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- Create Date December 11, 2019
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Education for all
In the past, the formal discipline of project management was applied primarily to very large projects lasting several years and costing millions of dollars; this was as true for information technology (IT) projects as it was for other industries. Furthermore in the
20th century, project management methods were largely based upon “command and control” techniques. These techniques evolved from ancient military regimes and dictatorial governments, where relatively few educated people directed large numbers of uneducated people. Some industries are still that way, but many companies and most IT organizations are evolving into the team- and project-based environments using knowledge workers, independent contractors, and, perhaps, various forms of outsourcing. Competitive advantage today is increasingly based upon knowledge assets instead of upon the traditional assets of land, labour, and capital. In addition, there is now a separation of “work” from “workplace,” and operations may be performed on a global scale.
To be successful in our IT projects (and most IT projects are still not successful), it is imperative that we apply formal project management methods and tools to all IT project-based work. Also, the formal methods and tools of project management need to evolve to address the changes in modern software engineering and our high-tech global workplaces. In the past, project success was defined too narrowly as simply meeting time and cost constraints for a given scope of work. However, in order for an IT project to be
completely successful, that basic definition of success needs to be extended. This extension is particularly with regard to product quality, stakeholder satisfaction, security, organizational human capital, and long-term factors such as maintainability and adaptability. With that extended definition of success, management techniques and tools can be extended or otherwise modified to be more effective.