that cost over runs are resolved in-house, while schedule issues are open and visible to the customer. A company has a lot of useful, desirable work that could be done, but has limited and finite resources available with which to do that work. Choices have to be made about which work to do and how to allocate resources. This leads to constraints especially, the time constraint and the cost constraint. Time, in project management, is analyzed down to its smallest detail. Each and every component of the project is analyzed with respect to the time required for completion. After completion of this analysis these components are broken down even further into the time required to do each task.

The successful implementation and subsequent meaningful use of information technology solutions within a health care organization is a challenging and iterative process. The organization must engage in careful and ongoing strategic and tactical planning to ensure that the implemented technology will ultimately be effective and beneficial for its practitioners, staff, and patients.

“Project management is a series of activities embodied in a process of getting things done” (Cleland, 2007, p.51). What stages would be involved on defining the ‘series of activities’ and what needs to be ‘done’? Would a complete definition of the project and its boundaries be directly linked to the project success?

A key activity in project management is assessing project constraints. A project has three limitations: scope, budget and schedule. These limitations are project constraints because they are sensitive to change and have an impact on project risk. Risk is exposure to uncertain outcomes. Project constraints are mutually exclusive. If one constraint changes it affects the others and adjustments may be required to compensate and manage risks. For example, a delay in the schedule can increase the risk that the project will not finish on time. Time is money and delays have a negative impact on the budget. To