There are several statistics related to the importance of IT and project management. One surprising statistic that was listed by Burger claimed that in the year 2016, less than 1/3 of all projects were successfully completed on expected time and budget. This statistic goes to show that most of the time, projects take longer and are more costly than initial expectations. It also reveals to us that it is okay and these projects are still just as important to IT and project management alike.
Another interesting statistic that was presented in this short article was that: “An astounding 97% of organizations believe project management is critical to business performance and organizational success” (Burger,2017,p. 1). This quote verifies the real importance of IT and project management within companies. This percentile reveals that more people than not can see the importance these jobs have in the workplace. IT and project management increases the value of companies by determining essential details and functions (Burger, 2017,p.1).
Another interesting statistic that was presented in this short article was that: “An astounding 97% of organizations believe project management is critical to business performance and organizational success” (Burger, 2017,p. 1). This quote verifies the real importance of IT and project management within companies. This percentile reveals that more people than not can see the importance these jobs have in the workplace. IT and project management increases the value of companies by determining essential details and functions (Burger;2017,p.1). Many IT executives, some 75% believe that their projects will fail. However, that is certainly not the case. Although as we have seen above, most do not get completed on time or meet the budget first conducted. Even still many are successful compared to the ones that were unable to be completed. IT and project management are very important tools to a company. Without these positions the details would not be apparent to the rest of the staff and many things would be unknown (Burger, 2017,p.1).
Persons in such positions must be capable of looking at details rather the broader picture. Education is key when working in such positions and those involved must keep up with emerging findings from academic journals. This way, they can help the company even more with saving and generating profits. Projects are necessary in any business because they help add value and knowledge of companies to individuals (Burger,2017,. 1). According to LeanKit project portfolio management is defined as follows : “Project portfolio management (PPM refers to a process used by project managers and project management organizations (PMOs) to analyze the potential return on a doing a project. By organizing and consolidating every piece of data regarding proposed and current projects, project portfolio managers provide forecasting and business analysis for companies looking to invest in new projects” (LeanKit,2017,p.1).
These practices can be both beneficial or harmful to a company. Several risks are taken that occur even before these mechanisms are done. Firms must weigh the benefits against the dangers and make informed decisions that will serve the greater good. Often times people believe that the larger the risk, the better the reward but that has not always been the case. Project portfolio management is responsible for determining such risks and rewards and are responsible for several decisions (LeanKit,2017,p.1). As stated above, there are several pros and cons to utilizing project portfolio management, which I will be discussing throughout this paper. These challenges and advantages of these mechanisms are individualized and specific to each firm. There are several advantages to these management positions, of course the obvious one being that it allows the firms to get a somewhat clear picture of returns on projects. This helps to calculate the profits and so on (LeanKit,2017,p.1). If companies are unaware of these aspects, they will not have a good vision of performance and other necessary data as well. Knowing exactly how to utilize this data is a huge benefit of project portfolio management ( Edwards, 2011,p.1)
Another deeming quality of this is that it balances risks. According to Edwards : “It is extremely necessary for companies to create portfolios that lessen any risks, but at the same time, balances the deeds necessary to produce just enough risk to make the profits good. You must set a happy medium between playing is so safe that you never reach your full potential and taking too much risk and losing everything” (Edwards, 2011,p. 1).
Although there are several benefits as I have described above. There are certainly challenges that are faced in this process as well. Calculating all of this data and statistics can be a challenge of its own. Not to mention that a minor mistake can cost a company a lot of money if not properly calculated. These jobs can be both tedious and time consuming which is a major setback (Edwards,2011,p.1). The last challenge I would like to discuss would be the difficulty in deciphering to utilize project management or project portfolio management. Both are quite similar but offer distinct differences. Project management is concerned mainly with individual projects path to completion, whereas PPM is concerned with all projects and their viability to meet business’s goals. Sometimes deciding which to use in a business can be half the challenge (LeanKit,2017,p. 1).
References
- Burger, R. (2016, September 26). 20 Surprising Project Management Statistics – Capterra Blog. Retrieved September 2, 2017, from http://blog.capterra.com/surprising-project- management-statistics/
- Edwards, G. (2011, January 8). 6 Advantages of Project Portfolio Management. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubpm.com/methods-strategies/102133-the-benefits-of-project- portfolio-management/ LeanKit. (2017).
- What is Project Portfolio Management? | LeanKit. Retrieved September 1, 2017, from https://leankit.com/learn/kanban/project-portfolio-management/
