Project management has long been associated with operations management, and is an important topic in operations management’s curriculum. There has been an explosion of projects in the field of information systems. Information systems project management involves some characteristics different from those found in operations management, but many of the same tools can be applied. This is due primarily to the volume of new projects to implement computer technology that organizations have adopted. There are many useful things that information technology can do for organizations. The information technology environment involves high turnover of personnel, turbulent work environments, and rapidly changing technology. This results in high levels of uncertainty with respect to time and cost. Despite this more volatile environment, project management principles applicable to operations management can often be transferred to the information system environment.

Projects:

Information systems projects have many similarities to generic projects. They consist of activities, each with durations, predecessor relationships, and resource requirements. They involve high levels of uncertainty and often suffer from time and cost overruns, while rarely experiencing time and cost underruns. However, information systems projects are different from generic projects in some aspects. While each project is unique, there are usually many, many replications of information system project types. Most are served by a standard methodology, with the need to identify user requirements, followed by design of a system, production of the system, testing of the system, training and implementation, and ultimately maintenance of the system. These steps are not always serial, with many loops back to prior stages. They involve the need for specialists in different areas of the information system field, but these specialties are not as distinctly different as carpentry and electrical work. Systems analysts usually know how to program, and testers know all of the other functions involved in a project. Project team members from the development side usually understand each other well. Information systems projects of course involve computers, which is a distinct characteristic that has more impact than initially might be apparent.

Third, projects involving humans creating things are much more difficult to estimate, because it is more difficult to estimate how long a creative activity (like writing a bug-free code) will take. Actually, political campaigns are more predictable because there is an end point—voting day. Effectiveness might be hard to estimate, but duration is pretty much given. Movies also have planned schedules, but directors may feel that artistic creativity was lacking in scheduled shots, and insist on redoing them. Information systems clearly involve less certainty as to duration than the other three kinds of projects considered here.

Projects can also differ on the dimensions of uncertainty. It is much more difficult to predict how much time is going to be required the first time you do something. Since projects are usually things done for the first time, they usually take longer than expected when they were estimated. Information systems currently are in very high demand, outstripping their supply. Another possible bias is introduced by the practice of making initial estimates intentionally low to get work. This bias improves the probability of getting work, which is often negotiated on a cost-plus basis. This practice is not at all recommended, as it leads to a bad reputation when initial promises are not kept. Furthermore, it has ethical ramifications with respect to truth in advertising. An additional factor in project lateness is that large government projects are the most commonly reported. These projects tend to be very complex, and often run over in time and budget. How many times have you read about a government project of significant magnitude taking less time than estimated? Since there is a strong correlation between time and money, late projects almost always cost more than expected. When was the last time you heard of a government project having a cost underrun?

General project management is a field that has developed primarily since World War II. With more complex undertakings, many project management principles have developed. They typically involve a cost/time/quality tradeoff, found in almost any project. Specifically in the information systems field, this tradeoff can be stated as follows:

This adage is not presented as a recommended way to treat all projects. We all like to think that we can do better than anyone else, and accomplish all three tasks. But over and over, in the fields of construction, government projects, and in information systems, problems in completing projects on time, within budget, and meeting specifications have been encountered. Project management cannot be blamed for all of these reported failures. The point is that we should understand the difficulties involved in a project environment, seeking to understand the project as a system so that we keep it on target with respect to accomplishing what it is intended to do, in the most timely and efficient manner possible. Bringing in a project on time, within budget, and meeting specifications is tough. Project managers need to expect difficult challenges.