1.1 Introduction to Project Management

• 1.2 a project is "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product,service, or result" (PMBOK definition)
• temporary 
• it has a beginning and end, it is not ongoing like business operations. 
• not necessarily of short duration
• the product, service other deliverable of the project might be long lasting or ongoing, but the project ends when its objectives are met, if it has not been terminated before that
• it can create a unique
• product or sub component
• "capability to perform a service" e.g. a team or a new sales department in a newly entered country
• a outcome e.g. a document (research, report...)
• Characteristics
• done at every level of an organisation
• it may involve some repetition but the outcome is fundamentally unique
• company operations produce a repeated outcome, a project produces a unique outcome 
• 1.3 What is project management? 
• PMBOK definition: "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements"
• 5 phases of a project: Initiating > Planning > Execution > Monitoring & Controlling > Closing
  
  
• it includes
• defining and documenting requirements
• dealing with stakeholders' needs
• managing the constraints
• constraints
• give and take: if one constraint must be changed then others will have to yield 
• the mix of constraints is unique to each project
• forget 'triple constraints' and focus on the 'competing restraints', including:
• cost, scope, quality, risk, resources, time, + others particular to the project CSQRRT
• balance the needs of these with stakeholder needs and goals of project
• e.g. if the scope is expanded then you will need more time and cost will go up, that or quality will come down

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PMBOK chapter 1

• A project is "a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result"
• Temporary: defined beginning and end (when objectives met or project terminated); not necessarily short duration; refers to project, not the product/service created
• 
  

Project failure: Standish Group – Chaos report 1995

From: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/docs/chaos-report.pdf

• 31.1% of projects will be cancelled before they ever get completed.
• 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates.
• Tip of the iceberg - The lost opportunity costs are not measurable, but could easily be in the trillions of dollars.
• in 1995 American companies and government agencies will spend $81 billion for cancelled software projects.
• These same organizations will pay an additional $59 billion for software projects that will be completed, but will exceed their original time estimates.
• On average 16.2% of software projects that are completed ontime and on-budget; only 9% in larger companies
• Projects completed by the largest American companies have only approximately 42% of the originally-proposed features and functions.
• Smaller companies do much better. A total of 78.4% of their software projects will get deployed with at least 74.2% of their original features and functions.

Project failure: The Robbins-Gioia Survey (2001)

From: http://www.it-cortex.com/Stat_Failure_Rate.htm

• 232 respondents spanning multiple industries including government, Information Technology, communications, financial, utilities, and healthcare.
• 51 % viewed their ERP implementation as unsuccessful
• 46 % of the participants noted that while their organization had an ERP system in place, or was implementing a system, they did not feel their organization understood how to use the system to improve the way they conduct business.
• 56 % of survey respondents noted their organization has a program management office (PMO) in place,
• and of these respondents, only 36 % felt their ERP implementation was unsuccessful
• Note: in this survey project failure is not defined by objective criteria but by the perception of the respondents.

CHAOS Report 2009 Project Success Factors

The chart below (from the same source) shows trends in IT project success from 2000 to 2008. It is sourced from the 2009 Chaos report summary

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/690719/chaos_summary_2009_pdf

The following is a top ten list of factors that contribute to project success from the same source.

1. User Involvement

2. Executive Support

3. Clear Business Objectives

4. Emotional Maturity

5. Optimization

6. Agile Process

7 Project Management Expertise

8. Skilled Resources

9. Execution

10. Tools and infrastructure