IT Project Management Research Articles

MODERN APPROACH IN TEACHING PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR IT SPECIALISTS

The modern world is not thinking without information technology. Training specialists not only fluent in IT technologies, but also those who know how to manage people and resources, is one of the main tasks of the IT university. This article focuses on teaching project management for IT students. The course covers the necessary set of knowledge and skills required for IT project managers. The main goal of the course is to teach students to focus on the organizational and managerial aspects of program projects. Along with various methods of project management (planning, budgeting and risk analysis), the main project management tools are considered; leadership principles; customer relations; liability issues; intellectual property issues; privacy issues. The article discusses the modern approach to teaching as a blended learning technology. This approach, combining traditional forms of education with elements of e-learning, is well applicable for a project management course. The features of the teaching of this course presented in the article are based on the personal responsibility of students for their own learning results. This also includes training based on mastery, an environment of high achievements, learning by doing. Actual methods in education as learning by doing, inverted learning and gamification are considered. The work also highlighted the role of “Project Management” in the student’s general educational trajectory. In addition, the article presents the experience of implementing and teaching this course at the International University of Information Technologies. The Project Management course is one of 12 courses in the Software Development Program (SDP) cycle, presented by iCarnegie.

Alkalmazott IT projektmenedzsment-eszközök és -módszerek a Nemzetbiztonsági Szakszolgálat gyakorlatában

A szerző áttekintést nyújt az informatikai projektmenedzsment eszközökről és módszerekről a Magyar Nemzetbiztonsági Szakszolgálat gyakorlatában.

A Risk Mitigation Framework for Information Technology Projects: A Cultural Contingency Perspective

As new information technology (IT) platforms continue to emerge, the technical project risk associated with developing IT projects for these platforms is particularly challenging for organizations. We develop a nomological network of people, process, and technology to gain insight into how the effect of technical project risk can be mitigated at the IT project team level. Drawing on cultural contingency theory, the IT project risk framework, and the IT project management literature, we elaborate on the IT project team composition and team processes necessary to mitigate technical project risk. We tested the nomological network by conducting a field study of 325 IT project teams over a 3-year period at a large corporation in China. We found that project risk mitigation processes mediated the effect of IT project teams’ cultural composition on IT project performance, and the effect of these processes on IT project performance was stronger under high levels of technical project risk compared to low levels of such risk. By incorporating the cultural contingency theory into developing a nomological network of technical risk mitigation processes, this work not only contributes to the IT project management literature, but also provides suggestions for practitioners on how to better leverage people, process, and technology in mitigating IT project risks.

Responding--or Not--to Information Technology Project Risks: An Integrative Model

This study proposes and tests a model that explains and predicts risk response decisions of IT project managers (ITPMs), blending the domains of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and behavioral decision theories, and leveraging IT project risk management behavioral research. The model posits that a risk response decision is indirectly influenced by perceived risk exposure via overall risk response attitude. The model conceptualizes perceived risk exposure and overall risk response attitude as second-order constructs and examines the dimension-level relationships within each. The model hypothesizes that a risk response decision is also influenced by pressures ITPMs perceive for or against enacting a specific risk response, by a negative synergy effect between overall risk response attitude and perceived pressures, and by their perception of control—or lack thereof—over enacting the risk response. The model was instantiated for three specific risk responses: having user representatives as team members, appreciating team members’ work in a tangible way during the project, and dedicating much effort to planning. Each model instance was tested in a separate survey (N > 111 per survey, total N = 349). The results support the hypotheses, except for the influence of perceived control, which varied across instantiations of risk responses. Among other antecedents, overall risk response attitude is found to have the strongest effect on risk response decisions. The findings stress the effect of ITPMs’ salient beliefs about specific risk responses on their decision to enact a given response and thus pave the way for designing behavior change interventions.

Sublating Tensions in the IT Project Risk Management Literature: A Model of the Relative Performance of Intuition and Deliberate Analysis for Risk Assessment

The information technology (IT) project risk management literature comprises two dominant but diverging bodies of knowledge: the normative and the experiential. We conducted a three-step dialectical review of this literature with the aim of creating a bridging body of knowledge. In the first step, delineation, we synthesize the overarching variance and process explanations in each body of knowledge and motivate the examination of their divergences. In the second step, contrastation, we perform a dialectical interrogation of these bodies to articulate their key assumption-level tensions. We elaborate on the most prominent tension between the two bodies, namely, the relative performance of intuition and deliberate analysis for project risk assessment. In the third step, sublation, we propose a theoretical model that resolves this tension. Anchored in both bodies of knowledge and drawing from managerial decision-making research, the model proposes that the relative performance of intuition depends on characteristics of the IT project manager (project-specific expertise), the project (risks’ temporal complexity and risks’ structural complexity), and the project’s organizational environment (e.g., stakeholders’ involvement in risk management, methods-using pressures). Moreover, the model posits that project-specific expertise moderates all the other effects. Building on the bridging knowledge insights from this model, we discuss how researchers can design interventions to increase project managers’ use of deliberate analysis when it is expected to outperform intuition or to encourage reliance on intuition when it is likely to outperform deliberate analysis.

Completing Information Technology Projects as Scheduled and on Time

Even though Information Technology (IT) software development projects exhibit a checkered history of poor scheduling and late delivery, emerging project traits are promoting successful implementation and reduced risk of failure. IT project management, requirements gathering and management, user involvement, organizational alignment, development methodology, quality assurance and testing process maturity are integrating together to create a culture of rising success and efficient project implementation. Organization alignment, project management, business and technology architectures, and organizational change management domains are integrated into a successful software development framework.

Value management in IT projects: a study in Brazilian organizations

Resumo Atualmente, admite-se a insuficiência da avaliação de projetos baseada em restrições de escopo, prazo e custo para assegurar a criação de valor pela organização. Apesar disto, essa métrica continua sendo, muitas vezes, a única utilizada para avaliar o sucesso dos projetos. Neste artigo, a partir de referências teóricas, analisa-se como algumas empresas nacionais e multinacionais gerenciam a criação de valor por suas carteiras de projetos de Tecnologia da Informação (TI). Busca-se entender os processos utilizados, bem como identificar os principais desafios encontrados pelas organizações pesquisadas. Para atingir esse objetivo, foi utilizada uma abordagem exploratória qualitativa baseada em entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores de portfólios de TI de 14 organizações brasileiras de diversos segmentos e portes. A pesquisa indicou oportunidades de melhoria e mostrou que poucas são as organizações que avaliam de forma efetiva a criação de valor por seus projetos, prevalecendo uma visão de desempenho não alinhada aos resultados corporativos alcançados e que não colabora com o processo de melhoria e aprendizagem organizacional.

Evaluation of mean and variance approximations in three point estimation of task completion times using the beta and the Kumaraswamy distribution

Estimation of task and project completion times within IT projects remains one of the most error-prone, but also most critical duties of an IT project manager. Various three-point methods of PERT have been evaluated by assuming that the true distribution is a beta-distribution. We evaluate PERT methods by comparing additionally with the Kumaraswamy distribution, which has an equal claim to be the true a-priori distribution for project completion times. We use skew and kurtosis in order to define test sets instead of simply choosing a range of shape parameters. We validate various approximations proposed in the literature and show that valid approximations are possible.

Evaluation of mean and variance approximations in three point estimation of task completion times using the beta and the Kumaraswamy distribution

Estimation of task and project completion times within IT projects remains one of the most error-prone, but also most critical duties of an IT project manager. Various three-point methods of PERT have been evaluated by assuming that the true distribution is a beta-distribution. We evaluate PERT methods by comparing additionally with the Kumaraswamy distribution, which has an equal claim to be the true a-priori distribution for project completion times. We use skew and kurtosis in order to define test sets instead of simply choosing a range of shape parameters. We validate various approximations proposed in the literature and show that valid approximations are possible.

Management of pilot IT projects in the preparation of energy resources

The article examines high-risk objects in which it is necessary to monitor its state to prevent hazardous activities during the cycle of preparation of energy resources. The paper examines IT projects that help to if not prevent, then at least minimize the consequences of the negative impact of hazardous industries in process of preparation of energy resources. Due to the fact that currently, there are no uniform and specific requirements for the functionality of such information systems in public services, companies are implementing pilot projects for the implementation of the above tasks. All stages of the pilot project were formed and analyzed in detail. Based on the survey results, the requirements for the functional blocks of the information system were determined. The findings of the study were formed and presented for further use for the project management activities for the company in the oil and gas industry. Implementation of the project in pilot format is the most suitable option in the current conditions. This allows minimizing project risks associated with exceeding the deadlines, budget, as well as inconsistencies of current functionality with the needs of system users by ensuring the possibility of developing and testing the system in a short time and clarifying the future direction of IT solution refinement.

MODELS OF TEAM MANAGEMENT IN IT PROJECTS

Currently, the project approach has become a major element of the management system in most IT companies. The efficiency of its application is confirmed by the fact that it provides effective tools for solving complex management tasks, and allows forming informal norms of the team management in the IT project for creating a unique corporate culture of the whole organization as the foundation of the entire management system as well. The paper analyzes the management of three key aspects of the team management in the IT project, including: creative potential management, project value management and strategic management of the team. According to the results of the research, it is revealed that IT project managers need to predict the results of economic interaction of their team members from the standpoint of sufficiency, significance and attractiveness in the strategic perspective and constantly develop and improve directions for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the motivational mechanism for strategic management of the development of the IT project team.

A Theoretical Framework of Critical Success Factors on Information Technology Project Management During Project Planning

Organizations have made significant investments in ICT projects, hoping to gain competitive advantages, growth and improvement of productivity. The success and failures of the project is one of the fields in Project Management with most frequently discussed. Project planning is an important part in the project management and has a stronger impact on project success. However, weakness in project strategy and planning lead to lack of business support, inefficient use of resources, poor estimates, poor scope control and increase risks. Previous studies have reported that well-defined project plans play an important role in the success of the project. In recent times, various factors contribute to project success namely; organizational, human, project management, complexity, quality, and technical. Hence, this study aimed to explore and identify critical success factors on project planning that lead to project success. A model is derived from findings of the literature review and tested within the Malaysian public sector through quantitative methodology. Thus, the finding of this study provide the organization with insight to drive their performance improvement in managing investments for project management field, especially through strengthening employees and organization competence as well as benefit the public’s sector.

Comparative analysis of mobile applications for IT project management

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of selected applications for Android mobile system used to manage IT projects. The research was carried out using multicriteria analysis on the functionality, intuitiveness and appearance of the interface and the available data integration of the application.

МАТЕМАТИЧНІ МОДЕЛІ ТЕХНОЛОГІЇ ТЕСТУВАННЯ DOM XSS ВРАЗЛИВОСТІ ТА ВРАЗЛИВОСТІ ДО SQL ІН'ЄКЦІЙ

The analysis of various types of statistical materials from known organizations has shown that cross-site scripting – XSS (Cross Site Scripting) is one of the most dangerous types of attacks (vulnerabilities). However, in order to identify these threats and the possible consequences of their spread in the process of safe management of IT projects and to propose the best ways to solve this problem, there is a need for mathematical formalization of the process of their initialization and dissemination. In a number of papers, attempts have been made to mathematically formalize the process of finding and eliminating vulnerabilities of this kind. However, the presented models do not take into account the latest trends in XSS vulnerability, namely the difference between their types ("stored XSS", "reflected XSS" and DOM Based XSS) and the need for their detection. The aim of the work is to develop mathematical models of the technology for testing DOM XSS vulnerability and SQL injections vulnerability.Mathematical models for testing DOM XSS complex of vulnerabilities and the technology for testing to SQL injections vulnerability have been developed. GERT-network synthesis approach is the basis of mathematical modeling. Mathematical model for testing DOM XSS complex of vulnerabilities differs from the known ones by taking into account the specifics of complex analysis of various types of XSS vulnerabilities (stored XSS, reflected XSS and DOM Based XSS) and separate inclusion of DOM Based XSS automatic audit procedures in the algorithm. This makes possible to conduct an analytical assessment of the time spent while testing these vulnerabilities in the context of implementing a strate-gy for developing safe software. Mathematical model for testing the technology of SQL injections vul-nerability differs from the known ones by an improved method for determining the distance between injection results. The use of Jaro–Winkler criterion in the proposed method to compare the results of injecting SQL code and the introduction of a threshold value will increase the accuracy of the results of software security testing.

Examining Tacit Knowledge Transfer Processes for Enterprise System Projects Success: A conceptual framework

mrmalki@taibahu.edu.sa This paper examining the main tacit knowledge transferring processes and sub-processes that may affect on enterprise systems projects success. Authors proposed a conceptual framework contain five tacit knowledge transferring processes: readiness to share; readiness to receive; transmission channels; tacit knowledge transfer, and substantiation. The sample consists of enterprise systems specialist and IT project managers. A fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) were adopted to observe the higher coverage causal configurations sub-processes affect on each process. The results confirm that the nine sub-processes (trust, face to face interaction, knowledge absorption, training, motivation, ability, relationship, instructions, and documents) - sequentially-are the most critical configurations for transferring tacit knowledge processes to success enterprise systems projects.

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ТА ВИБІР ПРОГРАМНИХ ЗАСОБІВ СУЧАСНИХ СИСТЕМ УПРАВЛІННЯ ІТ ПРОЕКТАМИ

The issue of providing information needs of project manager requires special attention. The choice of the optimal software tool is very important in IT project management systems. Over time, projects are becoming more complex, performed in different parts of the globe. Project manager analyzes a huge amount of information and makes decisions. It is proposed to evaluate and select the software tools of modern information technology project management systems based on the substantiation and study of quality criteria, such as crossplatform, reliability, versatility, interface intuition and price. The basic stages of the formation of integrated criterion of evaluation of software are presented. The effective management of a project in the field of information technology depends on the organization and planning of processes in projects, including the presentation of information in a userfriendly form of guidance. The choice of software for IT project management systems is based on the study of software evaluation criteria that are interconnected. When choosing a software tool in the IT management system, it is necessary to consider quality indicators from the point of view of a user, that is, project manager. This approach ensures effective management of IT project and reduces overutilization of resources in the project as well as time. The given research gives an opportunity to provide the choice of the optimum software in the systems of management of IT project. Conclusions are made about the possibility of improving the management of the project in terms of resource, budget and time constraints.

A new critical chain project management based on social network and software maturity model

With the rise of the Internet and the booming development of information technology, more and more IT projects have been launched on the information infrastructure. However, due to the large uncertainty and specificity of IT projects, the project delays are very serious. Both the Critical Path Method (CPM) and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) can no longer meet the management requirements. This paper has improved the Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) to strengthen the progress and quality management of IT projects. According to the characteristics of IT projects, an improved Critical Chain Project Management (NS-CCPM) had been proposed, and which was based on social network and software maturity models. Then the application of NS-CCPM has been specifically elaborated in three aspects: critical chain identification, buffer design, and buffer dynamic management. Finally, a case was shown, which used the Monte Carlo simulation method to verify the availability of NS-CCPM.

THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WITH RISK MANAGEMENT FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS RISK ASSESSMENT

Information technology projects management is not free from risks, which are created from various sources of the environment; they are not just related to financial aspects. Information technology is now omnipresent in the lives of people across the globe. Information technology, as a technology with the fastest rate of development and application in all branches of business, requires adequate consideration of risk assessments. The risks faced by IT projects are not, in essence, financial risks. By understanding these fundamental problems in real terms, rather than through their financial impact, IT project managers can move more quickly to resolve issues before they become major problems that threaten the goals of the project. This paper will focus on how lack of knowledge management support for risk management processes has caused many project failures in the past.

Exploring leadership coaching as a tool to improve the people management skills of information technology and cybersecurity project managers

Abstract According to recent research 55 percent of information technology (IT) projects are deemed unsuccessful. In 2016, globally, organizations waste an average of $97 million dollars for every $1 billion invested information technology projects. These numbers should be of tremendous concern when these projects often focus on critical operational aspects like knowledge management, data analytics, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and information management. These numbers also point the critical need to develop leadership skills for information technology project managers. This paper explores the need and viability for organizations to invest in leadership coaching as employee development tools for their IT project managers and cybersecurity technical staffers.

Managing IT outsourcing relationships in the public sector in Mexico

In this article, we look at managing practices of IT outsourcing in the public sector on the basis of an empirical study of the perceptions of public IT project managers and private IT service prov...