INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project management continues   to be one of the fastest growing career fields in business

 today. While recent economic times have been traumatic for information technology

 firms, substantial growth 1S still occurring in the information   systems area. However,

 widespread reports continue about projects being late,   going over budget, and not satisfy-

 ing design specifications. Information systems project management deals with these

 problems, and its principles apply to projects in any field.

 Changes in this second edition focus primarily on the human aspects of information

 systems project management. This edition covers current practice, with

 examples taken

 from published reports about project

 in each chapter, as well as at the end of the book. There is also

 the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of

 an update for Microsoft

 Project 2002, which focuses on expanding the openness of that software to other Mi-

 crosoft products. Throughout the book, the need to trade off

 time, cost, and quality is

 phasized, as are three factors consistently cited in published studies as factors relatai

 related to

 project success: top-management support, user involvement, and clear statements

 of proj-

 Chapter 1 provides an introduction and discusses project features in general. It pre-

 sents a systems perspective that provides a   useful framework for project analysis and

 a

 better understanding of project purposes. Systems theory is important in project manage-

 ment because of the unintended consequences often encountered in projects owing

 to

 complex interrelationships of system components. By viewing projects

 as systems, some

 of these unintended consequences may be anticipated and prepared for.

 Part One follows the introduction. It focuses

 on

 the important human element in infor-

 projects. Chapter 2 is new and concerns human factors in information

 systems projects. Getting people to work toward the same ends

 is critical to the success of

 any group activity. Even though information systems projects involve many technical

 matters, the human element continues

 to be essential. Chapter 3 (old Chapter 8) discusses

 project organizational structure. It covers alternative forms of

 those

 that have successfully been applied to project management, as well

 as various alter-

 native

 organizational forms that deal with project uncertainty.

 Part Two discusses two

 processes involved in the initial project definition stage. Chap-

 discusses issues concerning the adoption of proposed projects and reviews practice

 In the commercial field.

 A number of quantitative methods are demonstrated, including,  in the appendix to Chapter 4, a detailed demonstration of one company's method. Chapter 5 discusses aspects of requirements definition, a more detailed study of what resources would be required to complete projects that have passed the approval stage.   Risk analysis at the initial stage of project development is reviewed, along with the use of the systems   failure method to reduce risk by anticipating problems. The appendix to Chapter 5 pre-

 sents an innovative process that seeks to improve the quality of requirements definition.

 management. Additions include cross-references to

 Knowledge (PMBOK)

 em-

 ect objectives.

 mation system