14 March 2008

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Educational Snapshot from SeminarsWorld^®
Why you may need project management and systems development methodologies

By Jack Duggal, MBA, PMP

One of the hot-ticket gift items last year was digital photo frames. Being a gadget lover, I got carried away and bought a few different types of digital frames. For my daughter I got a small picture frame that displays certain types of images only. For my wife I got a much bigger digital frame that displays a greater format of images and plays videos and music.

A photo frame plays certain types of media within its framework of functionality, just as a methodology provides a structure to manage, monitor and control projects within its framework. What kind of methodology or framework is needed depends on the type and scope of projects. Other factors are the degree of management functionality and span of monitoring and control the project management office (PMO) needs to define.

One of the reasons for having a PMO is to standardize on a project management methodology. The challenge that IT PMOs face is to decide if a systems development lifecycle (SDLC)-based methodology is sufficient, or if they should also adapt generic project management methodology based on A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Third Edition.

And sometimes the challenge is to convince management why both methodologies are needed, and how they can marry the two for added benefit.

Just like the picture-only photo frames, SDLC-based methodologies provide a framework for systems development and typically focus on systems and software alone. On the other hand, generic project management methodologies—like digital photo frames that play pictures, video and music—define processes for all types of projects and have a wider span of focus.

For example, it is not typical for a systems methodology to cover staffing, hiring, budgeting, cost and procurement activities, which are key elements of some knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide.

Another consideration is that most IT organizations initiate and manage many projects that are not software-related, such as the design and rollout of new business processes, hardware refreshes and security or regulatory compliance projects. None of those types of projects benefit from systems methodologies in the same manner as software projects.  

More and more IT projects are cross-functional, affecting multiple organizational and business units. Generic methodologies help project teams to work with a common language that diverse business clients can relate to and help in bridging the primordial gap between business and IT.

IT organizations frequently adopt both – generic project management methodology for overall project management practices, and systems development type methodology to address the specialized activities of software development and deployment projects. The generic methodology provides a meta frame for all kinds of projects and the specialized methodology provides a particular framework for specific types of projects.

The following are tips and considerations for IT PMOs in implementing methodologies:

• Assess the nature of the core services your IT organization provides when selecting a primary framework for managing and monitoring projects (in general, systems methodology for software development versus a generic PM framework for methodology for other projects).
• Educate stakeholders on the similarities and differences in the generic versus specific methodologies.
• Find ways to marry generic and specific methodologies by finding common links. Establish gates or checkpoints that are common across methodologies.
• Exposure and training in the PMBOK® Guide can complement systems methodologies training to focus on broad business perspectives instead of limiting it to an IT-oriented mind-set alone. This can go a long way in developing business savvy IT associates.
• Above all, simplicity should be the prime consideration while adapting, combining or linking methodologies.

Mr. Duggal is a PMI SeminarsWorld leader, managing principal of Projectize Group LLC and leader of the seminar Building the Next Generation PMO and Portfolio Management. For questions on the content of the seminar, please contact Mr. Duggal.