information technology and project management

Information Technology

Portfolio and Project Management Office (PPMO): Program Managers – An essential component to IT success

 From understanding and managing the overall program budget to resource planning and forecasting and more, program managers are an essential component to IT success. They manage risks and dependencies, prioritize projects within their programs, and develop strategic roadmaps to ensure alignment is achieved.    “Program managers are responsible for collaborating with IT leadership to provide effective planning, structure, and prioritization of all efforts related to a governance domain or one or more specific strategic programs,” said Tim Brooks, Executive Director of the Portfolio and Project Management Office (PPMO) and the Service Management Office (SMO). “They are responsible for demonstrating the alignment of the IT portfolio with the university strategy and priorities.”    Primary goals associated with this important role include standardizing executive reporting from Planview, ensuring appropriate levels of resource allocation across projects and their program, and assisting with quarterly forecasts. But there are many subgoals associated with this important position. Subgoals include: 

• Facilitating informed investment decision making for their assigned programs. 
• Ensuring WashU is realizing the benefits of program investments. 
• Effectively managing a prioritized annual portfolio that is aligned with the university and IT strategies. 
• Enabling an effective program-level decision-making and prioritization model that allows us to make decisions at the appropriate level within the organization, reducing the time needed to develop, review, and approve new projects. 
• Supporting our equity, diversity, and inclusion values by providing university wide collaboration, feedback, visibility, and transparency. 
• Making sure we have established and well understood accountabilities and responsibilities within assigned programs. 
• Collaborating with other Program Managers and IT Leadership to identify common risks, resource constraints, or other potential program collisions.  

  “Program managers are constantly asking, is the university getting the value out of that investment,” Brooks said. “They are accountable to program sponsors; they identify metrics and prepare reports, they work with stakeholders to establish and monitor project and program metrics to determine overall health and whether we are on track to deliver the intended value.” 

The WashU IT program managers bring a wealth of knowledge, skills, and ability to the many projects and programs in flight at WashU. Together, they have a combined 98 years of experience in project management, nearly 35 years in program management, 27 years in health care, 45 years in higher education, and nearly 26 years at WashU.  Tim Brooks, Executive Director of the PPMO & SMO

The combination of education and experience among these talented team members make them a force committed to excellence. Collaboration is a key ingredient to their success, with program managers consistently meeting through a Teams channel to ask questions, address challenges, and ensure everyone is on the same page.    “We have concurrent challenges going on at all times and that’s a reality at WashU and WashU IT,” said Jason Oglesby, the Program Manager for the Research Lifecycle Program in the Research Domain. “You have to be flexible but keep your goals in mind. You’re trying to keep everything on track and stay organized. You’re not necessarily always trying to be the subject matter expert, but at times you are the decision maker. Whether that’s through governance or an individual group of stakeholders, whatever it may be, you’re trying to keep people aligned and in the loop without being in the weeds.” 

Laverdure, who serves as a Program Manager on Student Sunrise, which is the new university wide student information system, added: “We have to successfully manage and execute all our programs, which are varied in discipline, varied in different stages. We have to grow and mature the profession and the value of program management. We constantly use feedback, which is how we attack our financials. We strive to achieve uniformity and consistency even though our programs are so differently structured and funded in completely different manners.” 

Kristi Lenz, Program Manager for IT Asset Management, noted she feels part of a broader team of program managers across the Projects and Portfolio Management Office (PPMO), and she enjoys working with the wide variety of professionals from across WashU IT, which includes business analysts, project managers, communications professionals, learning and development specialists, stakeholders, and more. The scope of Lenz’s program is to create a centralized IT asset inventory for all of WashU.    A visual representation was offered by Alesya Bernatskya, Program Manager for CyBear Secure Program, who noted, “I read somewhere that program managers are like train conductors and I don’t agree with that. I think program managers are like airport traffic controllers. Every airplane is an individual project in the airport traffic control. PgMs assess all the movements and all the dependencies and all the controls for the whole airport.” Bernatskya’s domain falls under security, risk, and compliance.  Professing the value of program managers, Chief Information Security Officer Chris Shull said,  

“Although I’ve worked at other big universities, I’ve never been responsible for so many concurrent projects, with so many resources involved in delivering them. As a result, my initial instinct of thinking I would run everything myself and be my own program manager proved to be well beyond my capacity and capability.”    Chris Shull, CISO

Speaking of Bernatskya, his Program Manager, Shull added, “(She) has a rich set of tools that empower her to manage a large portfolio of projects, ideas for projects, and financial and human resources. With so much to do and such little time to do it, our Program Manager has become a super-powered extension of me, allowing and enabling us to make much more progress overall.”   The addition of some new program managers adds to the rich tapestry of talent available in WashU IT. Mark Jacobi, Ravleen Chhatwal, and Kathleen Hilmer-Kendall bring a wealth of experience to the organization, which will help facilitate program management in support of the university and IT strategic plans. Each recognizes where they fit within WashU IT in supporting the IT ImpacT Strategic Plan .   

Mark Jacobi   Job role: IT Program Manager for Data Management an Analytics  “As a strong advocate for program leadership and communication for the Data Management and Analytics team and program. Each engagement is like a big puzzle. Most all of the pieces or components are there, and the goal is getting the strategy and plan aligned to become more focused and efficient in execution to achieve the desired goals and objectives.”

Ravleen Chhatwal   Job role: IT Program Manager for the Infrastructure and Architecture Domain  “The Network Modernization project is directly part of the IT strategic plan and will impact all areas of the university for years to come. Network Modernization will provide for a secure, scalable, agile, adaptable, available, resilient, easy-to-use, automated, and sustainable infrastructure. This will help all the areas within WashU move to the next generation of digital transformation.” 

Kathleen Hilmer-Kendall   Job role: IT Program Manager for Clinical Technologies  “My Program Manager role supports Clinical Technologies, which includes all School of Medicine departments and partners with Epic1 and Health Information Partners to coordinate the IT strategic roadmap and project implementation. My role will help support the ImpacT strategic plan by building and strengthening the WUIT partnership with the WUSM departments. Being a trusted partner for WUSM enables the avenue for technology to drive excellence in patience care.” 

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5 key benefits of optimizing employee tech tools

Improving the technology that workers use every day boosts productivity, extends the value of tech investments, helps companies stay competitive, and more..

Contributing Writer, Computerworld |

All too often, organizations invest in large technology systems but don’t see widespread employee adoption, in part because these tools don’t reflect how employees actually work. At the same time, workers are clamoring for tools that will help them do their jobs better.

More than half (58%) of respondents to a 2022 Domo survey of employees in the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand said their need for technology has increased in the past five years, but their organizations’ tech tools aren’t meeting those needs. Some 60% of the 3,000 respondents, a mix of desk-based and deskless workers, said they could be more productive and do better work with better technology tools. And 62% said better access to useful tech would make them happier at work.

As organizations begin to realize the importance of engaged employees, both remote and in-office, they have started to focus on optimizing the digital employee experience (DEX) — making sure employees have the best experiences with the technologies they use to do their work. And this means all the technologies they use: digital employee experience encompasses every interaction employees have with the multiple digital tools and systems they use to perform their jobs.

It’s critical for organizations to ensure that their employees have the best experiences with the technologies they use to do their work, said Johnny Martinez, director, people advisory and organizational change at consulting firm Protiviti. These days, employees expect an easy-to-use digital experience at work — but getting there isn’t always easy, given the presence of legacy systems, limited budgets, and concerns with change, he said.

The first step to improving employee tech tools is to assess the existing digital employee experience at the organization. Doing so enables companies to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their current digital environments so they can identify the areas they need to improve.

A soup-to-nuts approach to DEX assessment is to monitor and analyze how employees interact with their digital systems. Tracking such metrics as active users, logins, frequency of use, network speeds, and task completion rates enables enterprises to understand where their employees may be experiencing difficulties or frustration.

A burgeoning category of DEX management tools can aggregate and analyze usage and performance data for technologies across the workplace, helping companies pinpoint which technologies are underperforming and providing guidance on how to improve them. These tools don’t come cheap, however, and are resource-intensive to deploy.

For IT organizations with budget or staff constraints, performing usability testing with a representative sample of workers may be more in reach — and can still help identify hidden issues and provide insights into areas for improvement.

But the simplest approach is to gather feedback directly from workers — for example, by conducting a survey of all employees — in-office and remote, desk-based and frontline — to evaluate their digital experiences. The responses will give organizations insights into the areas they need to focus on.

“The easiest way to be sure that employees have access to the right technology is to talk to them about it, listen to their feedback about what’s working and what isn’t, and adapt from there,” said Dan Wilson, vice president and research analyst at Gartner.

Ensuring that employees have the best digital experience “starts with understanding how employees use technology to get their work done and what information they need,” Martinez agreed. “User-centric design thinking can be used to design innovative experiences, determine gaps to close, and validate employee needs over wants.”

George Westerman, a senior lecturer with the MIT Sloan School of Management, encourages organizations to think about employee experience holistically. “Tech alone is not the experience, but rather enhances or detracts from it,” he said.

“When thinking about tech experiences, focus on the tasks the employee wants to do, rather than on the tech itself. Then you’ll be able to find the right combinations and configurations of tech to create a smooth employee experience for every task they do,” Westerman said.

Employee tech optimization in action

For Ivan Dopplé, global practice leader for digital workplace at IT service provider Kyndryl, optimizing employee tech includes consolidating business applications and migrating to modern tools, such as Microsoft’s Power Platform, which has made the employee experience more streamlined and consistent.

“There are fewer obstacles to navigate in order to get the job done, and there is no better way to enable an employee for success than by making their day-to-day [work] easier,” he said.

Kyndryl is also enriching the employee experience with artificial intelligence.

“For example, in Microsoft Teams, we have ‘cards’ that an employee can use to interact with systems like Workday or ServiceNow to perform their most common tasks,” Dopplé said. “This brings all of the things an employee needs routinely to one place. Additionally, we’ve built this with Microsoft’s AI capabilities to be more intuitive and more proactive in responding to employee questions.”

Audio product manufacturer Shure has focused on providing workers with the right technologies to do their jobs effectively and efficiently whether they’re working onsite or remotely, said Meg Madison, senior vice president of human resources. This includes upgraded collaboration tech in conference rooms; microphones and other equipment for remote workers; and improvements to IT infrastructure.

This is a pivotal moment for companies coming off COVID-related workplace restrictions and readjusting to what a “normal” workplace means, Madison said. “Many companies have a mix of employees who are in the office and working from home, so the ability to communicate and collaborate really does depend on the right technology.”

Madison acknowledges that finding the budget to finance tech optimization isn’t always easy for organizations, especially in an uncertain economic climate. “When an organization is experiencing a downturn, it can be tough to balance priorities,” she said.

“I encourage leaders to apply a longer lens to their planning and recognize this as an optimal time to invest in tools and technology that not only boost productivity but also lift employee engagement and retention through a bumpy period,” Madison said. “This just makes good business sense, to fuel recovery.”

Top benefits of optimizing employee tech tools

Experts cite a number of benefits that come with optimizing employee tech tools, from enhancing workers’ productivity in the short term to staying competitive in the long term.

1. Boosting worker productivity

Joel Raper, senior vice president and general manager of digital workplace solutions at IT consultant Unisys, makes the case for optimizing employee technology to help workers be more productive, which translates to time and money savings.

“Can I [cut your workday] by 10 minutes because the tools are more efficient? Are you better at your job because you’re given access to tools that break down less? Ten minutes a day might not seem like a lot, but multiply that times the number of working days, and multiply that times [your] hourly rate,” Raper said.

“That’s a fairly big impact to a company from a financial perspective — and a very big impact to the individual.”

2. Maximizing current tech investments

If companies focus on improving the tech systems they already have, they can avoid purchasing unnecessary additional tools, said Anthony Martin, founder and CEO of insurance agency Choice Mutual. What’s more, making existing systems work better means organizations won’t need to train their employees to use new software.

True return on investment comes when companies are able to exhaust all the benefits of their purchases. “Upgrading your technology and expanding your team’s ability to manage more features on the platform are both excellent ways to increase the value from a single tool,” Martin said. “Consider it all a form of profit when you continue to yield results and discover new uses for your current tech stack.”

Additionally, it may be possible for companies to merge the features of some of their existing technologies to make them more cost effective. 

“Say you’re using a project management tool and an hourly tracking system separately. Most project management tools these days have updates that include time-tracking features,” Martin said. “You might not have noted this when you started using the tool, because the update might not have been issued yet. Now that you can get the best of both worlds out of a single platform, your separate time tracking system becomes merely an additional (and unnecessary) cost to your business. That’s one less subscription you’d be paying.”

3. Attracting top talent

Firms worldwide have made strategic plans and big investments to transform their businesses with more powerful computing and networks, said Shannon MacKay, general manager of worldwide smart collaboration business at Lenovo. Some firms are digitizing processes, while others are reinventing the business based on new market opportunities that technology creates. During economic headwinds, these investments might slow, but they are not stopping.

“All of this is occurring during a historic demographic shift,” noted MacKay. “Baby boomers are leaving the workplace, and digital-native millennials are replacing them. These new workers have high expectations for technology in the workplace, and they adopt it more quickly.”

To attract these younger workers, organizations need to offer the best technology experiences. “The smart money will keep investing in technology with proven ROI that helps their teams do more and be more satisfied on the job,” MacKay said.

4. Retaining employees

Limiting associate turnover is a priority at Shure, said Madison. “We have a well-tenured staff at Shure because we take good care of them,” she said. “We hear anecdotally from both our associates and candidates that our flexible work policies, supported with technology, have really resonated, allowing us to meet them where they are.”

Helping employees feel connected and evolving to meet the fast-paced needs of a tech-driven world are helpful — if not essential — in retaining employees, Madison said.

Raper at Unisys concurred. “Think about a worker that gets hired at your company and leaves in the first six months,” he said. The tools and systems the employee uses in the first few months have a big impact on their initial impressions of the company and can contribute to their decision to leave.

Such short-term employees are a drain on company resources, Raper said. “It [typically] costs $30,000 to $40,000 to recruit and [train] an individual, and you just lose that because they’re only here for three or six months. [Investing in optimizing employee tech] is pretty smart money to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

Employees, particularly those in the younger generations, are willing to vote with their feet if they don’t feel that they’re being given the technology they need to be effective and productive, said Gartner’s Wilson.

“Companies need to give everyone a fighting chance to perform at the top level,” he said. “If the technology is what’s standing in the way of them being able to do their jobs and you are not focused on asking them what needs to be done or actively pursuing ways to improve the technology, then you, as IT, are going to be the reason that people quit. And we’re seeing more and more of that happening.”

5. Remaining competitive

With the increasing dependence on technology in today’s business landscape, organizations are recognizing the importance of having employees with strong tech skills, said Bridget Reed, co-founder of The Word Counter, an online writing assistance tool. “The ability to adapt to new technologies and utilize them effectively can greatly contribute to a company’s success,” she said.

“As such, many organizations are still willing to invest in enhancing their employees’ tech experience. This can be done through various means, such as training programs, workshops, and providing access to cutting-edge tools and software,” she said. “In doing so, organizations can equip their employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the digital age.”

Daniel Osman, head of sales and operations at home co-investment firm Balance Homes, agreed. In today’s fast-paced digital world, technology plays a vital role in enhancing productivity, streamlining processes, and enabling effective communication, he said. By providing employees with the necessary technological tools and resources, companies can empower them to work efficiently and stay ahead of the competition.

“Moreover, investing in employee tech promotes employee satisfaction and engagement, as it demonstrates a commitment to their growth and success,” he said. “Embracing technology is essential for companies to thrive in the modern business landscape.”

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Linda Rosencrance is a freelance writer/editor/author who has written about information technology since 1999.

Copyright © 2023 IDG Communications, Inc.

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UW School of Pharmacy Launches Health Technology Assessment Certificate Program

Institutional Communications Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137 Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: (307) 766-2929 Email:   [email protected]

Published November 03, 2023

The University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy in the College of Health Sciences has launched a new certificate program aimed at providing practicing pharmacists, other health professionals and health information technology personnel in other related fields advanced training in health technology assessment.

The certificate program, titled “A New Start in Health Technology Assessment,” is delivered completely online, offers 20.5 contact hours and allows those enrolled to proceed at their own pace. There also are two group sessions presented on Zoom when participants can compare progress and engage in learning discussions.

One of the challenges facing the modern pharmacy industry is the need for additional training of pharmacy professionals who will then have the capability and ability to apply standardized scientific assessments of medications, cost evaluations and even measurements for successful marketing efforts. UW’s School of Pharmacy is a fully accredited Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education provider of continuing professional education.

Pharmacy professions that will benefit from this new certificate program include pharmacists interested in applying health technology assessment to medications; industry managers and other employees in areas of economics, measurement and clinical trials; those in areas related to mediation discovery, assessment and marketing; people in pharmacy education areas; and health economists.

Elliott Sogol, director of postgraduate and continuing education in the School of Pharmacy, says the new program will give those who complete the training a “new lens” to look more clearly at standards for product assessments and applied physical and social sciences such as education, psychology and economics.

“We are excited to offer our first certificate program and look forward to the feedback we receive from participants,” Sogol says. “Their feedback will help us in developing additional certificate programs in the future.”

In addition to the two online group sessions, the new certificate program is presented in three parts: required evidentiary standards for product and therapy assessment; the failure of approximate modeled information for therapy decisions; and formulary submission value claims and protocols for a new start in product evaluation. Each part is broken up into several modules.

Enrollment is now open for the first class of attendees, with the program officially available today (Friday). For more information and to enroll, visit https://pharmacyshare.catalog.instructure.com/courses/certificate-program---a-new-start-in-health-technology .

About UW’s College of Health Sciences

UW’s College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.

Best Master’s in Information Technology Project Management Programs

Editor & Writer

www.bestcolleges.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

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Take our quiz and we'll do the homework for you! Compare your school matches and apply to your top choice today.

If you want to further your career in information technology (IT) and project management, you may wish to pursue a master's degree . A master's in information technology project management teaches students in various fields how to better manage projects and teams by using technology .

Graduates may pursue careers as project managers or professionals in business, health, education, or IT. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects management jobs to grow by 9% and computer and technology jobs to grow by 13% between 2020-2030.

Possible jobs for graduates include computer and information systems managers, who earned a median salary of about $159,000 per year in 2021, according to the BLS. Graduates can also become medical and health service managers. These professionals made a median wage of over $100,000 per year in May 2021.

On average, graduate tuition cost $19,792 per year for the 2019-2020 academic year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics . Degrees come with additional costs , such as living expenses, books, and fees. Students may take out loans to complete their master's degree.

Most students complete a master's in information technology project management within two years. Some students may take longer if they attend the program part time. Online programs may offer flexible schedules.

Our Top Pick

The university of houston - houston, tx.

Why it's #1: The University of Houston is the number one ranked school on our Best Master's in Information Technology Project Management list. About 87% of students are awarded financial aid. In-state students can also save money as the University of Houston is a Texas public university. About 43% of the institution's enrollment is online, making it a great choice for distance learners.

Read Our Rankings Methodology

Best Accredited Master's in Information Technology Project Management Programs

Rankings compiled by the BestColleges Ranking Team

These rankings were compiled by our BestColleges Ranking Team and include BestColleges.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site. from our partners. We use publicly available provisional datasets from Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to inform the data for these schools. All data is current as of the date this article was published. Program-specific information may vary.

BestColleges.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

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University of Houston

• Houston, TX
• Online + Campus

100% Online or In-Person | Self-Paced Online Classes or On-Campus Evening Hours

Avg. Cost per Credit In State | $641.65 Out of State | $1,149.65

Credits to Graduate 30

Program Information Program Accreditation | N/A

The University of Houston's MS in technology project management prepares students to manage projects in STEM environments. Students gain in-depth project management skills and learn how to manage projects across various industries. Graduates may pursue careers in project management, IT, health management, and computer science. 

The university offers the programs via online courses, which are available to both U.S.-based and international students. Applicants should hold a bachelor's degree in technology or a related field. Students without a similar degree might need to complete prerequisite courses.

University of Michigan-Dearborn

• Dearborn, MI

100% Online, 100% On-Campus, or Hybrid | Course Format (i.e., Self-Paced Classes or Scheduled Classes)

Avg. Cost per Credit In State | $485-$870 Out of State | $905-$1,546

The University of Michigan-Dearborn features a MS in program and project management . The degree lets professionals in fields such as engineering, energy, transportation, and healthcare expand their skill sets to become program managers. Students learn strategies to ensure projects deliver on time and on budget. Courses focus on the use of technologies to coordinate complex projects, and motivate and manage people. 

Graduates should be prepared for the project management professional (PMP) certification. Applicants should hold a bachelor's in a physical science and must submit two letters of recommendation. 

Florida Institute of Technology-Online

• Melbourne, FL

100% Online | Self-Paced

Avg. Cost per Credit In State | $777 Out of State | $777

Credits to Graduate 33

Florida Institute of Technology-Online's MS in project management-information systems teaches students how to manage IT projects in fields other than business. This 100% online program focuses on database and computer systems, as well as general project management practices. Graduates can use technology to streamline performance and manage projects.

Degree-holders may pursue careers such as an IT project manager, computer and technology manager, and IT director. Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree and a minimum 3.0 GPA.

Wilmington University

• New Castle, DE

Traditional Classroom or Online | In-Person Classes or Self-Paced Online

Avg. Cost per Credit In State | $500 Out of State | $500

Credits to Graduate 36

Wilmington University's MS in information technology project management helps students in various fields develop their technology skills as they relate to project management. Students take courses in artificial intelligence in project management and advanced Agile tech solutions. The program also allows students to gain credits in classes specific to their field. 

Wilmington University also offers the option to complete an Agile project management certificate without paying any extra tuition. Graduates may pursue careers as computer and information systems managers or other types of project managers. Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree.

Popular Online Information Technology Project Management Programs

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

How We Rank Schools

Each year, the BestColleges Ranking Team evaluates hundreds of programs to produce our annual Best Master's in Infomration Technology Project Management ranking. In 2022, the team sourced the most recent data available from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Navigator, both of which are hosted by the National Center for Education Statistics. We identified 4 schools that qualify for our ranking list based on the following criteria.

• Each school must be an accredited public or private, nonprofit institution.
• Must offer a master's degree program in the given subject.
• Must submit an annual report to the National Center for Education Statistics.

To ensure the accuracy and quality of our final ranked list, the ranking team reviewed each qualifying school to ensure it met the criteria for our ranking, and then applied our proprietary ranking methodology to identify the best schools offering this program in the nation. Each school is ranked based on a formula measuring academic factors (60%) and affordability (40%).

The BestColleges Ranking Team is made up of contributors from our data science and product management teams. These contributors operate independently from the editorial team. All BestColleges school rankings are produced by the ranking team and are free of editorial influence. Read our Editorial Policy and Standards to learn more.

BestColleges' Ranking Factors

Frequently asked questions about information technology project management programs, is a master's in information technology project management worth it.

Whether a master's degree is worth it will depend on each individual's circumstances and career goals. However, those who are interested in careers as IT project managers or who need technology to manage projects in their field should consider a master's in information technology project management.

Many jobs, such as computer and information systems managers, usually require master's degrees. Earning a master's degree can also help graduates earn more. Workers with a master's degree earn $240 more per week on average than workers with a bachelor's degree, according to the BLS . Students can also earn an online master's in information technology project management, which can offer more affordability and flexibility.

What can I do with a master's in information technology project management?

Master's in information technology project management degree-holders can pursue many careers in STEM , management, and healthcare. They may pursue careers as computer and information systems managers, who help direct computer and technology-related activities in an organization. Medical and health service managers coordinate, plan, and direct medical services.

Other management jobs include financial managers, industrial production managers, and emergency management managers. Graduates can also begin careers as construction managers, compensation and benefits managers, and social and community service managers. They may also pursue jobs as project managers or IT project managers in various fields.

Are information technology project management graduates in demand?

The BLS projects management jobs to grow by 9% between 2020-2030, which is slightly faster than the 8% average growth for all jobs. Meanwhile, the BLS projects employment in computer and information technology to grow 13% — faster than all occupations — in the same time frame. Many graduates of information technology project management programs pursue careers in these high-demand fields.

Project managers are also in demand. The Project Management Institute expects employers to need 88 million individuals in project management roles worldwide by 2027. Earning an online master's in information technology program management can prepare graduates to land jobs as project managers.

How much money can I make with a master's in information technology project management?

Earning a master's in information technology project management can help graduates enter high-earning jobs and fields. For example, medical and health service managers earned a median $101,340 per year in May 2021, as per the BLS.

On average, general project managers earned a base salary of $76,230 per year, according to Payscale June 2022 data . Meanwhile, Payscale reports as of June 2022 that project managers in information technology earned an average base salary of $88,900 per year.

What are the highest-paying jobs with a master's in information technology project management?

One of the highest-paying jobs for a graduate with a master's in information technology project management is computer and information systems managers. These workers earned a median annual salary of $159,010 in May 2021, according to the BLS.

Other high-paying jobs include architectural and engineering managers, who earned a median salary of $152,350 per year, and financial managers, who made a median wage of $131,710 per year in May 2021. Sales managers also earn high salaries. They earned a median yearly salary of $127,490 in May 2021.

While IT project managers earned a base salary of $88,900 per year in 2022, they may increase their earnings by completing a master's in information technology project management.

Feature Image: NicoElNino / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

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IT Project Management: Managing IT Projects

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What Is IT Project Management?

What is it project management software, benefits of it project management software, must-have features for it project management software, how to manage an it project, unique challenges of it project management, it project management methodologies, it project management tools, roles in it project management, it project manager job description, is it project management certification necessary, what is an it project.

An information technology (IT) project is a type of project that deals with IT infrastructure, information systems or computers. Examples of an IT project include web development, software development, mobile app development, network configuration, software implementation, hardware installation, database management, and IT emergency recovery.

IT project management (ITPM) is the planning, scheduling, execution, monitoring and reporting of IT projects. While many industries focus exclusively on IT projects, IT is unique in that most, if not all, industries have some level of an IT component.

Since they are often very wide in scope, IT project managers must deal with risk, interdependent integrations, software updates, scope creep and so on. Therefore, IT projects require more than the typical project management tools and skills to complete.

Specialized IT project management software complete with online Gantt charts, kanban boards, dashboards and reports provide the essential functions necessary for successful IT projects.

ProjectManager has everything you need to enhance IT planning, scheduling and rollouts. Learn more.

What Are the Six Phases of an IT Project?

The six phases of an IT project are based on the six phases of project management , which are used in conjunction with the IT phases to manage the project. They are as follows:

During the first phase of an IT project, one must ask “why is this project needed?”—in other words, the objective of the project must be identified. Then, a project proposal , including a business plan, that meets the needs of the project must be written. In addition, a feasibility study might be conducted to ensure the proposal is airtight.

After the project proposal has been approved, the project moves into the definition phase. This is where the objectives of the project are finalized and the requirements for a successful project are identified. The project scope can also be outlined, and a project plan may be created during this phase. Budgets are also set, and resources are determined.

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The design phase of an IT project is when the project team sets out to find the best solution for achieving their goal. This includes creating multiple designs and prototypes. Once a suitable design has been chosen, specifications for the development team are created and shared.

Development

The development phase is when the development team is assigned tasks and project management tools are selected. Additionally, technicalities are outlined, raw materials are requested and so on. The main goal of this phase is to make the entire plan as crystal clear as possible to avoid issues in the implementation phase.

Implementation

The implementation phase is where the final deliverable of the IT project is developed; unsurprisingly, this is often the longest phase of the project. The project team sets out to complete their tasks, while the manager monitors and controls the work , resources, cost, quality and risk.

Finally, once the implementation phase is complete, the final project is delivered to the customer/client/stakeholder. The follow up phase is all the work that comes after the project is delivered, and includes setting up support teams, training the end-users, creating a postmortem and ultimately ending the project.

Most IT projects and their phases are managed with a traditional, structured waterfall methodology. An agile framework, though, can minimize risk when adding functionality. DevOps deployment can be a good fit within an organizational culture. Rapid application development (RAD) is a low-investment, high-quality process.

What Does an IT Project Manager Do?

An IT project manager is responsible for overseeing an organization’s IT department and managing teams to execute IT projects on time and within budget. Some of the duties of an IT project manager include:

• Setting project goals and creating plans to meet them
• Maintaining the project schedule and budget, creating status reports
• Managing resources, including the team, equipment, etc.
• Assigning tasks to team members
• Developing strategy to deliver projects on time and within budget
• Using IT project management tools to track progress and performance
• Assessing project risks
• Developing IT risk management strategies
• Leading regular meetings with team and stakeholders

IT project managers are expected to have advanced knowledge of computers, operating systems, network and service desk administration. They must also be good communicators and be able to clearly explain complex technical issues. Other required skills include experience with scheduling, budgeting and resource planning.

While the skill sets of project managers across different industries are generally the same, an IT project manager is unique in that they’re focused solely on the IT needs of an organization. But like all project managers, the way an IT project manager handles their varied duties and responsibilities is with the help of robust IT project management software.

IT project management software is used by managers to organize and control the processes of their IT projects. Like any software tool, it’s main purpose is to increase efficiency.

IT project management software boosts efficiency by giving users the features they need to monitor and track progress and performance. This keeps their IT projects on track to meet tight schedules and budgets.

Some key features common among IT project management tools include task and time tracking, real-time data, unlimited file storage, multiple project views to support hybrid methodologies, planning, scheduling and reporting. Microsoft Project is one of the most commonly used project management software, but it has major drawbacks that make ProjectManager a better choice for IT projects.

Regardless of what IT project management software you choose, you want one that is going to make your job easier. It should help you organize tasks and schedule their execution over a set schedule budget. You also want a tool that connects your team and stakeholders to keep them all on the same page.

There are many benefits to using IT project management software:

• Plan Waterfall Projects with Gantt charts
• Live Status with Real-Time Dashboards
• Manage Program or Portfolio of IT Projects
• Get Data Rich Reports With One Click
• Track Time Spent on Tasks and Monitor Progress
• Customize Workflow on Kanban Boards

The IT project management software that’s best for you will ideally have at least these six features.

Keep Tasks Organized on a Timeline

IT managers and teams need a visual tool to organize their tasks over a project timeline. Gantt charts help them prioritize, set the duration and even link dependent tasks that could block work later on during the execution of a project.

Make Better Data-Driven Decisions

Managing means constantly making choices. The more data you have, the better those decisions. Reports that pull info on progress, costs, variance, workload and much more can help you gather insightful information. Reports should be easy to generate, filter and share.

Get Live Status Reports

IT systems require that you keep a close eye on metrics, catch irregularities quickly and resolve them even quicker. A dashboard that is always collecting data and displaying it in easy-to-read graphs and charts will give you a high-level view of your IT’s health.

Assign the Right Amount of Tasks

Knowing what your IT teams are doing is essential to keeping them productive. If they have too many tasks, their work suffers. Using a workload management feature will allow you to see who is working on what, and balance that workload to have everyone equally allocated.

Track Your Team’s Logged Hours

Timesheets are more than a payroll tool—they’re another window into your team’s productivity. They allow you to monitor how many hours they’re spending on tasks, and you can reallocate resources as necessary to keep the work moving ahead as planned.

Know Immediately What’s Happening

IT systems are critical business processes. If they go down, money is lost. To avoid any slowdown (or worse), managers need a feature in their IT project management tool that alerts them in emergencies. It’s also helpful to get notified when anything is updated.

While there are many ways to manage an IT project, some aspects are universal. The steps might be slightly different, but the general direction is the same.

We’ll walk you through these steps one-by-one, while illustrating how a project management software can help you along the way.

1. Collect Requirements

Before a project can begin, paperwork is required. You need to define scope, create a budget and determine the stakeholder requirements. All these documents can be attached to the project on our software, which has unlimited file storage.

2. Select Team

Now that you’ve collected the project’s requirements, you can assemble a team with the skills and experience that fit the task at hand. Be sure to onboard them into your project management software, so communication happens in one place.

3. Use a Gantt Chart

Use a Gantt to add tasks to a timeline , link dependencies, set milestones and view the critical path. We offer a fully-featured online Gantt chart for project managers who work in a waterfall environment. The whole team doesn’t have to use this traditional planning tool though, as project data is shared across multiple project views: task lists, calendars and kanban boards.

4. Use a Kanban Board

Use a kanban board to control workflow during project execution. With ProjectManager, you can create workflows, execute sprints and work in an agile framework without disturbing the Gantt plan.

5. Monitor Progress

As the project moves forward, it’s important that the actual progress matches what was planned. Our software has a real-time dashboard that collects data as it’s updated. We automatically crunch the numbers and display them in charts that show costs, tasks, health and more. Project tracking has never been easier.

6. Manage Workload

IT projects require smart workload management. Are team members overtasked or have they too few assignments? To avoid slowing progress, our workload page shows you who’s on holiday and who has too much work: you can even reassign tasks right from the page.

7. Make Changes

Projects aren’t static. You have to pivot fast when there are change requests from stakeholders. Our software gives your plans and your team flexibility. For example, if a date changes, simply drag and drop the task to the new deadline on the Gantt chart. This change is then reflected throughout the software.

8. Get Reports

To track progress and keep stakeholders updated, our software has an in-depth reporting feature . There are many reports, that can be generated to help with IT project management. Make an in-depth status report with just a few clicks to get the information you need.

Ready to manage your IT project with ProjectManager? Start your 30-day free trial today!

IT project management deals with a variety of issues. It ends up interfacing with many other aspects of an organization, such as business administration, human resources, finance and other departments within the organization and entities that are outside of the business. This presents a number of pressing problems with high stakes, for if the technology goes down, then an entire business can become paralyzed.

Changing Technology

There’s the challenge that IT is a volatile industry, with a rate of change that can be dizzying. Technology is notorious for becoming obsolete once it rolls off the assembly line, so IT project management must be prepared for this inevitable change.

Communication

Another hurdle that IT project management has to clear is communication between teams. This is a problem with all projects, frankly, but with IT there are often distributed teams who work remotely, often in different time zones, which only aggravates the situation. Having clear and effective communication channels is key for success on any IT project.

Transparency

Transparency is important, too, as the focus in IT is sharp. Having transparency across the project, with clear deadlines, helps teams better incorporate new technology or respond to change quickly and effectively.

Lack of Agreement on Methodology

But one of the biggest issues is that many organizations aren’t applying IT project management to their projects, which is like sailing a ship without a rudder. Without a process or methodology, whatever that might be, projects go off-track and over budget. Having an IT project manager who defines process, roles and tools is the first step to the success of an IT project.

There seem to be as many project management methodologies as there are projects. They break down into two larger camps, though: traditional and nontraditional methods. Let’s start with the traditional waterfall method, which breaks down the tasks in a project into a line of sequential project phases, and each of these phases depends on the delivery of the one before it.

Waterfall Methodology

Waterfall is the go-to methodology for most IT projects. While it is a project management method found in large projects outside of IT, it also lends itself to IT projects and has been proven a successful approach for formal and linear projects.

Waterfall has been around since it was codified in a paper published in 1970 by Dr. Winston W. Royce. The waterfall model has six stages:

• Requirements: First, the requirements are identified, analyzed and written up in a requirements document, defining what is being done and how it is to be done. This will be reviewed by stakeholders.
• Design: The next step is to document what was decided in the first stage in a design document, which notes everything needed to complete the project.
• Implementation:  The IT project manager and team execute the design document, sticking to specifications, procedures and timelines.
• Testing:  This is when deliverables from the project are measured against the standards set in the design document and stakeholders, like a quality check. If not met, then the process starts again. Our test case template can help with this process.
• Installation: If the tests are passed, then the project is ready for release to the end-user. The product should be fully operational at this point.
• Maintenance:  Most IT projects don’t end with delivery: they often require support after installation, whether updates or upgrades, though often this is tasked to a separate team.

Agile Methodology

Software development has introduced an agile framework to projects, a more iterative approach that works in short sprints and open to pivoting throughout the project, rather than being rigidly aligned with the plan. Some IT teams have incorporated agile or some of its implementations into their own projects.

Hybrid Methodology

More popular than agile with IT teams is hybrid methodology , which combines waterfall and agile, creating a more flexible and yet structured approach that can lend itself to IT projects. This “best of both worlds” approach it can be the right path forward depending on the parameters of the project.

ProjectManager is the ideal IT project management software for waterfall or hybrid methodologies. It features online Gantt charts for waterfall enthusiasts and kanban boards for agile lovers. Plus, the real-time dashboard keeps the IT project manager updated on progress through metrics that can be filtered to show the data you want and then shared.

Other Methodologies

Less used in IT projects, but worth mentioning, is the critical path method and critical chain project management. The critical path method categorizes the tasks that must be completed to fulfill the project objective. This is done with a work breakdown structure (WBS) , which is then mapped across a project duration or Gantt chart, with task dependencies linked to avoid blocking teams. This helps to know which tasks need to be done when.

The critical chain project management works backwards, recognizing deliverables and using past experience to map the tasks needed to complete the project. This is a very efficient way to use resources, while staying focused on the end-goal. However, delays can be common, and it’s not suited to work on a portfolio of projects.

The right IT project management tools will overcome the challenges of IT projects and give project managers better control and teams the features they need to collaborate and be more productive. Fortunately, ProjectManager is a project management software designed with IT project management in mind.

Gantt Charts for Waterfall Plans

The feature that fits with IT project management like a hand in a glove is ProjectManager’s online Gantt charts. Most of the methodologies above work on the timeline of a Gantt chart, and ours will allows you to link tasks that are dependent and even assign.

Teams love our online Gantt chart, especially IT teams that tend to work collaboratively and with autonomy. That’s because they can comment at the task level. Tasks can also have documents attached or images to add supporting materials and even sign-off once they’re completed.

Dashboards for Live Reporting

Because ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management software, status updates are instantly reflected throughout the program. That means your real-time dashboard is giving you project details as they happen.

The various metrics measuring cost, workload, time and more, can be filtered to show just the amount of data you need. Then these easy-to-read colorful graphs and charts can be shared to teams and stakeholders or printed out for presentations.

Roles and responsibilities in IT project management mostly mirror those projects in other disciplines. There are stakeholders, who are those who have an interest in the project; teams, who are those with skills to execute the project plan ; and the IT project manager, who is the person that is responsible for the planning, procurement and execution of the project.

Types of IT Teams

Where roles differ from more traditional projects is in the teams themselves. While more project management is executed by teams, whether remote or on site, they are largely part of the overall organization that is implementing the project. However, with IT project management there are three types of teams.

• First, there is the traditional project management team that is tasked with an IT project. These teams are not exclusive to IT and are led and staffed with a formal project management methodology.
• Second, there are professional services teams , who deliver technology to external customers. This is usually done with the implementation of software or installation of hardware. They are often led by a project manager, but can be headed by a services vice-president or director. However, they also use formal types of project management.
• Thirdly, there are internal IT teams . These are the teams that manage the delivery and maintenance of the technology in an organization. They roll out new systems, set up computers, monitors, phones and other devices for employees and manage the systems. They can be led by a project manager, though that person is usually defined within the company as a director or vice-president of IT.

The IT Project Manager

The IT project manager, due to the breadth of IT project management, has a wider range of responsibilities than most other project managers. They are not only dealing with leadership, resource allocation, scheduling and planning, monitoring and reporting, but must know about technology beyond the tools that they use to manage projects.

IT project managers are responsible for understanding firmware and being able to implement software integrations. They often build websites and databases, and manage these technologies as well. This includes building networks and maintaining security for data risks .

However, the basic structure of the IT project manager’s job remains being a clear communicator, setting realistic goals and applying the right methodology to achieve them. They must motivate and inform both teams and stakeholders, manage change and set the project schedule. The triple constraint of any project is still present. Therefore, the IT project manager, like any project manager, is concerned with setting deadlines and keeping to a budget. This is all managed through methodology.

An IT project manager can make a salary that ranges from $55,000 to $125,000, depending on industry and region. The more senior the position, however, the more compensated the person will be.

Responsibilities of an IT project manager are similar to any project manager, in that they lead the planning, execution and monitoring and reporting of the project. They are responsible for making sure resources are managed and the project comes in successfully, meaning on time, within budget and of the expected quality. They also report to upper management, stakeholders, clients, etc., while managing the IT staff.

The IT project manager is also responsible for staying updated on the latest technology and changes to the organization’s technology, through research and studying similar organizations and their IT structure. They make sure that the technology complements the organization’s overall goals, strategies and practices.

They also work to preserve the IT assets by implementing disaster recovery and back-up procedures, including any IT security and control structures. The IT project manager is responsible for the quality of all IT projects.

Skills and Qualifications

Some of the skills and qualifications of an IT project manager include:

• Technical management
• An understanding of technology
• An ability to stay on top of the ever-changing field
• Ability to analyze data
• Communications
• Problem-solving
• Data center management
• Strategic planning
• Quality management

One way to stay up-to-date on all the skills and qualifications required of an IT project manager is certification. Certification is done by an outside agency that notes a standard of excellence, understanding of the discipline and experience.

Most IT project managers have at least a bachelor’s degree in business management or a more specific area, such as marketing, engineering or computer science. To further differentiate yourself, there are certifications, but they’re mostly general project manager certifications.

Types of Certifications

The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers a couple of industry-recognized project manager certifications, such as the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and the Project Management Professional (PMP). PMI also offers a PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA), Program Management Professional (PgMP) and Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP).

More technical certifications are The Open Group’s TOGAF 9 and OPEN CA certifications, as well as the IASA’s Certified IT Architech – Professional (CITA-P). These enterprise architect certifications merge a knowledge of technology with business goals.

IT governance certifications is offered by ITIL and ISACA, which have Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC).

IT Project Management Resources

• Emerging Trends in IT
• Project Management Trends (2022)
• The 10 Project management Knowledge Areas
• IT Governance: Definitions, Frameworks and Planning
• 7 Steps for Effective Problem Management in IT
• IT Audit: Definition & Quick Guide
• Technical Project Manager
• IT Portfolio Management Software
• 15 Free IT Project Management Templates for Excel, Word & More
• IT Project Plan Template
• IT Risk Assessment Template
• How to Become an IT Project Manager

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Differences between project management and information technology project management.

Project management has become essential to almost every industry in today’s fast-paced world. As companies embrace technology and digitization, the need for effective project management has increased tenfold.

While project management remains a broad term, Information Technology Project Management (ITPM) is a discipline that focuses explicitly on technology projects. Although both project management and ITPM may sound similar, they have notable differences.

In this blog post, we will explore the key differences between project management and Information Technology Project Management.

What Is Project Management?

Project management is the systematic process of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing a project. It involves a set of tools, methodologies, and techniques to achieve specific goals and objectives within constraints such as time, scope, cost, and quality.

Project management basics  is an essential discipline in most businesses and organizations, as it helps in managing resources efficiently. Not only this, it also improves collaboration and communication among team members, identifying and mitigating risks, and delivering projects on time and within budget.

The project manager is responsible for leading the team, allocating resources, developing plans, estimating the project’s effort and cost, tracking progress, and ensuring that the project meets the stakeholders’ expectations.

Successful project management requires a mix of technical and soft skills, including leadership, communication, problem-solving, and analytical thinking.

What Is IT Project Management?

Information technology project management refers to the process of planning, organizing, and controlling IT projects. It involves applying various tools, techniques, and methodologies to ensure that IT projects are completed within the set timelines, budgets, and quality standards.

A typical IT project involves steps such as initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. Throughout the project, IT project managers work closely with stakeholders, including clients, developers, testers, and end-users, to ensure that the project meets the desired objectives.

Effective IT project management requires a combination of technical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and leadership abilities. Therefore, IT project managers must be adept at communication, problem-solving, risk management, and adaptability.

In short, IT project management is a critical function that ensures the successful delivery of technology projects and helps organizations achieve their strategic goals.

Major Differences Between Project Management And Information Technology Management

Project management and ITPM are two distinctive fields, despite sharing similarities. Project management covers a broad range of project scopes and industries, while information technology project management focuses on technology-related projects and development. Take a look at other major differences between the two’s:

1. Focus And Objectives

One of the primary differences between project management and Information Technology Project Management is their focus and objectives.

Project Management aims to manage and deliver projects through the utilization of resources and skills within a stipulated budget and timeline.

Whereas, ITPM aims to manage technology projects that align with an organization’s overall business objectives and IT strategies. ITPM involves tasks like developing information systems, implementing technology, and ensuring security, among others.

2. Technical Skills

Although project management and ITPM may share some concepts, they require different skill sets. Unlike project management, ITPM requires a deep understanding of technology trends, hardware, software, and cybersecurity protocols.

Professionals in ITPM roles need to have excellent technical skills, as the discipline is highly technical, and it deals with managing various aspects of technology projects.

3. Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder management is another key difference between project management and ITPM. Project management involves addressing stakeholder needs, ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of the status of the project, and managing their expectations.

In contrast, ITPM deals with a more extensive range of stakeholders, including technical stakeholders such as developers and software architects, business stakeholders, and other IT stakeholders.

4. Risk Management

While both Project Management and IT Project Management involve managing risks, ITPM handles more technology-focused risks. In ITPM, risks may include issues like data breaches, online frauds, viruses, malware, and system downtime.

In contrast, project management may face risks such as human errors, delays, and cost overruns, among others.

5. Documentation

Documentation is critical in both project management and ITPM. However, ITPM involves a higher level of documentation.

The documentation in ITPM focuses on the technology aspect of the project, which requires technical writing skills and a detailed understanding of the technology. In contrast, project management documentation may focus on the outcome, budget, and project goals.

Understanding the difference between project management and Information Technology Project Management is vital, as it equips organizations with the tools they need to excel in today’s technology-driven world. In project management, the focus is on cost, schedule, scope, risk, quality, and stakeholder management. Meanwhile, information technology project management has a greater emphasis on software development, system integration, testing, and deployment. If your organization is embarking on a technology project, it is critical to involve Information Technology Project Managers who have the necessary technical, communication, and leadership skills to drive the project to completion successfully.

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Home » What is IT Project Management and Its Best Practices in 2023?

What is IT Project Management and Its Best Practices in 2023?

This article covers:

What is IT Project Management?

Key components of information technology (it) project management.

• Top Information Technology (IT) Project Management Best Practices for 2021

Information Technology (IT) project management is defined as a process of managing teams and technologies to achieve the desired goals for the organization’s information technology plan and strategy.

It covers a large swath of a company’s operations given the reach of information technology within organizations today, which is practically every working department. Based on time-frame needed to plan and execute, IT project management goals can be:

• Short term – such as software integration/implementation, which span across a few days;
• Mid-term – such as web development , usually takes a few weeks;
• Long term – such as software/app development, could take a few months or years;
• Very long term – such as database management, network and security management etc, could take years or may need continuity perpetually.

In order to fully understand the execution of the definition and goals, it is first important to understand and take note of all the moving parts within the IT Project management eco-system.

Human Resources

In IT project management This includes every member of the project team , shared or fully dedicated, part-time or full-time employees. 

Your human resources are the most integral part of your project, who will be helping you manage all other components of the project. 

Making a list of the software solutions you need to complete your IT project. This includes OS platforms suitable for programming requirements, testing and debugging tools, run-time tools and post-deployment tools. 

Hardware and Networks

While hardware and networking typically points to your computer system requirements based on project needs, it also takes into account testing environments and devices such as tablets and mobiles, and their required configurations. That is why it is an important component in IT project management.

Security and Access Management

While your team is working on a new project, it is always open to hacks and malware even at a developmental stage. To secure projects from unauthorized access of hackers, businesses should ensure the use of id verification software. Security and access management is the process by which an IT manager complies with organizational security standards and any other security requirements specific to the project. This includes security applications (on premise and cloud), digital authentication tools and physical (work space) id authentication tools (like biometric access systems and scanners).

Data Storage and Management

One of the core tenets of IT project management, is to ensure that the commercial goals are met, which includes customer/user experience. Both CX and UX depend heavily on effective data management for personalization , ease-of-fetching and feeding the data back into any customer touchpoint/interaction. 

Integrations

Integrations act as utility-multipliers. They are key to ensuring that your product can integrate with a non-competitive software that your customer or potential customer may already be using. This increases the overall value of your product’s utility in the customer’s current tech ecosystem. 

IT project management requires team leads to develop integration requirements with existing applications in the market. Usually a new software will have a few default integrations available, but as customer needs grow, new integrations are built. For example, QuestionPro – a survey software allows API integrations with Salesforce CRM – which allows users of Salesforce who have the QuestionPro license as well, to send surveys to customers directly from the Salesforce app.

IT Project Management Lifecycle

IT project management lifecycle includes: 

Project planning includes creating roadmaps and schedules delivering each moving part in the project. These moving parts include

• Team member assignments
• UI and UX product goals
• Type of development methodology
• Phases of development
• Testing frequency and prioritization
• Alignment with business goals
• Marketing and go-to-market plan

Project resourcing includes both human and tech stacks. Typical requirements among human resources could include software engineers, CX specialists, UI and UX designers, supervisors and the project manager . Among tech-enablers, apart from coding, testing and debugging platforms, a successful IT project management also requires file sharing, time tracking and communication tools. This is especially true for a post-Covid world which is increasingly leaning towards remote working and distributed teams across geographies.

Executing, Testing, Debugging

Executing code blocks, testing and identifying run-time errors and debugging identified issues are basic to any IT project management. 

Deployment plan includes time-bound schedules for each sprint , final completion date, outreach/alignment plans for launch, and any other cross-team alignments needed for the achievement of deployment goals. If the project is customer facing, they need to be notified on the expected update through blogs, emails, newsletters, calls etc. If the deployment will lead to downtime of an existing product, whether internal or external, all stakeholders must be kept informed. 

While the basic tenants and components remain the same, there are 4 industry standards for lifecycle models/ approaches to IT project management:

The Waterfall Model

Where the complete set of 5 stages are completed one by one. Once the final stage is completed, the project is complete. There are no iterations beyond the testing phase, which is followed by the final deployment. Such a model is useful when there is ample time for the full project to be completed at once without need for any phase-wise deployment. 

The Spiral/Iterative Model

Where all 5 stages are completed, and then repeated till the desired goal is complete. For example, such a model is helpful in constrained resources/ time and when the need is to release functional versions and improve with each iteration. Such models are typically applied in web development where new websites may be released with basic information and content, with further iterations to improve content and design. 

Hybrid Model (Agile)

Where the waterfall model is combined with iterative approach. Here, project work and deployments are split into smaller sprints, where each sprint builds on the previous sprints and each sprint is released using waterfall model. The agile model is a well-known standardised outcome of hybrid life cycle methodology.

Top 6 IT Project Management Best Practices for 2023

IT project management comes with its own set of challenges. These include lack of clarity among team members, disputes on methodologies to be used for coding, stakeholder management , etc. Below are the top best practices to follow to ensure prevention of issues, seamless functioning of the IT project team, and delivering expected outcomes:

Set Communication Standards

There are four 2-way communications within a project environment – communication between management and project manager, between project manager and team members, between team members and finally, although rarely, directly between management and team members. 

A communication standard will be needed to ensure that every stakeholder understands when communication is expected, who all need to be involved and chain of escalation when needed. Such standards ensure professional communication, reduces redundant conversations while ensuring that right members are looped into the required conversations. 

Set Delivery Expectations

One of the key requirements for a successful IT project management is the need to set delivery standards. This entails that every member of the team is aware of their work deadlines, and the protocols to follow in case deadlines will not be met – including informing team members and project managers, requesting updates to deadlines and providing new estimated completion dates. 

Managers also need to ensure that team members understand the priority of tasks and which task deadlines cannot be shifted at all. 

Aim for Open-door Communication Standard Within Team

An open-door communication aims to set ‘free-to-approach anyone’ standards where invariant or hierarchy, any employee can directly approach any team member, the managers, and the senior management team. While this is difficult to implement in large corporations, it can still be taken to several layers of organizational hierarchy. 

One of the biggest challenges to successful project management effectively stems out of communication problems such as lack of clarity of roles, lack of understanding of objectives, unclear on next steps etc. 

Seek Early Alignment/Agreement on Methodologies

When it comes to internal team disagreements, one common theme is alignment on methodologies, especially in technical projects in IT. A simple solution is to rule in a well-debated methodology path, and to rule out others once it is decided. The good news – Agile hybrid approach is taking a near-unanimous lead in the most preferred method, as it combines both waterfall and iterative models, with sprints being the cornerstone. 

Showcase Early Successes

Early successes are a deterrent against cancellation, especially today with volatility arising out of the Covid 19 lockdowns. Reporting on early achievement of milestones and outcomes must be taken seriously by any IT project manager . 

Noting early successes is not just good for the management team, but also for the morale of project team members. Success in experimental projects needs even more vigilantly noteworthiness. 

Set Testing Priorities

It is important to set clear expectations on which areas of the product need the highest levels of testing and quality control compared to the rest of the project. For instance, security and privacy are always of paramount importance in every project. For an ecommerce website, customer transaction/payment gateways testing is critical whereas for a media website, content design and advertisement integration testing takes priority.

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Project management (PM) is a cross-disciplinary field that is important in public, private and non-profit organizations but it receives less attention in the literature than leadership, strategy or human resource management. There are only a handful of reputable peer reviewed international journals that serve PM practitioners and researchers - these PM journals are typically affiliated with recognized PM associations; IJITPM serves a valuable function by providing an independent voice from the PM associations for researchers to share their research.

For many years, practice has considered the management of information technology (IT) projects to be unique, that context makes a difference with respect to the methods, people, and outcomes that must be considered. Yet, the IT literature relegated the topic to the management field as if irrelevant to advancing IT study and practice. IJITPM provides researchers an outlet that recognizes the importance of contextual matters associated with IT project management. Practitioners can turn to IJITPM as a common source to discover advances in thought by academics who understand the abundant distinctions.

IJITM covers an increasingly important area for organisations. It is unique in its scope and coverage, offering insights into the application and theory of managing IT projects. It delivers an excellent resource of papers and discussion essential for developing, growing and enhancing the discipline.

I have been Area Editor of IJITPM from its first issue and it has been a remarkable experience. The articles published so far show that this is a truly international journal that publishes rigorous, interesting and relevant research. IJITPM promotes and disseminates a kind of knowledge that is important to technologists, managers and project researchers. Its wide appeal allows the integration of worldviews and thus contributes to a more rounded understanding of the issues, problems, opportunities and challenges that we often face while practicing or researching information technology projects. IJITPM is an important journal with a promising future.

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IJITPM is a high quality journal with in-depth articles about IT project management not found in any other journal. It is very concise but wide-based journal that brings the IT practitioner up to date on a very important area of project management and adds an important value to this area. I have found useful articles in every issue from the beginning, impressed of the variety in the subject matter and the depth at which most articles explore. IJITPM is, in my opinion, the premier journal in the area of managing IT projects and I would highly recommend it to anyone dealing with this area.

I believe that IJITPM encourages co-development of information systems and project management through active discussions and provides the leading forum for practitioners and researchers. I am honored to have been invited to participate in the editorial board of this journal and am happy to have accepted the invitation.

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What Is a Technical Project Manager? (How to Become One)

Discover what goes into technical project management, including responsibilities, qualifications, and salary expectations, and learn the steps to embarking on this career path. 

Project management is one of those skills that is required in nearly every industry. In business, a project manager is someone who leads a team and makes sure that each member is aware of the goals and objectives of the team, their role, and the project output.

A technical project manager works primarily with information technology (IT) or other technical support teams, leading projects from start to finish. Technical project managers need to be skilled with the basic organizational and time management skills that any project manager has, along with technical knowledge of IT.

Learn more about what a technical project manager is and how to become one.

What is a technical project manager?  

A technical project manager is someone who has technical expertise in IT, manages IT projects, and leads technical teams within an organization. Because it requires both technical and management skills, you can think of technical project management as a hybrid role. 

If you have a keen interest in technology, want to see projects through to completion, enjoy motivating and encouraging others, and can work well under pressure, a technical project management (PM) career path may be right for you. 

Technical project manager vs. project manager 

Explore how technical project managers and project managers compare in the table below. 

Read more: What Is a Project Manager? A Career Guide

Technical project manager jobs

As of June 2022, Glassdoor lists over 88,000 technical project manager jobs in the United States, some of which are with companies like American Express, IBM, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Wells Fargo, and Pearson Education. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the computer systems design industry, which includes business, financial, architecture, and engineering occupations, employs the highest number of project managers —and they earn a mean annual wage of $114,930 [ 1 , 2 ].

In your job search, you may come across technical project manager positions at different levels of seniority, including entry-level, junior, senior, and principal roles. You may also see more specialized roles that require technical expertise, such as Agile project manager, Scrum Master, and DevOps project manager. 

Read more: What Is a Scrum Master (and How Do I Become One)?

While there is crossover among these roles, there may be specific differences that you’ll need to keep in mind as you consider your career in technical project management. For example, a DevOps project manager adapts the waterfall or linear PM methodology (emphasizing one final product) to Agile methodology (iterative cycles, each with a deliverable), so that software issues can be corrected throughout the project development process. 

Technical project manager salary

So, how much can you make as a technical project manager? According to Glassdoor, the base salary for a technical project manager, on average, is $111,037 in the United States. Someone in an entry-level position as a technical project manager can expect to make a base salary of around $69,241 , while a senior technical project could make around $124,430 [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. 

What do technical project managers do? 

Professionals in this role specifically manage projects that involve a high level of technical expertise and act as the lead subject matter expert in their company when it comes to technology. As a technical project manager, you may also be in charge of:

Hiring and training technical staff

Improving the way projects are planned and resources are managed

Managing a budget

Researching new technologies for projects and maintaining them

How to become a technical project manager 

1. obtain professional credentials. .

Technical project managers should have, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree, preferably in a field related to technology, such as computer science , software engineering, IT, cybersecurity , or management information systems . Some positions may require a master’s degree. 

In addition, you’ll want to consider getting a PM certification, as this credential is recognized around the world, demonstrates your full understanding of project management terms, concepts, and methodologies, as well as your commitment to systematic processes.  

2. Sharpen your skills. 

Remember that technical project managers have technological and project management expertise. That means you’ll need to sharpen your skills in both areas. 

As a project manager, you’ll need general skills like recruiting and training new talent, managing a team, and organization, as well as specific skills in schedule planning, using project management software, Gantt charts , and Kanban boards , and implementing different methodologies. 

In terms of your technological expertise, look into the kind of projects you want to manage, as well as what employers are looking for to find out what skills you need. For example, as a technical project manager in the gaming industry, you will likely need experience in gaming, knowledge of cloud services like Amazon Web Services, experience with Agile or LEAN software development, and more. 

Read more: 11 Key Project Management Skills

3. Gain technical and project management experience. 

Your next step is to apply your credentials and skills to actual projects in order to gain relevant experience in technical project management. Reach out to your network to find volunteer or contract opportunities to serve as a project manager. You can also design and run your own project. 

4. Build your technical project manager resume.

As you gain experience, obtain credentials, and build skills for technical project management, it’s a good idea to assemble a strong resume that you can adapt to different job applications. 

Start by researching technical project manager careers on job sites like Glassdoor and Indeed to get a feel for the professional landscape and the opportunities that are available to you. Align your qualifications to each technical project manager job description and describe them in a compelling way on your resume.   

Read more: 10 Ways to Enhance Your Resume

5. Practice answering technical project manager interview questions. 

Prepare to answer common technical project manager interview questions even before you apply for jobs and land interviewers. That way, you can gain an understanding of what employers are looking for, get into the habit of describing your qualifications in detail, and address the technical side of project management.

Here are examples of questions you may be asked:

What inspires you to manage projects from a technical standpoint?

How much experience do you have in technical project management? 

How have you applied your technical expertise to managing projects in the past?

Read more: 12 Project Manager Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

6. Apply for technical project manager jobs.

Once you have a solid resume template and have practiced a variety of interview questions, return to the job sites and do another search for technical project manager listings. Your goal is to draw upon all the insights you’ve gathered from steps one through four to narrow down the jobs that best match your career goals. 

Ask yourself these questions: 

What are the required qualifications, and how do they align with my experience, skills, and credentials?

What kind of projects and tasks would I be completing in each position, and how do these align with my interests and passions? 

As you apply for jobs and garner interest from potential employers, be sure to prepare thoroughly for each interview and brush up on your interviewing skills . 

Read more: How to Answer STAR Interview Questions

Begin your project management journey

Taking online courses can be a great way to learn about technical project management, build skills, and discover career opportunities. 

Google's Project Management professional certificate can help you gain the skills needed to succeed as a project manager, such as strategic thinking, project planning, and risk management.

Article sources

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “ Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021: Project Management Specialists , https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes131082.htm.” Accessed January 9, 2023.  

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “ May 2021 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates: Computer Systems Design , https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_541500.htm.” Accessed January 9, 2023.  

Glassdoor. “ Technical Project Manager Salaries , https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/us-technical-project-manager-salary-SRCH_IL.0,2_IN1_KO3,28.htm.” Accessed January 9, 2023.  

Glassdoor. “ How Much Does an Entry Level Project Manager Make? , https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/entry-level-project-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,27.htm.” Accessed January 9, 2023.   

Glassdoor. “ How Much Does a Senior Technical Project Manager Make? https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/senior-technical-project-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,32.htm.” Accessed January 9, 2023.  

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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What is IT project management?

IT project management is the process of managing, planning, and developing information technology projects. Project managers can use software to move through the five phases of the IT project management life cycle and accomplish complex tasks more effectively.

IT project managers are adaptable and resourceful leaders. Carrying complex projects over the finish line isn’t an easy task, but the right leader does it time and time again. 

Having the right IT management software can be the key to project success. Our guide outlines what IT project management is and provides tips for managing IT projects.  

IT project management is the process of managing, planning, and developing information technology projects. IT projects exist within a variety of industries, including software development, information security, information systems, communications, hardware, network, databases, and mobile apps.

IT project developers deliver a product or service, while managers handle IT project management. Managers are in charge of communicating expectations and keeping projects on track and on budget to ensure the IT projects run smoothly.

What are the 5 phases of IT projects?

As an IT project manager, you can accomplish complex tasks more effectively using the five phases of IT project management. Each phase has different milestones that drive the project life cycle forward. Whether you’re managing sprints for an Agile project or process rollouts—map out your next project using the five phases below.

1. Initiation

During the initiation phase , determine the need for the project and create a project proposal. The project must also be viable for the team and the company at large. During this phase, make sure to also confirm the project is worth the allotted time and resources before moving forward.

2. Planning

The planning phase is a collaborative effort between you as the IT project manager and your team. Planning for the project involves setting budgets, identifying risks, and creating clear goals for what you hope to accomplish. 

A roadmap template can help you plan goals that you can then refer to throughout the project life cycle. 

3. Execution

The execution phase is when the team sets deliverables for the project. IT project managers play a crucial role by delegating tasks to hit milestones and keeping communication open among all team members. 

Use team collaboration software to ensure everyone is on the same page about who’s doing what by when. You may need to revisit the project plan during execution, as projects often experience changes during development. 

4. Monitor and control

During the execution phase, use IT project management software to track your team’s progress in real time. This involves monitoring the time, cost, scope, quality, and risk of the project itself. Using your project roadmap , you can evaluate whether the project is on track with your project proposal and goals, or course-correct if necessary. 

Once the project is complete, the closure phase begins. In this phase, ensure all work has been completed, approved, and moved on to the appropriate team. It’s also important to take some time to review any lessons learned during the project and determine what went well and what didn’t. The closure phase is crucial because it empowers your team to review and improve future methodology. 

What does an IT project manager do?

As an IT project manager, you must know how to communicate with everyone in your organization. You’ll be working closely with members of the IT department but you may also be in charge of discussing your team’s work with other teams.

Ensure the product functions: The goal of every IT project is to deliver a functional product that meets the customer’s needs. IT project managers are the first point of contact if things go wrong with a project, which is why you must prioritize functionality above all else. 

Assign tasks to team members: A project manager is a team’s go-to person when determining what their roles and responsibilities are for the project. As an IT project manager, take some time to understand IT teams so you can assign tasks effectively.

Track progress and performance: Once each project begins, project management professionals must track team performance, the project timeline , the budget, and how well the project is meeting its goals. IT project managers can use project management software to assess competencies and assist with professional development.

Lead Agile meetings with stakeholders: A stakeholder is often influenced by the outcome of the project. This could be senior management, a customer, or a product tester. As IT project manager, you’ll communicate with stakeholders and give them frequent status reports on the project.  

Challenges faced by IT project managers

You’ll face a fair number of challenges in your role as IT project manager, but with the right management tools, you can feel confident in your ability to address issues quickly. 

Time and budgeting

Time and budgeting are some of the biggest challenges you may face in IT project management. Without realistic deadlines for a project, you risk delivering a product or service that is of lower quality than it could be. 

Not having the resources to complete the project can also make teams and customers suffer. You can reduce time and budgeting challenges by prioritizing these items in the planning phase. 

Scenario: Senior management would like your team to perform a company-wide software migration within one month, but you’ll need an additional month because your team is too small and inexperienced to complete the migration in the allotted time frame.

Solution: Use IT project management software to keep senior management informed about your team’s availability and experience. That way, management can prepare a more realistic timeline when assigning IT projects.

Scope creep

Scope creep occurs when the original goals of the project become overshadowed if stakeholders continue adding new requirements and deliverables. It can potentially derail a project and requires constant maneuvering. 

To reduce the frequency of scope creep, set strong project objectives from the beginning, have a change control process in place, and do your best to communicate with stakeholders every step of the way. 

Scenario: Your initial project goal was to improve outdoor Wi-Fi at your company’s headquarters so employees and visitors can work from anywhere. During project execution, stakeholders ask you to expand the outdoor Wi-Fi reach to the operations center across the street and also allow download capabilities. 

Solution: IT project management can give clear project objectives at the start, so your stakeholders will know what can be accomplished during this project. For example, they would understand that requesting an extension of the outdoor Wi-Fi reach is reasonable, while requesting download capabilities is too extensive.

Miscommunication

Because IT project managers function as the go-between among team members, departments, and stakeholders, miscommunication can become a challenge if there isn’t an organized process in place to keep everyone informed. Prioritize communication using IT project management tools to lead your team to success. 

Scenario: Your company agrees to work with a local school and improve their learning spaces with increased access to technology. The project involves installing Wi-Fi and donating 100 computers to the school, but your senior manager thought you were only donating 10 computers.

Solution: Prioritize communication at the beginning of a project. Sharing frequent project status updates with IT management tools can ensure everyone is on the same page through the project life cycle. 

Risk management

Managing the risks of an information technology project is a necessary step in the initiation phase. During this phase, you must come up with alternate plans should your initial goals fall short. If you don’t manage risk on the front end, you’ll have a hard time picking up the slack when things go awry in real time. 

Scenario: Your team creates an online scheduling portal for patients at a hospital. You predict everything will run smoothly, so you’re shocked when a bug in the program causes cardiac patients to see gynecologists and neuro patients to see urologists.

Solution: With proper risk management, a plan is in place to quickly and effectively resolve the bug. Fixing the bug also means reassessing and identifying potential new risks raised by the fix. Risk analysis is an essential part of IT project management—try using a risk register to identify risks before they occur. 

Changing technology

Complex IT projects can take months or years to complete. One challenge in IT project management is keeping up with transforming technology as a project takes place. The project scope of your initial IT project must be flexible in case the needs of your customer change while your project is in development. 

Scenario: Your team takes on a long-term project to improve the GPS systems in cars. While working on this project, GPS phone apps come out allowing drivers to see traffic in real time. Your GPS system doesn’t include traffic, and including this feature would considerably extend your project length. 

Solution: Changing technology can’t be stopped, so your IT project must be flexible. In this example, your team would need to decide whether pivoting the project is a good business strategy to compete with advanced GPS phone technology.

Types of IT project management tools

IT project management tools can keep your project team organized and informed from project initiation to closure. These tools help visualize each team member’s role in the project and show the project’s progress in real time.

For all types of IT projects:

RACI chart: RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. Using a RACI chart , you can clarify the roles and responsibilities of your team members when working through projects. For each task or deliverable, designate which team members or stakeholders are Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed. These charts can be useful in all types of IT projects, as there’s always a need for clarification among team member responsibilities.  

For projects with task dependencies:

Gantt chart: A Gantt chart —named after Henry Gantt—is a horizontal chart used to illustrate a project timeline. Each bar on the chart represents tasks in the project, and the length of each bar represents time. Gantt charts help teams visualize what work needs to get done and how tasks affect one another, like a waterfall. If your project involves many dependent tasks (in other words, tasks that rely on one another), then this is a great tool because your team members can see if and where tasks overlap. 

For projects that require tasks with small, incremental changes:

Kanban boards: Kanban boards show the work breakdown structure of what stage each task is in. Using Kanban boards in IT project management can help your team balance their work responsibilities and see other team members’ available capacity. Kanban boards work well when your project requires tasks with small, incremental changes. These task boards allow teams to break down tasks into checklists and progress stages. 

What is an example of IT project management?

An information technology team is developing a new iPhone application to help employees clock in at work. When putting together the project proposal for the iPhone app, the IT project manager consults with the app creator while also considering the needs of the end user. 

In this IT project example, we’ll use the five phases of project management to bring the iPhone app through development.

Initiation phase : The first step is to ask questions. Dig deep into how the app will help solve a problem. Consider how this iPhone app can provide a solution for employees and employers. Is creating this app viable for your team given the designated time and budget?

Planning phase : Next, you begin the planning phase. To do so, determine the budget it will take to make the app and assess who on your team can handle the coding of the app.

Execution phase: The most important part of executing the plan for your iPhone app is to identify your overall project objectives. In this example, your project objective is: “The goal of this time-tracking application is to provide an easily accessible way for employees to clock their work hours and to help employers keep track of their team’s productivity.”

Monitor, control, and closure phases: Use IT project management tools to monitor your team’s progress. With effective project management software, you can look back at the data during the closure phase. 

Streamline IT projects with project management software

A strong IT manager will ensure that your IT projects run smoothly, stay on track, and budget. Looking for a way to automate tasks as an IT manager? 

With Asana, get Gantt chart-like views, tools for managing team responsibilities, stakeholder sharing options, and real-time project updates to help you hit your project deliverables on time.

Related resources

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SMART Goals: How To Write Them and Why They Matter

8 time-saving Asana tips to get more done, faster

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The Impact of Technology on Project Management Success: Investing in PM Tech to Grow Your Small Business

How much should I spend on PM tech?

3 ways pm tech can help your business grow, 1. growth through better collaboration and communication, how investing in project management technology can help, 2. growth through better scheduling, 3. growth through better budgeting, further reading, what are your project management growing pains, information on capterra's top technology trends for smbs survey.

Everyone has heard the old business axiom, "You have to spend money to make money."

But have you heard the saying, "You have to invest in project management technology to grow your business?"

OK, so I just made up that second saying, but that doesn't make it any less true. While every small business leader needs to be mindful of their budget, long-term skimping on tech and training can lead to the demise of your business.

With that in mind, how much should you spend and what benefits will you get out of spending on project management technology ?

Spending more on project management technology can increase your organizational growth so that you can keep pace with the competition. In this piece, we'll look at how many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are investing in PM technology and how much they're spending, as well as the impact of technology investments on project management success.

Last month, we tackled part of the spending equation when we wrote about how to determine your annual budget for project management technology .

A few of the key takeaways from that piece (based on Capterra's 2018 Top Technology Trends survey):

Funding is one of the top three challenges SMBs face when planning investments in new technology.

Most SMBs consider PM tech an important strategic investment, and about 40% have already planned a PM software budget in the next one to two years.

One-third of SMBs with an approved budget are planning to spend between $1,000 and $10,000 annually.

A general rule of thumb is the bigger your revenue, the more you should invest in project management technology.

If your organization is making $80 million per year, for example, but you're only spending $5,000 each year on project management technology, you're in the minority and potentially putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage.

The size of your organization is also an important factor, as most project management software is sold by a per-user license. The majority of project management software costs somewhere in the ballpark of $50 per user per month, though there are certainly less expensive and even free options.

The chart below shows what you can expect to pay for project management software for your organization.

*Budget estimates do not include costs associated with setup, maintenance, support, etc. ( Source )

Now that you know how you stack up against your peers when it comes to project management technology spending, let's take a look at why you should be spending this much on PM tech and how it can help your business grow.

We should take a moment here to acknowledge that while growth is a worthwhile goal for most small businesses, it should not come at the expense of good ethics, quality of life for you and your team, or sound business practices. One need look no further than British fintech company Revolut to see what can happen when rapid business growth comes before doing things the right way.

As it turns out, when you " move fast and break things " it can sometimes be difficult to put them back together again. Doesn't it make more sense to move deliberately and build things?

Fear not, though. This article will only show how you can use project management technology to grow your company in a healthy way through better collaboration, better scheduling, and better budgeting.

As your team grows, you'll undoubtedly find that it is increasingly difficult to keep all the right people in the loop on your projects.

Poor communication is cited as a leading cause for failure on almost one-third of doomed projects (29%). ( Source )

Even when your projects are on steady footing, good collaboration is still a key driver to growth.

According to a Gartner webinar ( available to Gartner clients ), enterprises that effectively communicate:

Have a 19% higher market premium

Experience 57% higher shareholder returns

Are 4.5 times more likely to report high levels of employee engagement

Are 20% more likely to report lower turnover

The flip side of all those numbers is that teams that do not effectively collaborate will have a lower market share, lower shareholder returns, lower employee engagement, and higher turnover. In other words, they will struggle to grow or even survive.

Project management technology improves communication and collaboration by breaking down the walls between individuals and teams.

Good project management software allows teams to centralize documents, work on schedules and budgets together, and tag each other in updates and requests. In other words, project management software keeps everyone connected and aligned.

This helps your business grow: You may be able to keep track of what five different people are working on using email and a spreadsheet, but your time would be better spent finding opportunities for growth. And when you do find those opportunities leading to more projects and more employees working on those projects, you'll quickly reach the point where email and spreadsheets can't handle the load anymore.

So why not bolster your infrastructure now, before you're overwhelmed?

To see project management software collaboration in action, check out this video from Wrike , the second most popular project management tool on our Top 20 Most Popular list behind Microsoft Project :

Collaboration in project management tool Wrike ( Source )

As you grow, a mismanaged calendar is a recipe for disaster. It leads to unrealistic or missed deadlines, last-minute scrambles, and bottlenecks.

According to the PMI Pulse of the Profession survey of almost 4,500 project management practitioners from around the world, only about half (52%) of projects are finished within their initially scheduled times. ( Source )

And that number doesn't even include the number of projects that were completely abandoned or restarted because they fell so far behind schedule.

While occasional delays are inevitable, if your projects are consistently coming in significantly late, your growth will be stunted because you won't be delivering on time.

Good scheduling starts with good planning, and project management technology is instrumental in good planning and scheduling. Let's take a look at how.

Most project management software scheduling is built on a Gantt chart foundation.

What are Gantt charts? ( Source )

In it's most basic form, a Gantt chart is a grid of boxes that plots a list of tasks against the progression of time. Gantt charts are an indispensable project management tool because they elegantly show important dates (including project start and finish dates and key milestones), codependent tasks, and how important tasks relate to each other.

That may be getting under the hood a bit, but the important thing to know is that your project management software handles all the minutiae for you. Once you input deadlines and interdependencies, project management software will allow you to drag and drop deadlines and tasks and adjust your schedule accordingly.

For example, say that Task #2 of a project takes two days longer than expected. Your project management software will reflect this overrun in your overall schedule so that you know how to adjust to finish on time.

Project management software also helps with scheduling by sending automatic notifications when deadlines are coming up, and identifying the critical path to forecast the realistic duration of your projects.

This is all critical to the sustainable growth of your business because delays and missed deadlines will only snowball as your business grows. With collaborative calendars, schedule forecasting, and deadline notifications, project management software helps you deliver on time whether you have a team of 5 or 55.

It may be true that only 57% of project managers report completing their projects within their initial budget , but this isn't one of those situations where you can just say, "Everyone else is doing it, so it's OK if I blow my budgets, too."

Overspending is not only bad for your company's growth, it could even lead to the failure of your business: Income/cash flow shortages were the leading cause of small business closings in 2015. ( Source )

Just like project management software works behind the scenes to help you stay on schedule, it also works to help you stay under budget so that you have more funds to reinvest into your business and encourage growth.

Project management software allows project managers to enter all project expenses at the outset and then track them during the project lifecycle.

Say, for example, you're repairing a vehicle. At the beginning of the project, you estimate that you'll need:

$350 for parts

$195 for equipment rental

$45/hour for labor with an estimated timeline of 10 hours of labor for the repair

So, your budget is $995.

Your project management software will track your budget throughout the project. If your labor finishes early—say, in eight hours instead of ten—you can quickly see that your project is running $90 under budget. On the other hand, if your $350 part is marked up to $375 by the time you order it, your software will let you know that you're running $25 over budget.

This may seem like an oversimplified example, because it is, but you can imagine how helpful a tool like this can be when dealing with a project involving hundreds or thousands of different expenses.

Sound budgeting through project management software doesn't just help your business build a nest egg through the successful times, it also helps your business survive the lean months by letting you know when to scale back on unnecessary spending.

By connecting your accounting software data to your project management software budgeting module, you'll have a complete picture of your company's financial health, allowing you to chart a course for growth over the next five years and beyond.

In addition to project management technology's impact on growth in the areas of collaboration, scheduling, and budgeting, Capterra senior project management analyst Eileen O'Loughlin has identified three more reasons that make PM software a strategic investment for SMBs:

Employee effectiveness

Bridging the strategy-to-execution gap

An immediate ROI for SMBs.

Check out her article, What Small Business Leaders Need to Know to Make Strategic Investments in 2019 , for more on those strategies.

Which project management issues does your organization struggle with? Communication, deadlines, execution? Let me know in the comments so that we can work on finding solutions together.

Technology can help with lots of problems, but only if you know how to properly apply it.

Our project management blog is packed full of great tips on not only leveraging technology to help your organization grow in a healthy way, but also the soft skills you need as a project manager and small business leader to stay on track.

Here are a few recent articles to get you started:

The 5 Biggest Project Management Trends for Small Businesses in 2019

The A La Carte Approach to Effective Communication: Which Tools Work Best Together?

How to Turn Your Staff Into Project Ninjas by Improving Project Management Skills

Capterra conducted this survey in June and July 2018 among 715 U.S.-based SMBs with more than one employee and annual revenue of less than $100 million. The survey excluded nonprofit organizations. The qualified respondents are decision-makers or have significant influence on the decisions related to purchasing technologies for their organization.

Was this article helpful?

About the author.

Andrew Conrad

Andrew Conrad is a senior content writer at Capterra, covering business intelligence, retail, and construction, among other markets. As a seven-time award winner in the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. and Suburban Newspapers of America editorial contests, Andrew’s work has been featured in the Baltimore Sun and PSFK. He lives in Austin with his wife, son, and their rescue dog, Piper.

Related Reading

Analogous estimating: ensure better project projections with this technique, how to enhance your product and project resource management approach, 5 top-rated project management software for it, 5 top-rated project management software for marketing, category compare: gantt chart software vs. kanban tools software, burndown chart explained by a seasoned project manager, 7 project management mobile apps users love, 5 top-rated workflow management software for small businesses, project management: your go-to guide from basics to mastery.

Information Technologies

• Our Departments and Offices

IT Project Management Standard

Section 1 – introduction.

The University of Mary Washington is committed to continuously improving the delivery of information technology (IT) solutions within budget, on schedule, within scope and in such a way as to best contribute to accomplishing the university’s strategic mission. To this end, the University has established a standardized IT project management methodology based on proven “best practice” guiding principles as promoted by the Project Management Institute appropriately tailored to the specific circumstances of the university.

This standard and associated guidelines were developed in full accordance with and in support of the UMW Information Technology Project Management Policy and will be maintained by the UMW Project Management Office (PMO). The PMO will monitor the future development of project and portfolio management best practices and incorporate into UMW’s methodology those that are proven to improve project performance in a higher education setting.

The Commonwealth of Virginia Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act of 2005 and Chapters 824 and 829, Virginia 2008 Acts of Assembly grant public institutions of higher education certain operational authority in the areas of information technology and procurement, on condition that certain commitments to the Commonwealth are met. The University of Mary Washington’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Commonwealth provides delegated responsibility for management of the institution’s procurement and information technology project management. This delegation includes the authority to conduct these activities in accordance with industry best practices appropriately tailored for the specific circumstances of the university, in lieu of following Commonwealth determined specifications. Responsibility for IT projects costing under $2 million is delegated to the university to approve and manage such projects in accordance with industry, Commonwealth, and/or Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices.

IT projects costing $2 million and over remains under the purview of the Commonwealth’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), and the Project Management Division (PMD) of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA).

The President of the university has final project management oversight authority and may review, suspend or terminate any project.

This standard establishes the required processes and documentation for all University information technology projects.

This standard is applicable to all IT projects implemented by UMW faculty, staff, students, contractors, business partners, and IT service providers.

SECTION 2 – STANDARD

Project definition.

The definition of a project covered by this standard is a temporary information technology endeavor with an established beginning and end time that has a set of defined tasks and assigned resources, undertaken to develop a unique product, service or result.

An information technology project is a temporary effort undertaken by or on behalf of the university that:

• Establishes a new technology-based system or service
• Facilitates a significant business process transformation using technology; or
• Includes a major change in technology architecture or a system migration beyond that considered as general maintenance, enhancement, or refresh activity

In our organization a project typically performs one or more of these functions:

• Develop a new system or service
• Improvements to a system or service
• Improve business processes or introduce new ones
• Build or enhance infrastructure
• Apply new technology
• Upgrade enterprise applications

Some examples of work that are NOT projects:

• ETF/Operation efforts
• System administration
• System operations
• Break/fix activities
• Customer support

Activities undertaken in support of an existing product or service will not be defined as projects for the purposes of this standard, so long as the bulk of the effort involves continuation, with improvement, to the current product or service. Significant cost for a procurement or operational activity does not make the procurement or activity a project. For example, routine software upgrades or network component replacements are not necessarily projects. Utilization of project management principles and techniques in the management of maintenance and operational activities are encouraged, whether they are defined to be projects or not.

“Projects and operations differ primarily in that operations are ongoing and produce repetitive products, services, or results. Projects (along with team members and often the opportunity) are temporary and end. Conversely, operations work is ongoing and sustains the organization over time. Operations work does not terminate when its current objectives are met but instead follow new directions to support the organization’s strategic plans.” (PMBOK, Fourth Edition)

Requirement

If an individual/department is considering an information technology project, they are encouraged to work with Information Technology to assure appropriate analysis, classification, approval and documentation steps are undertaken. In addition to promoting good technology management decisions within the university, these steps also assist the university in meeting requirements set forth in Commonwealth of Virginia policies and standards.

Prior to soliciting acquisition or development of an information technology project, the following steps must be completed:

• Define the idea or need to be addressed by this project. Be able to communicate the project purpose and scope clearly to others.
• Submit the IT Project Research Form (PRF) on line at http://technology.umw.edu/pmo/evalform/    Any inquiries should be directed to the PMO for Information Technology at ext 5975.
• The PRF notifies the Technology Portfolio Management Committee and initiates the Project Research Phase. During the Project Research phase the requestor begins the process of investigating possible solutions, scheduling demos, gathering information, and answering questions.
• At the conclusion of the Research Phase, a potential solution/system is identified and an IT Project Approval form is submitted. During the Approval phase, the form goes to the Technology Portfolio Management Committee for review and recommendation to the Cabinet.
• Following Approval, the project moves to Project Management. At this point, IT PMO will review the requested solution/system with the PMO team. IT PMO will work with the project initiator to collect any additional information and complete any further analysis that may be necessary.
• In general, the level of oversight during the selection and management of technology projects varies with the cost and complexity of the project. For this purpose, projects are first classified as either major or non-major:

A major information technology project is one:

• For which the costs, from project initiation to project closeout (generally operational production go-live), are greater than $1M. These costs are to include all hardware and software costs. Salaries for technical and functional personnel are to be considered part of the project costs and the individual’s involvement will be tracked as a project expense.
• That is of such significance to the university that failure to achieve its expected outcomes could prevent UMW from accomplishing its mission or meeting its legal obligations until a workable alternative could be established; OR
• Set forth by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) as having “statewide application”.

Non-major information technology projects are those technology projects that have an estimate total project cost of less than or equal to $1M and are neither mission critical to the university or designated by VITA as having statewide application.

• As the initial analysis is completed and the project selection is approved by IT PMO, in conjunction with the initiator and appropriate management approvers, will assign a final project categorization (High/Medium/Low) and outline more specifically the project management and documentation requirements to be fulfilled as the project proceeds. The specific requirements vary with project categorization.

Project Categorization

UMW IT projects are categorized as High, Medium or Low based on a variety of parameters including but not limited to budget, resources, time to complete and risk. An IT Project Categorization Matrix is used to evaluate and determine each projects category. The IT Project Categorization Matrix can be found at https://sharepoint.umw.edu/departments/it/pmo/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fdepartments%2fit%2fpmo%2fShared%20Documents%2fTemplates&FolderCTID=0x012000E69BBE4E7DAADE4B9574321E05944FEB

Any activity that is determined by management to be undertaken as a project in one of these categories is covered by the Project Management Standard. The amount of oversight and documentation required is directly related to and increases with project complexity. The goal is to apply just the right amount of management control needed for a specific project to succeed.

Certain other characteristics may elevate the category for technology projects. These projects involve systems that:

• interface to the university’s Banner Administrative Systems (for date related to Student Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Advancement, Financial Aid, Student Accounts Receivable, etc);
• authenticate using the university’s directory services (i.e. Active Directory); or,
• access, transmit, process or store highly sensitive data such as Social Security Number (SSN).

Project Documentation by Categorization

• Projects over $2M require a Project Charter and are reviewed by VITA PMD before initiation.

Project Management Knowledge Areas

The project life cycle is comprised of phases: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Control, and Closing. In addition to these process groups, processes can also be classified into nine categories referred to as the Project Management Knowledge Areas. These Knowledge Areas combine and bring together processes that have characteristics in common. The level of project categorization is used to determine the required documentation associated with each of the nine Knowledge Areas and processes (reference Project Documentation by Categorization matrix).

The nine Knowledge Areas of Project Management are as follows:

• Project Integration Management: This process coordinates the other areas to work together throughout the project. The six processes associated with Project Integration Management involve identifying and defining the work of the project and combining and integrating the appropriate activities. This is the only Knowledge Area that contains processes across all five of the project management process groups. The processes within Project Integration are tightly linked, as they occur continuously throughout the project:
• Develop Project Charter
• Develop Project Management Plan
• Direct and Manage Project Execution
• Monitor and Control Project Work
• Perform Integrated Change Control
• Close Project
• Project Scope Management: The five processes of Project Scope Management are used to ensure that the project includes all of the requirements and no new requirements are added in a way that could harm the project.
• Collect Requirements
• Define Scope
• Verify Scope
• Control Scope
• Project Time Management: The Project Time Knowledge Area consists of six processes that help to ensure the project is completed on schedule.
• Define Activities
• Sequence Activities
• Estimate Activity Resources
• Estimate Activity Durations
• Develop Schedule
• Control Schedule
• Project Cost Management: The Project Cost Management Knowledge Area consists of three processes that monitor costs to ensure the project is completed within budget.
• Estimate Costs
• Determine Budgeting
• Control Costs
• Project Quality Management: The Project Quality Management Knowledge Area consists of three processes.   These processes ensure that the project meets the requirements, or does what it is expected to do.
• Plan Quality
• Perform Quality Assurance
• Perform Quality Control
• Project Human Resource Management: The Project Human Resource Management Knowledge Area consists of four processes. These processes organize, develop, and manage the project team.
• Develop Human Resource Plan
• Acquire Project Team
• Develop Project Team
• Manage Project Team
• Project Communications Management: The Project Communications Management Knowledge Area consists of five processes. These processes determine what information is needed, how that information will be sent and managed, and how project performance will be reported.
• Identify Stakeholders
• Plan Communications
• Distribute Information
• Manage Stakeholder Expectations
• Report Performance

A good project manager spends up to 90 percent of their time communicating. Overall, much of the project manager’s work involves managing project communication.

• Project Risk Management: The Project Risk Management Knowledge Area consists of six processes involved in identifying, managing and controlling risk of a project.
• Plan Risk Management
• Identify Risks
• Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis
• Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis
• Plan Risk Responses
• Monitor and Control Risk

According to the PMBOK® Guide , a risk is an uncertain event or condition that has a positive or negative effect on a project objective. Every project has some level of uncertainty and, therefore, some level of risk. Keep in mind that a risk is different from an issue. A risk may or may not occur. But when a risk materializes and impacts the project, it becomes an issue that must be handled.

• Project Procurement Management: The Project Procurement Management Knowledge Area consists of four processes. These processes are used to acquire the materials and services needed to complete the project.
• Plan Procurements
• Conduct Procurements
• Administer Procurements
• Close Procurements

Project management activities begin at the Initiation Phase where a project has been approved by management with funding identified. It continues on through the remaining life cycle phases of Planning, Execution and Control, and Closeout. This PM standard addresses the governance and management of any IT activity that meets the definition of a project.

Project Lifecycle

The lifecycle of a project begins when a person or organization recognizes a business need or problem requiring a solution. Projects are NOT just a set of tasks to perform! A project is a process that produces a unique product or service which allows the organization to achieve a desired business goal.

All projects are reviewed and managed through a lifecycle of phases, Initiation, Planning, Execution and Control, and Closeout.

The initiation process defines a new project and obtains authorization for that project to start. A project research form outlining the business justification for the project is prepared by the Project Sponsor. The sponsor serves as a “champion” for the project.

After the project research stage, a Project Approval form is submitted for review and approval by the Technology Portfolio Management Committee. Once approved, the project goes to the PMO, is appropriately classified, and the CIO and PMO will appoint an IT Project Manager. The Project Sponsor and Project Manager will identify the appropriate team members, and the Project Manager and project team will complete the project charter document.

Approval of the project charter by the CIO authorizes the Project Manager to staff the project team, procure resources, and oversee the people and resources necessary to complete the project. The project charter must be approved by the CIO before the project is considered approved for planning.

During the planning phase, information used in the Initiation phase is used to further refine the scope and define the objectives to be met by the project. The IT PMO will work with the Project Manager and team to identify documentation and project management activities that will be required (see the Project Documentation matrix for details). A project plan is developed, which includes the schedule, milestones, and plans for testing and training, security, procurement, resources, communication, and risks. The planning phase is complete when the project plan is completed and submitted to the CIO and PMO. With the submission and acceptance of all project planning documentation by the CIO and PMO, then and only then is the Project Manager given approval to officially activate the project and proceed to the Execution and Control phase i.e. begin project work, assemble project team, procure materials/equipment, etc.

Execution and Control

Executing begins when team members begin the actual work, as defined in the project plan, to complete the defined tasks and develop the deliverables. This includes building, developing and managing the project team; distributing relevant project information to stakeholders as planned; and managing stakeholders’ expectations to ensure their needs are met.

Monitoring and Controlling processes track, review and regulate the project’s progress toward meeting the performance objectives as defined in the project plan. These include, but are not limited to, ensuring changes to the plan are tracked and approved; that decisions, issues and risks are documented and appropriately addressed; that timely and accurate project status reports and other relevant information are communicated; and that testing and training activities proceed according to plan.

Project Closeout

When the Project Sponsor has accepted the project’s deliverables as complete and signed off on the project, the project manager initiates action to finalize the project and submits a final status report to the sponsor and the IT PMO. An archive of the project’s documents must be stored on SharePoint. The final deliverable is transferred to operations and support staff where it becomes part of the operational activities of the university.

Project Manager Selection and Training

Project Managers are selected and assigned to projects by the CIO in consultation with the IT PMO. The training and certification required depend on the project classification and level of experience required to manage the project.

For projects with High classification, a Project Management Institute (PMI) or Virginia Information

Technologies Agency (VITA) certified project manager is required or equivalent experience. For all other projects, a non‐certified project manager may be assigned. However, it is recommended that a certified project manager serve as a consultant on these projects.

Definitions

Activity Schedule – the planned dates for performing schedule activities and the planned dates for meeting schedule milestones

Information Technology Project ‐ a temporary effort undertaken by the university with the primary purpose of creating a unique information technology product or service. Temporary means that the project has a definite beginning and a definite end. Unique means that the technology product or service is different in some distinguishing way from all other products or services provided.

Maintenance, Enhancement or Refresh (MER) Activity – development, migration or upgrade activity undertaken as part of the normal, on-going operation of an information technology system and that is not of such significance to be considered a system replacement or major architectural change.

Project Charter – a document that provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Project Research Form (PRF ) – a list of general information questions to be completed by the project initiator and submitted to IT PMO as the basis for preliminary discussion, analysis and possible project identification and classification.

Procurement Management Plan – the document that describes how procurement processes from developing procurement documentation through contract closure will be managed.

Project Management Office ‐ provides project methodology guidance and support for the university’s IT projects. The PMO maintains Project Management Institute (PMI) or Virginia Information Technologies Agency(VITA) certification.

Project Manager ‐ assigned by the CIO and PMO and responsible for managing the project on behalf of the sponsor. Approval of the project charter authorizes the Project Manager to staff the project team, procure resources, and oversee the people and resources necessary to meet the project objectives. Project managers are responsible for reporting project status, budget, schedule and issues to the project stakeholders and the IT PMO. Every IT project must have a designated Project Manager.

Project Plan – according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), the project plan is: “…a formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning assumption and decisions, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines. A project plan may be summarized or detailed.” The project plan is the planning document, capturing the entire project end-to-end, covering all project phases, from initiation through planning, execution and closure.

Project Sponsor ‐ the individual, usually part of the senior management team, who makes the business case for the project. This individual has the authority and responsibility to define project goals, secure resources, and resolve organizational issues and conflicts. The sponsor approves and provides formal sign‐off of the project deliverables and closeout report.

Project Team ‐ comprised of the individuals responsible for completing the project tasks and objectives. The team members may be assigned to the project in a full or part‐time capacity, and may report directly or indirectly to the Project Manager.

Stakeholders ‐ persons or organizations that may be impacted, positively or negatively, by the execution or completion of a project. Stakeholders may be actively involved in project activities and may influence the project outcome and deliverables. The Project Sponsor and Project Manager are responsible for identifying all stakeholders at the start of a project.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ‐ a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. It organizes and defines the total scope of the project.

SECTION 3 – REFERENCE AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Project Management Institute. 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) , 4th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

Virginia Information Technologies Agency. 2013 Project Management Standard (CPM 301-01) . Chester, VA: Commonwealth of Virginia.

Supporting Information

Section 4 – governance, section 5 – standards review and maintenance.

This standard is reviewed annually by 1 July of each succeeding year.  The IT PMO or assigned designee will review the standards for accuracy and relevancy and make any necessary revisions or adjustments.

Document footers will be updated to include the date of the most revision.

The Change History matrix will be updated accordingly.

Any exceptions or changes to this process will be approved by the CIO.

CHANGE HISTORY

Approved v1.0 March 26, 2014 by the Acting CIO

March 22, 2016: v2.0 revised and approved standard based on newly implemented Technology Portfolio Management process.

May 31, 2016: v2.1 document aligned with IT template.

• Office 365 Migration
• IT Policies
• Project Management Office (PMO)
• Information Security
• Technology Accessibility
• VPN Required

New Student Info!

Technology information, it systems status page.

2023 program delivery information for new students

• Guidance Counsellors
• International Agents

Project Management – Information Technology (PMC)

Starts in January, May, September

Credential Awarded

• Admission requirements

Program and course delivery

This program is offered in Seneca's hybrid delivery format with some courses available in Seneca's flexible delivery format. Some coursework is online and some must be completed in person. Students will need to come on campus to complete in-person learning requirements. For courses offered in the flexible delivery format, professors use innovative learning spaces and technology to teach students in a classroom or lab and broadcast in real time to students attending remotely. In flexible courses, students have the choice of coming on campus or learning online.

Learn more:  Seneca’s  program delivery options  and how  courses in this program  will be delivered each term.

International students:  review  Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) eligibility   before  choosing program and course delivery.

About the Program

In this eight-month graduate certificate program, you will learn about the advances in project management taking place in the Information Technology (IT) industry. This program teaches an understanding of when to apply methodologies in the IT industry, including when each methodology is appropriate to use. This program will also refine your project management skills by providing an enhanced awareness of IT projects, programs and policies in two consecutive semesters. This program offers an optional work term for students to gain practical experience in the IT sector prior to graduation.

As a student in this program you may have the opportunity to participate in events such the annual hackathon.

Part-time option is available >

Throughout this program you will develop the following skills:

• Project management
• Project leadership
• Accounting and finance
• Systems development
• Quality assurance
• Contract law and ethics
• Manage the scope, timing and quality of a project
• Document project goals and deliverables
• Project control procedures, resource management, change management and risk management

Work Experience

Optional work term.

Students meeting all academic requirements may have the opportunity to complete an optional work term(s) in a formal work environment. The work term(s) is similar in length to an academic semester and typically involves full-time work hours that may be paid or unpaid. In programs with limited work term opportunities, additional academic requirements and a passing grade on a communication assessment may be required for eligibility. Eligibility for participation does not guarantee a work position will be secured. Additional fees are required for those participating in the optional work term stream regardless of success in securing a work position.

Review eligibility requirements for work-integrated learning

Your Career

Graduates of the program can explore the following career options:

System Analyst

Network administrator

Team leader

Project leader 

Project manager 

Professional Certification

This curriculum provides graduates with the requisite theory and the professional development units necessary to write the qualifying examinations for the following Project Management Institute credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management, Project Management Professional and PMI Agile Certified Practitioner.

Related Programs

• Database Application Developer
• Honours Bachelor of Commerce – Business Technology Management
• Project Management – Environmental

Why Project Management in IT Industry Has Become More Important Than Ever

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Program description - January 2024

Get ready for one of the fastest-growing professions in Canada! Become an IT Project Manager. This program will focus on Agile Methodology and contrast with traditional Waterfall-style project management. You will learn Scrum and Kanban - two of the most popular project management methodologies based on Agile. The program covers diverse topics to be a successful IT project manager, including the theories, practices, methodologies, and industry best practices used to initiate, execute, and complete IT projects. The curriculum is closely matched with, but not affiliated with, the Scrum Alliance ScrumMaster (CSM®) certification. The Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is an integral part of the program curriculum.

Program details

Program contacts.

• Carol Schlievert
• [email protected]

Academic school

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Tuition & fees

Tuition and fee details for the 2023-2024 year are listed below. Books and supplies are additional.

International

Canadian fee details, returning student tuition & fees.

View all Canadian tuition & fee details for all levels View all International tuition & fee details for all levels

International fee details

Program device & software requirements

This program requires you to have a device that meets certain specifications. For most students, this cost is in addition to the tuition & fees listed above.

Financial assistance

Awards & scholarships.

Student Financial Services awarded more than 400 awards, scholarships and bursaries last year.

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Delivery sequence - January 2024 - Waterloo