If you look around at the people that say they are project managers, you might find a high percentage will say they are in Information Technology (IT). In fact a PMI survey (PMI Today, Nov. 2008) showed that 38% of PM’s say they are in IT. With this being the case, then does this mean that 38% of projects are defined as IT projects? So in thinking about this, ponder what is an IT project?
If we apply the definition of a project, a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result (PMBOK® 4th Edition), what product, service, or result would an IT project produce? One additional implied characteristic of a project is that it is done to provide value to the executing organization. Therefore an IT project would be one that provides benefit to IT for purely IT use. This means an IT project would not provide value to the business that IT supports. I can think of no case where the business would accept this type of project. Every project where IT is included has benefit to the business organization. Therefore all projects are business projects, not IT projects.
OK, so I have just made many IT people upset. The first argument they come up with is what about a server upgrade, is that not an IT project? Over the years, I have had a number of conversations with IT people that say that projects such as server upgrades are IT projects. So let’s go back to the basic concept of a project, to provide value to the performing organization. In the case of a server upgrade, the business is getting the value of a newer more reliable server. If the business was willing to run on older less reliable server, then there would be no need for an upgrade. It is the business that must decide to spend their limited resources on upgrading a server. So even in a case where it may seem on the surface to be an IT project, it is in fact a business project. I stand by my assertion that there is no such thing as an IT project.
So if there are no IT projects, why do 38% of PMs say they are IT project managers and what is IT doing with all these efforts called projects? (I’ll save the first part of this question for another article.) If you look at the history of project management, IT was one of the first department types to understand the methodology and see the value. IT understood the concept of a temporary endeavor. Other business units did not think of themselves as performing projects. They also did not fully grasp the project management methodologies. So business said to IT, “You understand this project management stuff, why don’t you just do it?” So IT was give the responsibility of managing the projects without the full authority to do so. Business kept most of the knowledge areas, but did little or nothing with them. Take for example, project selection and termination. Business wants IT to run projects, but is not willing to give them the ability to select the projects they will do. Business on the other hand, seldom does a proper analysis of the projects they select for IT to perform. If IT sees a project is no longer worth doing, they do not have the authority to terminate it. Once again, this is reserved for the business, which seldom terminates projects. (What business needs to do to be better project managers is also a topic for another article.) This causes IT to be called on to manage projects when they have very little they can manage.
The reality is that IT does not do projects; they simply do IT related task. If you were to create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), you would find that the IT work would not be included in the top level item. This work would likely be at a lower level, right above the task level. This shows me that IT is at best a sub-project and most likely only a set of task required to implement the business project.
Now, before the entire IT world start to come after me, I am not saying that the IT department is not valuable. It is in fact one of the most valuable departments in today’s information driven world. In most companies, IT is the brains of the business and keeps the business running. The typical IT department is full of very bright very capable people. We just need to let them do what they are best at (Again, a topic for another article.) and leave the job of managing projects to the people who should take this responsibility; the business units! Only once we stop having IT projects and start having business projects will we see the full value of project management.
My hope is someday business will fully understand that they need to take responsibility for managing the organization’s projects.
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