PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

TOPIC 1.

Defining Information Systems

 “An Information system (IS) is the study of complementary networks of hardware and
software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, and
distribute data.
 “Information systems are combinations of hardware, software, and telecommunications
networks that people build and use to collect, create, and distribute useful data, typically
in organizational settings.”

 “Information systems are interrelated components working together to collect, process,

store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control,
analysis, and visualization in an organization.”

A Project Information Management System (PIMS) is the systematic process of creating,

identifying, collecting, organizing, sharing, adapting, and using project information.
Information management is a process for identifying all the information the project
stakeholders need to make informed decisions.

Providing key project stakeholders with the right information at the right time can
significantly improve decisions to adjust, change and guide the project to improve its
outcomes. A Project Management Information System serves five principal purposes:

 Provide information for decision-making.

 Improve project management.
 Demonstrate results through project evaluation.
 Empower communities and other project stakeholders.
 Increase opportunities to learn from experience.

The Components of Information Systems

Technology

Technology can be thought of as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
From the invention of the wheel to the harnessing of electricity for artificial lighting, technology
is a part of our lives in so many ways that we tend to take it for granted. As discussed before, the
first three components of information systems – hardware, software, and data – all fall under the
category of technology. Each of these will get its own chapter and a much lengthier discussion,

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but we will take a moment here to introduce them so we can get a full understanding of what an
information system is.

Hardware

Information systems hardware is the part of an information system you can touch – the physical
components of the technology. Computers, keyboards, disk drives, iPads, and flash drives are all
examples of information systems hardware. We will spend some time going over these
components and how they all work together in chapter 2.

Software

Software is a set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do. Software is not tangible – it
cannot be touched. When programmers create software programs, what they are really doing is
simply typing out lists of instructions that tell the hardware what to do. There are several
categories of software, with the two main categories being operating-system software, which
makes the hardware usable, and application software, which does something useful. Examples of
operating systems include Microsoft Windows on a personal computer and Google’s Android on
a mobile phone. Examples of application software are Microsoft Excel and Angry Birds.
Software will be explored more thoroughly in chapter 3.

Data

The third component is data. You can think of data as a collection of facts. For example, your
street address, the city you live in, and your phone number are all pieces of data. Like software,
data is also intangible. By themselves, pieces of data are not really very useful. But aggregated,
indexed, and organized together into a database, data can become a powerful tool for businesses.
In fact, all of the definitions presented at the beginning of this chapter focused on how
information systems manage data. Organizations collect all kinds of data and use it to make
decisions. These decisions can then be analyzed as to their effectiveness and the organization can
be improved. Chapter 4 will focus on data and databases, and their uses in organizations.

QUALITIES OF GOOD INFORMATION

i. Understandable:

Since information is already in a summarized form, it must be understood by the receiver so that
he will interpret it correctly. He must be able to decode any abbreviations, shorthand notations or
any other acronyms contained in the information.

ii. Relevant:

Information is good only if it is relevant. This means that it should be pertinent and meaningful
to the decision maker and should be in his area of responsibility.

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iii. Complete:

It should contain all the facts that are necessary for the decision maker to satisfactorily solve the
problem at hand using such information. Nothing important should be left out. Although
information cannot always be complete, every reasonable effort should be made to obtain it.

iv. Available:

Information may be useless if it is not readily accessible ‘ in the desired form, when it is needed.
Advances in technology have made information more accessible today than ever before.

v. Reliable:

The information should be counted on to be trustworthy. It should be accurate, consistent with

facts and verifiable. Inadequate or incorrect information generally leads to decisions of poor
quality. For example, sales figures that have not been adjusted for returns and refunds are not
reliable.

vi. Concise:

Too much information is a big burden on management and cannot be processed in time and
accurately due to “bounded rationality”. Bounded rationality determines the limits of the
thinking process which cannot sort out and process large amounts of information. Accordingly,
information should be to the point and just enough – no more, no less.

vii. Timely:

Information must be delivered at the right time and the right place to the right person. Premature
information can become obsolete or be forgotten by the time it is actually needed.

Similarly, some crucial decisions can be delayed because proper and necessary information is not
available in time, resulting in missed opportunities. Accordingly the time gap between collection
of data and the presentation of the proper information to the decision maker must be reduced as
much as possible.

viii. Cost-effective:

The information is not desirable if the solution is more costly than the problem. The cost of
gathering data and processing it into information must be weighed against the benefits derived
from using such information.

MANUAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS VS COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION

SYSTEMS (MIS)

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Data is the bloodstream of any business entity. Everyone in an organization needs information to
make decisions. An information system is an organized way of recording, storing data, and
retrieving information.

In this section, we will look at manual information systems vs. computerized information
systems.

a) MANUAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

A manual information system does not use any computerized devices. The recording, storing and
retrieving of data is done manually by the people, who are responsible for the information
system.

The following are the major components of a manual information system

 People –people are the recipients of information system

 Business Procedures –these are measures put in place that define the rules for
processing data, storing it, analyzing it and producing information
 Data –these are the recorded day to day transactions
 Filing system – this is an organized way of storing information
 Reports –the reports are generated after manually analyzing the data from the filing
system and compiling it.

The following diagram illustrates how a typical manual information system works

Advantages:

The following are the advantages of manual information systems

 Cost effective – it is cheaper compared to a computerized system because there is no

need to purchase expensive equipment such as servers, workstations, printers, etc.
 Flexible –evolving business requirements can easily be implemented into the business
procedures and implemented immediately

Disadvantages:

The following are some of the disadvantages of a manual information system.

 Time consuming –all data entries need to be verified before filing, this is a time
consuming task when done by humans. Retrieving data from the filing system also takes
a considerable amount of time
 Prone to error – the accuracy of the data when verified and validated by human beings
is more prone to errors compared to verification and validation done by computerized
systems.

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  Lack of security – the security of manual systems is implemented by restricting access to
the file room. Experience shows unauthorized people can easily gain access to the filing
room
 Duplication of data –most departments in an organization need to have access to the
same data. In a manual system, it is common to duplicate this data to make it easy to
accessible to all authorized users. The challenge comes in when the same data needs to be
updated
 Data inconsistency – due to the duplication of data, it is very common to update data in
one file and not update the other files. This leads to data inconsistency
 Lack of backups – if the file get lost or mishandled, the chances of recovering the data
are almost zero.

b) COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEM

Computerized systems were developed to address the challenges of manual information systems.
The major difference between a manual and computerized information system is a computerized
system uses a combination of software and hardware to record, store, analyze and retrieve
information.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a computerized information system (MIS)

The following are some of the disadvantages of a computerized information system.

Advantages:

The following are the advantages of computerized information systems

 Fast data processing and information retrieval – this is one of the biggest advantages
of a computerized information system. It processes data and retrieves information at a
faster rate. This leads to improved client/customer service
 Improved data accuracy – easy to implement data validation and verification checks in
a computerized system compared to a manual system.
 Improved security – in addition to restricting access to the database server, the
computerized information system can implement other security controls such as user’s
authentication, biometric authentication systems, access rights control, etc.
 Reduced data duplication – database systems are designed in such a way that
minimized duplication of data. This means updating data in one department automatically
makes it available to the other departments
 Improved backup systems – with modern day technology, backups can be stored in the
cloud which makes it easy to recover the data if something happened to the hardware and
software used to store the data
 Easy access to information – most business executives need to travel and still be able to
make a decision based on the information. The web and Mobile technologies make
accessing data from anywhere possible.

Disadvantages:

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  It is expensive to set up and configure – the organization has to buy hardware and the
required software to run the information system. In addition to that, business procedures
will need to be revised, and the staff will need to be trained on how to use the
computerized information system.
 Heavy reliance on technology – if something happens to the hardware or software that
makes it stop functioning, then the information cannot be accessed until the required
hardware or software has been replaced.
 Risk of fraud – if proper controls and checks are not in place, an intruder can post
unauthorized transactions such as an invoice for goods that were never delivered, etc.

Summary

 MIS is the acronym for Management Information System. It is a collection of people,

procedures, data, and information technology that aids managers to make informed
decisions.
 Computerized information systems are more efficient compared to manual information
systems. Manual information systems are cheaper compared to computerized information
systems.
 Transaction processing systems (TPS) are by operational staff to record day to day
business transactions, and they are used to make structured decisions
 Management Information Systems (MIS) are used by middle-level managers to make
semi-structured decisions
 Decision Support Systems are used by top level managers, and they help top level
managers to make unstructured decisions.

DATA CAPTURE IN INFORMATION SYSTEM

Data capture, or electronic data capture, is the process of extracting information from a document
and converting it into data readable by a computer.
Methods For Capturing Data

a) Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

OCR technology is used to capture data from structured documents, usually those that have been
word processed. The software works by converting documents into machine readable files, once
this has happened you can search by keywords contained within it, great for files containing
large amounts of data.
b) Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR)

ICR technology is an adapted version of OCR, the difference being that ICR is able to read
handwritten text and convert it into computer readable information. Often used for unstructured
documents such as letters, unstructured documents and other handwritten business
correspondence.

c) Automatic Data Capture

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Once documents have been OCR or ICR scanned, automatic data capture software can identify
and extract key information from forms. This is becoming extremely popular for businesses
looking to automate processing tasks, such as invoicing, purchasing and claims processing. The
software is trained to look for specific types of information, such as reference numbers, names
and addresses. Extracted information is output into a preferred format for import into existing
systems, commonly used are csv, excel or html.
d) Paperless Forms

Paperless forms allow information to be captured whilst out in the field, transforming the way
data comes in and out of a business. Data is captured using a mobile device and can be
transferred straight into office systems, with no paper processing involved or delays.
e) Barcode Technology

Barcode technology is a data capture method that allows metadata such as customer name,
address and contact numbers to be pre populated into barcode format prior to forms being sent.
This form of data capture significantly reduces manual data entry requirement upon return.

f) Double Blind Data Entry

Double blind data entry is a form of manual data entry using two operators and validation
software to increase accuracy. The software will flag up any discrepancies between both sets of
data and errors must be corrected before they can move.

DATA PROCESSING IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS

A data processing system is a combination of machines, people, and processes that for a set
of inputs produces a defined set of outputs. The inputs and outputs are interpreted
as data, facts, information etc. depending on the interpreter's relation to the system.
A term commonly used synonymously with data processing system is information system.
[1]
With regard particularly to electronic data processing, the corresponding concept is referred to
as electronic data processing system.
A data processing system may involve some combination of:

 Conversion -converting data to another form or Language.

 Validation – Ensuring that supplied data is "clean, correct and useful."
 Sorting – "arranging items in some sequence and/or in different sets."
 Summarization – reducing detail data to its main points.
 Aggregation – combining multiple pieces of data.
 Analysis – the "collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.".
 Reporting – list detail or summary data or computed information.

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Types of Information Systems
There are various types of information systems, few of them are listed below:
1. Transaction processing system
2. Decision support system
3. executive information system
4. Management information system
5. Workflow system
6. Enterprise resource planning and
7. Expert systems.
About each one of the information systems explained below in brief.

1. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)

A Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) is used primarily for record keeping which
is required in any organization to conduct the business. Examples of TPS are sales
order entry, payroll, and shipping records etc. TPS is used for periodic report
generation in a scheduled manner. TPS is also used for producing reports on demand
as well as exception reports.

2. Decision Support System (DSS)

Decision Support System (DSS) serves the management of an organization. A

decision support system has sophisticated data analysis tools, which support and
assist all aspects of problem-specific decision-making. DSS may use data from
external sources such as current stock prices to enhance decision-making. DSS is
used when the problem is complex and the information needed to make the best
decision is difficult to obtain and use. DSS is developed with the help of decision-
makers in an organization. DSS helps in the appropriate decision-making process and
does not make any decision.

3. Executive Information System (EIS)

An Executive Information System (EIS) is also called the Executive Support System.
Senior managers of an organization use the EIS. Therefore, it must be easy to use so
that executives can use it without any assistance. EIS can do trend analysis,
exception reporting and have drill-down capabilities. The results are usually
presented in a graphical form tailored to the executive’s information needs. EIS has
on-line analysis tools and they access a broad range of internal and external data.

4. Management Information Systems (MIS)

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Management Information System (MIS) provides the management routine summary
of basic operations of the organization. The essential services are recorded by the
TPS of the organization and MIS consolidates the data on sales, production etc. MIS
provides routine information to managers and decision makers. The primary
objective behind installing an MIS in the organization is to increase operational
efficiency. MIS may support marketing, production, finance, etc.

5. Workflow System

A workflow system is a rule-based management system that directs, coordinates

and monitors the execution of an interrelated set of tasks arranged to form a
business process. There are three types of workflow software. They are:
1. Administrative workflow systems focus on the tracking of expense reports,
travel requests, messages.
2. An Ad-hoc workflow system deals with the shaping of product, sales proposals
and strategic plans.
3. Production workflow systems are concerned with mortgage loans and insurance
claims.
A workflow system may be Internet-based and may be combined with e-mail. A
workflow system may be based on server architecture that may use a database or
file server.

6. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a business process management

software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated programs
capable of managing a company’s vital business operations for an entire multi-site,
global organization.

7. Expert Systems

The expert systems have the ability to make suggestions and act like an expert in a
particular field of an organization. An expert system has an extensive knowledge
base.

BENEFITS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Keep Schedule and Costs on Track

Because the PMIS keeps track of current costs and work progress, the project manager is aware
of deviations and discrepancies as soon as they occur. He can reassign resources, adjust the
schedule and implement new procedures to reduce costs. The PMIS tracks the results of the
corrective action and lets the project manager know whether the changes have been effective.
This rapid notification and tracking of the results of actions gives companies using a PMIS a
competitive advantage in bringing projects in closer to the schedule and within budget.

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 2. Manage Documentation More Effectively
A key part of project management is controlling, sharing and updating documentation. A PMIS
tracks documents by reference and revision numbers and ensures that the people on the
distribution list have an up-to-date copy. Minutes of meetings, drawings and specifications take
time to distribute and track manually, and manual control is subject to errors. The PMIS reduces
costs by automating this process and making it more reliable. This part of an overall cost
reduction for the use of a PMIS contributes to the competitive advantage.
3. Reduce Costs for Bids and Contracts
A PMIS lets you save money by reducing the time spent on selecting subcontractors and
managing their work. Once you have awarded the contract, the PMIS retains a paper trail of
contractual documents, reducing the scope for disputes. The cost of the purchased material may
be lower if you can evaluate more bidders due to the reduced workload. The reduced cost from
this and from improved contractual document handling contributes to the competitive advantage
provided by lower project management costs.
4. Better Information Leads to better Decisions
The purpose of information systems is to provide quality information to management. The PMIS
lets you access detailed records of project processes such as permitting, work hours and the
results of testing. With such high-quality information at your disposal, you have a more complete
overview of how your project is developing and can make decisions that are more likely to give
the results you want. Such a competitive advantage results in projects that more effectively fulfill
their required functionality and improves overall company performance.

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 TOPIC 2.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN PROJECT PLANNING
Definition
Planning is the critical step to take a project from an intangible theory to a tangible result.
Project planning is a procedural step in project management, where required documentation is
created to ensure successful project completion

The purpose of the project planning phase is to:

 Establish business requirements

 Establish cost, schedule, list of deliverables, and delivery dates
 Establish resources plans
 Obtain management approval and proceed to the next phase

The basic processes of project planning are:

 Scope planning – specifying the in-scope requirements for the project to facilitate creating the
work breakdown structure
 Preparation of the work breakdown structure – spelling out the breakdown of the project into
tasks and sub-tasks
 Project schedule development – listing the entire schedule of the activities and detailing their
sequence of implementation
 Resource planning – indicating who will do what work, at which time, and if any special skills
are needed to accomplish the project tasks
 Budget planning – specifying the budgeted cost to be incurred at the completion of the project

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 Procurement planning – focusing on vendors outside your company and subcontracting
 Risk management – planning for possible risks and considering optional contingency plans and
mitigation strategies
 Quality planning – assessing quality criteria to be used for the project
 Communication planning – designing the communication strategy with all project stakeholders

SETTING OBJECTIVES

Agreeing objectives can be one of the most important tasks you will undertake as a project
manager. Occasionally, the project sponsor, your guide and supporter in the project, will hand
down a full set of project objectives. More commonly, however, the project sponsor will provide
a broad direction, or a general aim, from which the project manager produces more tightly
defined objectives.

Clarity of objectives is not only important in identifying exactly what is to be done but it also
allows you to:

 establish whether or not you have achieved the objectives

 have a framework for the final evaluation
 have information for monitoring the project
 structure the project so that it is effectively controlled and managed
 fit the project around other organizational activities.

Objectives define what a project is trying to achieve, the steps by which the aim will be achieved
and how success will be recognized. The SMART principle is often applied to objectives. They
should be:

1. Specific – clearly defined with completion criteria

2. Measurable – so you will know when they have been achieved
3. Achievable – within the current environment and with the skills that are available
4. Realistic – not trying to achieve the impossible
5. Time bound – limited by a delivery date based on real need.

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)

Definition- work breakdown structure (WBS) is a method that breaks a project down into a
hierarchy of deliverables, tasks, and subtasks.

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The WBS is a method for getting a complex, multi-step project done. It's a way to divide and
conquer large projects so you can get things done faster and more efficiently. Work breakdown
structure (or WBS) is a hierarchical tree structure that outlines your project and breaks it down
into smaller, more manageable portions.

The work breakdown structure visually defines the scope into manageable chunks that a project
team can understand, as each level of the work breakdown structure provides further definition
and detail.

Work Breakdown Structure Guidelines

The following guidelines should be considered when creating a work breakdown structure:

 The top level represents the final deliverable or project

 Sub-deliverables contain work packages that are assigned to a organization’s department
or unit
 All elements of the work breakdown structure don’t need to be defined to the same level
 The work package defines the work, duration, and costs for the tasks required to produce
the sub-deliverable
 Work packages should not exceed 10 days of duration
 Work packages should be independent of other work packages in the work breakdown
structure
 Work packages are unique and should not be duplicated across the work breakdown
structure

ROLE OF INFORMATION IN BUDGETING

A project budget is the total sum of money allocated for the particular purpose of the project for
a specific period of time. The goal of budget management is to control project costs within the
approved budget and deliver the expected project goals.

What is a timeline?

A timeline is a chronological order of events. In most cases, it is a line with dates, events or
actions.

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It is very important for project managers to develop skills to build an accurate timeline. It shows
what phases are already in the past, what is in the progress now and what is supposed to be
finished in future. It means it helps to be on projects’ tracks.

Timeline elements

Of course, it depends on a project. But there are typical elements that timelines should include in
any case.

The key elements of a timeline:

 Tasks that are to be accomplished in a project.

 Dates of tasks.
 Duration of tasks.
 Dependencies between tasks.

HOW TO CREATE A PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIMELINE/TIME FRAME

Step 1: Define your project goals

Creating a project strategy starts with a clear understanding of the final goal. It might be the
outcome you’ve agreed on with a client or a business goal you’d like to achieve with a long-term
project.

It’s important that the entire team agrees on your mutual goal. Avoid misunderstandings
already in the planning phase to simplify the prioritization process, and ask for everyone’s
approval for the main goal.

Step 2: Write down important milestones

Project milestones are a great way to illustrate, schedule, and evaluate your project’s progress.
They could signify key meetings, approvals, project phases, or partly delivered work.

Milestones are small actionable steps that lead to your main goal. By breaking big projects
into smaller chunks, your team’s able to keep track of every project phase and notice the
shortcomings such as crossed deadlines.

Step 3: Decide on the timeframe

After you’ve made a list of all the important project milestones, it’s time to set a reasonable
timeframe for achieving each of these objectives.

Be careful not to overrate your team’s capacity in this phase of planning. Failing to meet the
first milestone will also mean less time for the next ones, leading to many crossed deadlines.
Consider how much input, work, and resources reaching each milestone will take.

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Step 4: Find the best way to visualize your roadmap

A thoughtful project management schedule can be used throughout the project, not just in the
initial planning phase. You should be able to use the timeline to keep track of project progress,
and to communicate progress at status meetings.

To get the maximum benefit out of a project plan, it should be logical and visualized. Answer a
couple of questions to decide which layout to use:

 Are all parts of the timeline shared with the entire team? – If not, you’ll need to create
multiple project timelines plus a “master timeline” with all the project steps.

 Do you need to make edits as the project progresses? – In this case, make sure that your
project timeline’s in an editable form (not a PDF or a printed version)

 Do you need to add multiple layers of information? – Complex projects need sub-tasks to
manage each activity. You might need a better tool than a spreadsheet to keep track of every
important detail.

Step 5: Set up your project management timeline

Now that you’ve got a clear overview of your project goals, milestones, and timeframe, it’s time
to finally create the timeline.

There are multiple tools that can help you create an actionable project plan. Think twice before
you download an Excel project template. These free templates might be easy-to-use, but lack the
flexibility needed to plan more complex projects.

If you want to be able to track your project progress and have a complete overview of your
team’s work, start using a project management tool. These tools are built to help you with
every aspect of project management, including work planning, task management, budgeting,
and business intelligence.

Step 6: Review your PM timeline with all stakeholders

Before you consider your project timeline to be safe for work, take an extra step that will pay off
in the future – review the project plan with your team and clients.

Start with your team. Ask everyone to take a look at your roadmap and check whether all the
important milestones are present. Encourage people to speak up if they notice something
questionable or consider your timeframe too packed. It’s better to set things straight before
starting the project, not a couple of weeks into the progress.

Don’t forget to ask for your client’s approval. You don’t need to show them the entire project
timeline, but ask them to confirm some of the milestones and delivery dates. Explain why each

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delivery or approval date was set for a specific time, and ensure that all your accounts are
happy with their project’s timelines.

Step 7: Get to work!

After you’ve set up your project management timeline and have everyone’s approval, it’s time to
get into action. Share the final roadmap with all your team members and explain how to use the
framework.

Ensure once more that everyone’s aware of their work tasks and contribution to each step
of the project. If someone’s not engaged in a certain project step, find ways to use their potential
and time on other projects instead.

Having a clear overview of upcoming and completed tasks helps to keep the level of motivation
high, and increases your team’s overall productivity.

Step 8: Report, analyze, and improve

One of the main benefits of having a project timeline is that you’re able to track your team’s
progress. You’ll know what everyone’s working on, where you’re currently standing, and can
easily communicate this information to other counterparts.

Make your project timeline actionable and reflective of the real-time situation by asking
everyone to mark their progress.

If you’re using online project management software, progress could be tracked done by marking
project tasks done. Find a method that works best for you and your team. Check this article to
learn about time tracking best practices and apply these to your project management.

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TOPIC 3

INFORMATION SYSTEM SCHEDULING

Project Flow is an indicator of change planned for occurrence within a project over time. It
shows the movement of project product from its conceptualization and design through delivery
and deployment. Project flow describes a preset sequence of activities required to plan, produce,
deliver and maintain project product, along with information, materials, and resources required
by the project.

Project flow is a convenient way to define and plan projects. It helps link project budget and
schedule to project activities and tasks. Traditionally it is designed in the form of a chart or
diagram which is a great tool to visually represent how a project is supposed to produce and
deploy its product. Simple tree-like lists or hierarchies of project activities are also used to map
out and depict project flow.

There are key components that create project flow. These components are:

 Project activities and tasks

 Any dependencies between activities and tasks
 Budget and resources
 Schedule and activity time-frames
 Information required to maintain project activities
 Project deliverables.

A project dependency is a logical, constraint-based or preferential relationship between two

activities or tasks such that the completion or the initiation of one is reliant on the completion or
initiation of the other.

The project or task dependencies are critical for the following:

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  Sequencing the work packages (tasks) in a project plan.
 Calculating the critical path (longest path/duration) of tasks in a project plan.
 Identifying resource and scheduling issues and making supporting decisions.
 Monitoring and managing as part of the overall project plan.
 Identifying opportunities to accelerate the schedule via fast-tracking or crashing.

GANTT CHART

definition

a) A Gantt Chart is a table that illustrates the course of a project and all the elements
involved. Gantt Charts are a useful tool when you want to see the entire landscape of
either one or multiple projects. It helps you view which tasks are dependent on one
another and which milestones are coming up.
b) A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule and shows the
dependency relationships between activities and current schedule status.”

BENEFITS OF GANTT CHARTS

1. Know what’s going on in your projects

The biggest advantage of using free online Gantt charts in project management is that you get to
see everything related to project at a single place. It acts as a great visualization and prioritization
tool as it provides the total overview of the project and tells you about the critical information
such as members involved in each step, the order of tasks, duration, start-to-end dates, task
dependencies and progress made in them. Hence, online Gantt charts software are helpful in
equipping project managers with the information they need to oversee while managing projects.

2. Improved communication and team cohesion

Communication is an integral part of a project that can make or break it. In fact, 86% of
employees feel lack of communication as the biggest reason for workplace failures. On the other
hand, Gantt charts are known to provide crystal clear communication. Project managers can use
these charts to know who is working on what and give inputs on certain tasks and pass relevant
information to them. This helps him to communicate better with team members and also
improves their relationship as a team. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for having a
separate tool for tracking and communication purposes.
3. Avoid resource overload
Too many problems arise when resources are stretched over too many tasks and processes. Gantt
charts allow you to use your resources effectively as you get to see a project’s timeline where
you can easily see how and where resources are being utilized. Within Gantt charts, you can also
delegate tasks and align resources without burdening them with too much work. This way you
can effectively manage resources and when resources are properly managed, projects are more
likely to be completed within budget and deadlines.
4. Measure the progress of projects
Once you schedule your project in a Gantt chart software you can check the progress of the
projects in it. The feature to measure a project’s progress enables you to make changes in your
strategy if it is lagging behind its schedule. As project members can update the completed

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percent of each task, everyone stays on the same page. This information is quite useful to
determine if the project is headed in the right direction or not.

5. See overlapping activities and task dependencies

At times, you cannot start a certain task unless another task which is dependent on the former is
completed. Such task dependencies can make things difficult to be managed especially in case of
complex projects that have too many tasks. As you get to see an overview of projects in a Gantt
chart software, you can easily see which tasks are dependent on each other and schedule them in
a way that they don’t impact the overall progress in any way and team members share equal
responsibility.

6. Experience more clarity

It’s not a good feeling when you get stuck in a project and you don’t know where things are
going. Although it’s quite common to get stuck while working on a project, however, Gantt
charts let you see things with a lot more clarity with just a click. As you can instantly see the
progress of tasks, it helps you and others working on a project to develop a better understanding
of how things are unfolding. More clarity means better understanding which further leads to
successful completion of a project.

7. Practice better time management

Many project managers pitch scheduling as one of the biggest benefits of Gantt charts in project
management. As time plays an important role in the life of a project, therefore a Gantt chart
software helps project members to understand the severity of time delays while managing
projects. It’s easy to get carried away and work mindlessly on tasks but when you have a unified
view of the overall progress, you can easily allocate time to each and every task and do what
really needs to be done.

8. Work with remote team members and motivate them

According to a recent study, almost 75% of American employees would prefer to quit their jobs
and change it for a remote position. Remote work is quite popular these days. It’s one of the
trends that are expected to dominate the world of project management in the coming years.
However, working with a remote team has its own challenges. When you manage a project with
a remote team, you have way more difficulties coordinating and keeping everyone in the loop. A
Gantt chart, being an effective solution for modern teams, makes it easier for everyone to stay on
the same page while working together. Gantt chart is certainly one of the best ways to work with
remote teams and keep them motivated. It allows you to visualize what’s already done, what’s in
progress, and what lies ahead, keeping everyone shoulder to shoulder during the project
development regardless of the country or time zone they’re in

9. Create a sense of accountability

Using Gantt charts during project management allows both project managers and teams to track
team progress, highlighting big wins (like a task completed on time and a milestone achieved
ahead of the schedule), as well as major failures. This functionality of the Gantt chart helps to
create a sense of accountability in the workplace. It gives both managers and team members a

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fair opportunity to leverage this solution to highlight how frequently they exceed expectations
and get recognition in the workplace.

10. Boost flexibility

Change is a crucial part of the project management process. Even if your project plan appears to
be foolproof, you and your team need to be prepared for the possibility that you might have to
adjust your expectations as per the changing situations. Having a user-friendly Gantt chart tool
can help you relieve yourself from potential headaches in such conditions. You can use a Gantt
chart to help your team keep moving towards reaching the desired goal and milestones, while
still being flexible in how to get there.

11. Promotes transparency

Transparency in the workplace promotes trust and teamwork amongst your team. Being aware of
each other’s responsibilities in a project is an important part of that process. A Gantt chart
certainly helpful in this case. It shows the details of each team member’s tasks and milestones in
one place so that everyone is aware of each other’s workload and help those who may be
struggling to fulfill their own work. This kind of transparency in the work process further boosts
teamwork, honesty, and humility within the team.

HOW TO CREATE A GANTT CHART

Step 1: Begin with a project or initiative in mind.

You might not know how long it’s going to take to complete the project at this point. Let’s say,
for example, that you want to roll out your new employee training program, but don’t yet know
what needs to go into it.

Step 2: Assess the current plan for this project in place.

You’ll want to look at every single step, from initiation to rollout, so you can get a clear idea of
everyone who will need to be involved. This is what you’ll use to determine timelines.

Step 3: Determine which tasks are dependent on one another.

Some tasks can be completed simultaneously and some cannot begin until another has finished.
Understanding this will help you understand time associated with each step and when the steps
should take place.

Step 4: Compile your task time frames in a Gantt chart layout.

This is where software is extremely helpful. It allows you to enter start and end tasks and then
automatically builds out the Gantt chart for you so you can see how long each project will take

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and share it across your organization. During this step, you may also realize that some milestones
are too involved and are best broken down into submilestones.

Step 5: Add additional information, accountability, budget, description, etc.

It is usually a good idea to include information that will help viewers understand each
component of the project. The downside here is that you want to keep your Gantt chart
uncluttered, and there typically isn’t much room for descriptions, analysis, or recommendations.
Some software solutions make accommodations for this by allowing you to create detail pages
for each component that can be included in the report and navigated to if necessary. (Personally,
we find this incredibly useful for project status meetings.)

Step 6: Break down your budget.

Now that everything is organized for you, you can start breaking down your budget for the
project based on milestones. Once you’ve allocated a budget, you should get a more clear idea of
whether you will complete the budget above or below what you’ve anticipated.

Step 7: Assign ownership.

Every component of a project should have an owner. When people take ownership of or
responsibility for a task, they’re more likely to ensure that it’s completed on time and it’s of
expected quality. If there are a number of contributors, it’s useful to include their names as
contributors on the Gantt chart.

Step 8: Continuously use your Gantt chart as a reference.

As time goes on and you’re working through your project, you should be using your Gantt chart
as a reference as much as possible. It will allow you to assess the current status of your different
components and determine what those statuses mean for project completion. This is why the
Gantt chart is so critical to begin with—because having a snapshot view of how everything is
going is very important.

PERT/CPM

What is Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)?

In project management, Project Evaluation Review Technique or PERT is used to identify the
time it takes to finish a particular task or activity. It is a system that helps in proper scheduling
and coordination of all tasks throughout the project. It also helps in keeping track of the progress,
or lack thereof, of the project.

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Creating a PERT Chart

A flowchart is used to depict the Project Evaluation Review Technique. Nodes represent the
events, indicating the start or end of the activities. The directorial lines indicate the tasks that
need to be completed, and the arrows show the sequence of the activities.

Four definitions of time needed to finish an activity:

 Optimistic time – The least amount of time to complete a task

 Pessimistic time – The maximum amount of time to complete a task
 Most likely time – Assuming there are no problems, it is the best estimate of how long it
would take to complete a task.
 Expected time – Assuming there are problems, it is the best estimate of how long it
would take to complete a task.

Terms used in a PERT chart:

 Float/Slack – Refers to the amount of time a task can be delayed without resulting in an
overall delay to other tasks or the project
 Critical Path – Indicates the longest possible continuous path from the start to the end of a
task or event
 Critical Path Activity – Refers to an activity without slack
 Lead Time – Refers to the amount of time needed to finish a task without affecting
subsequent tasks
 Lag Time – The earliest time by which a successor event can follow another event
 Fast Tracking – Refers to handling tasks or activities in parallel
 Crashing Critical Path – Shortening the amount of time to do a critical task

To implement a PERT chart:

 Identify the different tasks needed to complete a project. Make sure to add these in the
right order and indicate the duration of each task.
 Create a network diagram. Use arrows to represent the activities and nodes as milestones.
 Determine the critical path and possible hack.

Advantages of PERT

Here are several benefits of using PERT in project management:

1. It helps maximize the use of resources.

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 2. It makes project planning more manageable.
3. It’s useful even if there is little or no previous schedule data.
4. It enables project managers to determine a more definite completion date.

Disadvantages of PERT

Like any other method, PERT comes with its share of limitations:

1. In complex projects, many find PERT hard to interpret, so they also use a Gantt Chart,
another popular method for project management.
2. It can be tedious to update, modify and maintain the PERT diagram.
3. It entails a subjective time analysis of activities, and for those who are less experienced or
biased, it may affect the project’s schedule.

CRITICAL PATH IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

A critical path in project management is certain tasks that need to be performed in a clear order
and for a certain period.
If part of one task can be slowed down or postponed for a term without leaving work on others,
then such a task is not critical. While tasks with a critical value cannot be delayed during the
implementation of the project and are limited in time.
Critical Path Method (CPM) is an algorithm for planning, managing and analyzing the timing
of a project. The step-by-step CPM system helps to identify critical and non-critical tasks from
projects’ start to completion and prevents temporary risks.
Critical tasks have a zero run-time reserve. If the duration of these tasks changes, the terms of the
entire project will be “shifted”. That is why critical tasks in project management require special
control and timely detection of risks.
CPM: what are the roots?
The method was developed by one of the American companies in 1957. Its employees planned to
close, repair and restart chemical plants. The tasks in this project were numerous and complex,
that’s why they required such a method. After that, Critical Path Method was quickly spread to
agricultural and construction projects where people wanted to learn how to avoid routine tasks.
Today, this method of identifying critical tasks is widely used in many industries, including
software development.

6 BENEFITS OF CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS

Critical path analysis is required in order to predict the timing of project’s completion.
Here are 6 main advantages of CPM:

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  The method visualizes projects in a clear graphical form.
 It defines the most important tasks.
 Saves time and helps in the management of deadlines.
 Helps to compare the planned with the real status.
 Identifies all critical activities that need attention.
 Makes dependencies clear and transparent.

What are the limitations of Critical Path Method?

It is believed that the methodology was developed for routine and complex projects with the
possibility of a minimum change in the completion time of tasks. CPM loses its usefulness in
more chaotic projects.
There are alternatives, for example, PERT-diagrams, which allow changing the duration of each
activity.
A critical path imitates events and activities in a project, presenting them in an interconnected
network. Activities are rendered as “nodes,” and the beginning and end of the activities look like
arches and lines between nodes.

The example of CPM using

Let’s consider the simplest example of applying critical path technology to a project with short
deadlines. Imagine that our goal is to organize a parking lot on an empty asphalted area near
the office. You need to act the following to do it:

1. Choose a location.
2. Clean the area from trash.
3. Buy paint for marking.
4. Measure the pad for a certain number of cars.
5. Mark and paint all the parking elements.
6. Install the gate.

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KEY STAGES OF CRITICAL PATH METHOD
CPM involves 6 consecutive steps:

1. Identify activities /tasks

Knowing the scope of the project, you can divide the work structure into the list of activities,
giving them names or codes. All activities in the project must have a duration and a specific date.

2. Identify the sequences.

This is the most important step because it gives a clear idea of the links between activities and
helps establish dependencies because some actions will depend on the completion of others.

3. Create a network of your activities.

Once you have determined which actions depend on each other, you can create a network
diagram or a path analysis chart. Using the arrows, you can easily connect activities based on
their dependencies.

4. Determine the time intervals for completing each activity.

Estimating how much time will be spent for each action, you will be able to determine the time
needed to complete the entire project (small projects can be assessed in a few days; more
complex ones require a long evaluation).

5. Find a critical path.

The activity network will help you create the longest sequence on the path or the critical path
using the following parameters:

 Early Start – the time when all previous tasks are completed.
 Early Finish – the nearest start time and the time required to complete the task.
 Late Finish – all activities are completed without postponing the deadlines.
 Late Start – the last end time minus the time it takes to complete the task.

BENEFITS OF CRITICAL PATH METHOD

1. Reduce delays: The Critical Path Method helps identify the most important sequence of
tasks in a project. Managers can use this information to reduce delays by optimizing the
work along the critical path.
2. Visualize dependencies: The CPM depends on listing all tasks associated with a project
and their dependencies. The chart thus created can help you visualize all dependencies
and prioritize tasks accordingly.

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 3. Improve organization: In complex projects, the CPM helps break down deliverables
into sequences, and sequences into tasks. This, along with the focus on visualizing
dependencies, mapping constraints, and defining the critical path of tasks drastically
improves project organization.
4. Optimize efficiency: By mapping the critical path, project managers get a better idea of
important tasks in the project. They can use this information to allocate resources more
efficiently, adding/removing resources depending on the task's importance.
5. Float calculation: Float, as we'll learn below, defines how much a task can be delayed
without impacting the project schedule. This is an important part of the Critical Path
Method. Calculating the float can help you distribute resources more effectively.

TOPIC 4
INFORMATION SYSTEM IN PROJECT MONITORING

Monitoring is the regular observation and recording of activities taking place

in a project or programme. It is a process of routinely gathering information
on all aspects of the project.

To monitor is to check on how project activities are progressing. It is

observation; ─ systematic and purposeful observation.

Monitoring also involves giving feedback about the progress of the project
to the donors, implementors and beneficiaries of the project.

What is Project Monitoring?

Project Monitoring refers to the process of keeping track of all project-related metrics including
team performance and task duration, identifying potential problems and taking corrective actions
necessary to ensure that the project is within scope, on budget and meets the specified deadlines.
To simply put, project monitoring is overseeing all tasks and keeping an eye on project activities
to make sure you’re implementing the project as planned.

Why Project monitoring?

Project monitoring aids various purposes. It brings out the problems which occur or which might
occur during the implementation of the project and which demands solutions for smoother
progress in the project. Effective monitoring helps in knowing if the intended results are being
achieved as planned, what actions are needed to achieve the intended results during the project

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execution, and whether these initiatives are creating a positive impact towards the project
execution.

To assess the project results: To know how the objectives are being met and the desired
changes are being met.

To improve process planning: It helps in adapting to better contextual and risk factors which
affect the research process, like social and power dynamics.

To promote learning: It will help you learn how various approaches to participation influences
the outcomes.

To understand stakeholder’s perspectives: Through direct participation in the process of

monitoring and evaluation, learn about the people who are involved in the research project.
Understand their values and views, as well as design methods to resolve conflicting views and
interests.

To ensure accountability: To assess if the project has been effectively, appropriately and
efficiently executed, so that they can be held accountable.

3 Ways to Track and Re-Plan a Project

It is said that projects never go according to what we have planned. Hence, one must be ready to
make any amendments as needed. You can also opt for the following three-step approach:

1. Check and understand the progress of the project: Before starting to re-plan your
project, you should be sure of the current state and status of the work. Setting up a
meeting for the whole team together to get to know about the updates of the current work,
upcoming tasks and issues will be beneficial. Also, recognize the important milestones in
this meeting.
2. Search for and Manage Exceptions: Stay on a look-out for exceptions like risks, issues
and change requests. Open issues will have to be resolved so that roadblocks can be
removed, and a risk mitigation plan will have to be developed.
3. Re-plan the project: You have an idea of how to re-plan the project. The following steps
will help you do so:
 Keep the important project documents updated, which includes the project charter.
 Share the new plan with the shareholders.
 As per the demand, re-assign the work. Communicate with the team members regarding
the new assignments and send automated reminders to them.
 As required, make changes on the project site with the updates reports and dashboards.

IDENTIFYING SOURCES OFPROJECT VARIANCE

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Variance is a measurable change from a known standard or baseline

Project variance analysis is an important technique that allows project teams to constantly
compare planned performance with actual project data. Hence, it assists project teams in
identifying and analyzing deviations in project performance.

Variance Analysis Steps

Analyzing variances is not difficult, however, it requires a great deal of discipline in data
collection and interpretation.

To begin with, project team identifies deviation in baseline performance. It further establishes
causes of variances and assesses severity of impact. Thereafter, the team implements corrective
actions to restore project performance. Finally, the team proposes preventive actions to avoid
future occurrences.

A well structured variance analysis should include the following aspects.

1. Identify the affected key performance indicators?

2. Assess the quantum of deviation?
3. Estimate the degree of impact on project performance?
4. Identify the causes of variation?
5. Establish the corrective action?
6. Estimate the resources required to implement the corrective action?
7. Establish time schedule required to implement the corrective action?
8. Recommend preventive action?

Deviations in project plans

Project plans change daily as work gets done and you adjust what’s happening to meet the
challenges of the tasks but sometimes we’re also hit with bigger changes.

Here are 7 causes of change on projects – things that will make you review that schedule again
(and again).
1. Stakeholder Changes Their Mind
A stakeholder could change their mind at any point in the project. And they frequently do! If
their new opinion relates to the format or quality of the output of the project then you’ll be
making a change to incorporate their new ideas. Essentially, this is a change to requirements.

The earlier you can get these out of your stakeholders the less impact they will have on the
project overall. While you are still at the requirements elicitation phase they can pretty much
change their minds as often as they like. When you are into build, that’s when it is going to incur
rework and an associated increase in cost and time to make any changes.
2. Regulatory Change

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When new regulations or legislation is introduced this can result in a change to project scope or
requirements. You need to make sure that your business remains compliant and legally allowed
to trade. This could happen at any point in the project life cycle so the earlier you can be aware
of upcoming changes the better, as generally you will get some notice before new rules come
into effect.

A legislative or regulatory change might even make your project redundant so you could be
faced with closing it down.
3. Poorly Defined Requirements

I’m sure your projects never have poorly defined requirements, do they? Well, over here in the
real world we face that challenge all the time.

If your requirements are poorly set out during the definition phase of your project then it’s going
to impact you later when you move into the development and build stages.

As the uncertainty around requirements is probed by the team doing the work, assumptions will
be challenges and this is likely to result in a change to scope as you define what your key users
actually want.
4. Change in Sponsorship

A new sponsor brings new ideas. Whether your project is changed voluntarily because it’s of
benefit to the project or replaced through resignation or redundancy, whoever is now in charge
will have their own approaches for doing things.

A different leader isn’t always going to mean project changes, but it is something you should
watch out for. And you’ll have to put your managing up skills to the test as you bring them up to
speed with what’s happening on the project.
5. Business Strategy Change
A change in direction could result in changes to the scope or requirements on your project. this
could happen at any point in the project: business strategies are often under constant review for
competitive threats, even if in principle the organisation has published a three- or five-year
strategic plan.

Ultimately, a change to the strategy could result in a major change: your project being closed
down prematurely. This could happen if the project no longer supports the strategic direction and
objectives of the company but more often you’ll be expected to pivot the work to align with a
change in direction.
6. Updated Technology

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We all know that technology moves on. During a long project, or a programme of work, you may
find that the tech solutions you put in place at the beginning are out of date by the planned end.
I’ve worked on a project like this: cutting edge tech was welcomed by the teams who got it at the
beginning of the roll out but 18 months later when we were still installing it in other places those
first teams were clambering for the upgrades and new features.

Technical updates can introduce changes to your project.. This resulted in a change to scope and
it made the overall project longer as there was effectively rework to do. But we all agreed it was
a sensible approach and one that we had seen coming.
7. Not Enough Resources

If you don’t have enough people (or money, or equipment) to do everything you want to then
you might be forced to change the project to get by. For example, if you’re building an estate of
new houses and you run out of time or money towards the end, you might finish off the last few
to a lower spec than the first ones. Top of the range taps? No thanks, just the basic ones will do
fine.

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TOPIC 5

INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN PROJECT REPORT

Project reporting is the formalized recording of project progress and (interim) project results.
On the basis of a target/actual comparison of the individual controlling aspects, project
status reports are created and presented to a defined target group. This usually consists of the
project manager, the project client and (if available) the steering committee.

Goals of project reporting

Deviations in the course of the project are documented (ongoing target/actual

comparison)
Structured and standardized communication about the current project status to relevant
target groups (e.g. project client, project steering committee, project team, ….)
Ongoing written documentation of the current project progress
Protection of the project manager

BENEFITS OF PROJECT REPORTING

1. Tracking
Our first project reporting gem is tracking. Reporting allows you, your team, and stakeholders to
track the current progress of the project against the original plan. Some items to track include
Tasks, Issues, Risks, budget, schedule, and overall project health.

2. Identifies risks
Identifying risks is a key step to better projects. With the right reports, you can spot a risk early
on and take action, or ask your project stakeholder for help. Reporting on risks also makes it
easier for the team to work on the problem.

3. Cost management
Cost management is tricky. But with regular reporting, it’s easy to view your expenditure clearly
and manage your budget with full visibility.

4. Visibility

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One aspect of project management we are often asked about is visibility. Reporting increases the
amount of visibility into your projects and will give you full insight into how your project is
performing, be it good or bad.

5. Control
Reporting puts you in control of your project. It allows you to see the progress, stagnation, or
regress of certain elements, how team members are performing, and the quality of work
completed.

6. Learning
Information provided by project reporting on completed tasks can inform future actions. For
example, you may figure out that project communication was an issue and make changes to the
communication plan for your next project.

7. Drives project success

If there’s an element of your project that requires reporting, people report on it. If there’s an
element that doesn’t, people obviously don’t. The knock-on effect? That neglected part of your
project falls by the wayside and you and your team are not working as efficiently as you could
be.

PROJECT MILESTONES

A milestone is a marker in a project that signifies a change or stage in development. Milestones

are powerful components in project management because they show key events and map forward
movement in your project plan.

Milestones act as signposts through the course of your project, helping ensure you stay on track.
Without project milestone tracking, you’re just monitoring tasks and not necessarily following
the right path in your project.

A project milestone is a management tool that is used to delineate a point in a project

schedule. These points can note the start and finish of a project, and mark the completion of a
major phase of work. Milestones can be used to symbolize anything that has started or finished,
though it’s primarily used as a scheduling tool.

So, when starting a project, milestones can help immensely with scheduling. Milestones are most
commonly found in project management software, and are represented as diamonds in the Gantt
chart feature. Gantt charts are a visual representation of your schedule, laid out on a timeline,
with tasks as points along the path to the successful completion of the project. Milestones divide
this timeline into project phases.

Scheduling with Milestones

Milestones provide a way to more accurately estimate the time it will take to complete your
project, making them essential for precise project scheduling.

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Track Your Progress with Milestones
Part of scheduling a project is being able to monitor and track the progress of that schedule in
real-time. Milestones are a way to see how far you’ve come in the project. By noting the
completed milestones, you can measure the distance you are from the finish line of a project.

Examples of milestones include:

 Start and end dates

 Budget checks
 External or internal reviews
 Tests or inspection

IMPORTANCE OF MILESTONE
Milestones are critical to successful project management for the following reasons:

1. They help to monitor deadlines - setting core milestones in the planning phase of a
project will help project managers to stay on top of all associated deadlines.
2. Identify potential bottlenecks - many projects rely on work produced by external teams or
partners. If these external factors aren't being tracked delays and compression are likely.
3. Easily spot critical dates - using milestones makes it easier to see the bigger picture and
readily spot important dates and events. Perhaps you or your entire team will need to be
out of the office for a mandatory training session related to the project.
4. Raises the visibility of the project - visibility can make things easier when it comes to
project handling. Everyone can see where a project is and what remains to be done.
5. Time and resource allocation - time and resource is critical to the completion of all
successful projects. Using milestones helps managers to distribute resources effectively
so that projects are delivered on time and on budget.
6. Payments to vendors are often based on milestone completion - keep track and time
payments to key suppliers with the completion of milestones.
7. Stakeholder involvement varies between milestones - stakeholders typically become
more involved as a milestone is approached. Use milestones to plan for when
stakeholders should step closer to the project.
8. Accountability - project teams need to see what they are responsible for. Milestones help
everyone to be accountable for the part they play.

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 9. Demonstrates ‘measures of success’ - it's great to be able to measure your success!
Completing and passing through all your major milestones is a satisfying, visible way to
demonstrate the overall success of a project.

TYPES OF REPORTS

a) Timesheet report
A timesheet is a report of employee attendance. In this case, the project team members’
attendance report. It is usually presented in a table of the project name, team member’s
name, date, and hours of attendance columns. The function of this type of report is to
review the productivity level when it is compared with other reports, which include
activity and completion information. Include a brief conclusion at the end of the
timesheet to explain the significant issues.
b) Expense report
An expense report usually includes information on various project-related expenses, such
as travel expenses, supplies, equipment, rents, independent contractor fees, and others.
The function of this report is to review the project costs up to a certain milestone.
Whenever needed, include a description on discrepancies.
c) Project Status report
It is a more comprehensive type of report, which is illustrated with visuals to describe
works completed, schedule variance, cost variance, risks, issues, changes, and decisions.
Present the report short and simple.
d) Project Workload report
This report helps you visualize your team utilization and workload distribution within
your selected projects. The report displays each resource’s assignments and also their
time-offs distributed across calendar days. This is often a color-coded report that helps
quickly identify over allocation issues and drill-down to fix them.
e) Portfolio report
Portfolio report provides an overall “big picture” status information of ongoing project
status and progress indicators like budgets, workloads, and actuals. This report should be
capable of the roll-up of projects by reporting on projects by an organization, customer or
project type. Portfolio reports enable executives to use project data to make business-
related decisions and drive strategy.
f) Milestones report
Include important milestones or deliverables of a project and report them to the sponsor
and the management every time a new milestone is achieved. Include percentages or
visuals to better deliver the information. Also, include information on the expected
delivery dates.
g) Task Completion report
Task completion report should be developed to show the sponsor and the management
that the project is progressing well. Create a summary of the project plan and include the

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 latest completed tasks information in comparison. Update it frequently and report it
weekly to ensure the transparency of the project.
h) Project Tracking report
A project tracking report helps managers stay on top of things providing visual cues and
alerts on the progress of their projects. These reports help them monitor planned v/s
actual costs, effort, progress, and deliverables and take preventive measures to steer the
project in the right direction.

Benefits of Project Reporting

 Project reports are valuable tools to both project teams and stakeholders. It provides several
benefits.
 All those involved are able to track the current progress of the project and compare it against
the original plan.
 They can identify risks early on, and take corrective action.
 It easy for everybody to see expenses and manage the budget with more visibility. In fact,
reporting increases visibility in all aspects of the project, including team performance.
 The project manager can be in more control to act on progress, stagnation, regression, team
performance, or quality of work.
 Project reports are sources of learning. With enough information, those involved can decide
to stop what is not working, to continue doing what is working, and to consider reviewing the
rest.
 Reporting is a process that requires completeness and accuracy. It promotes thoroughness,
and ensures all aspects of the project are covered.

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Topic 6

COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SHARING

communications and information system-

An assembly, which may include personnel, equipment and procedures, organized to accomplish
specific information conveyance and processing functions.

Definition of communication and information sharing

a system for sending messages from one individual to another via telecommunications
links between computers or terminals using dedicated software.

a) e-mail or email is information stored on a computer that is exchanged between two users
over telecommunications. More plainly, e-mail is a message that may
contain text, files, images, or other attachments sent through a network to a specified
individual or group of individuals.

Email and Project Management

The convenience and universality of the email makes it a great tool for communication with the
stakeholders in your project. If there are misunderstandings in your project, emails could serve as a
good historical record to be referred to by one or more stakeholders.

You may find some project managers in your office following the best practice of summarizing the
important points in an email and sending them to the intended audience, even after having a long
telephone call with them on a particular topic. These are project managers who recognize the
importance of writing effective emails in their projects.

The Advantages of Email

1. Email is a free tool. Once you are online, there is no further expense that you need to
spend on in order to send and receive messages.

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 2. Email is quick. Once you have finished composing a message, sending it is as simple as
clicking a button. Email, especially if an email alert system is integrated into the network,
is sent, delivered and read almost immediately.
3. Email is simple. It is easy to use. Once your account is set up, composing, sending and
receiving messages is simple. Also, email allows for the easy and quick access of
information and contacts.
4. Email allows for easy referencing. Messages that have been sent and received can stored,
and searched through safely and easily. It is a lot easier to go through old email messages
rather than old notes written on paper.
5. Email is accessible from anywhere – as long as you have an internet connection. Whether
or not you are in the office or on the field, or even overseas, you can access your inbox
and go through your messages.
6. Email is paperless, and therefore, beneficial for the planet. Not only can you reduce the
costs of paper, you are actually reducing the damage paper usage does to the
environment.
7. Email allows for mass sending of messages. An effective medium to utilize to get your
message out there, you can send one particular message to several recipients all at once.
8. Email allows for instant access of information and files. You can opt to send yourself
files and keep messages so that you have a paper trail of conversations and interactions
you have online just in case you may need them in the future.
The Disadvantages of Email

1. Email could potentially cause information overload. Some messages may be dismissed or
left unread, especially if there are a lot coming in and the network has not integrated
some sort of email alert system into the computers at work.
2. Email lacks a personal touch. While some things are better off sent as written and typed
messages, some things should be verbally relayed or written by hand in a note or letter.
3. Email can be disruptive. Going through each email can be disruptive to work as it does
require a bit of time. This disruption is decreased through the utilization of an email alert
system.
4. Email cannot be ignored for a long time. The thing with email is that it needs constant
maintenance. If you ignore it, more and more messages will enter your inbox until it gets
to the point that your inbox is no longer manageable.
5. Email can cause misunderstandings. Because email does not include nonverbal
communication, recipients may misinterpret the sender’s message. This is particularly
true of senders fail to go through their messages before they send them.
6. Email messages can contain viruses. It’s best to be aware of this possibility so that you
are careful when opening messages from people you don’t know, or when downloading
attachments.

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 7. Email should be kept short and brief. This is especially difficult if you are one to send
messages that are too long.
8. Email requires timely responses. While some people tend to disregard messages, those
that require responses should be replied to as soon as they are received and read. If not,
urgent and important messages may be left untended.

b) Chats- to converse in a familiar or informal manner.

-
To participate with one or more people, through the Internet, in a real-time conversation,
typically as a series of short text exchanges in a specific application, as instant messaging, or
by using images, voice, video, or some combination of these:
- Informal conversation.
- A real-time conversation, as between two or more people or between a representative of a
business and a customer, over the Internet or other network:
c) File sharing

File sharing is the practice of sharing or offering access to digital information or resources,
including documents, multimedia (audio/video), graphics, computer programs, images and e-
books. It is the private or public distribution of data or resources in a network with different
levels of sharing privileges.

File sharing can be done using several methods. The most common techniques for file storage,
distribution and transmission include the following:

 Removable storage devices

 Centralized file hosting server installations on networks
 World Wide Web-oriented hyperlinked documents
 Distributed peer-to-peer networks

File sharing is a multipurpose computer service feature that evolved from removable media via
network protocols, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Operating systems also provide file-sharing methods, such as network file sharing (NFS). Most
file-sharing tasks use two basic sets of network criteria, as follows:

 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing: This is the most popular, but controversial, method of
file sharing because of the use of peer-to-peer software. Network computer users locate
shared data with third-party software. P2P file sharing allows users to directly access,
download and edit files. Some third-party software facilitates P2P sharing by collecting
and segmenting large files into smaller pieces.
 File Hosting Services: This P2P file-sharing alternative provides a broad selection of
popular online material. These services are quite often used with Internet collaboration
methods, including email, blogs, forums, or other mediums, where direct download links
from the file hosting services can be included. These service websites usually host files to
enable users to download the

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 TOPIC 7

DATABASE ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Database administration is the function of managing and maintaining database management

systems (DBMS) software. Mainstream DBMS software such as Oracle, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL
Server need ongoing management.

The primary role of database administration is to ensure maximum up time for the database so
that it is always available when needed

A database management system (DBMS) is a software package designed to define, manipulate,

retrieve and manage data in a database. A DBMS generally manipulates the data itself, the data
format, field names, record structure and file structure. It also defines rules to validate and
manipulate this data.
A DBMS relieves users of framing programs for data maintenance. Fourth-generation query
languages, such as SQL, are used along with the DBMS package to interact with a database.
Some other DBMS examples include:

 MySQL
 SQL Server
 Oracle
 dBASE
 FoxPro

Database Management, allows a person to organize, store and retrieve data from a computer.
Database Management can also describe, the data storage, operations and security practices of
a Database Administrator (DBA), throughout the life cycle of the data. Managing a database
involves designing, implementing and supporting stored data, to maximize its value. Database
Management Systems, according to the DAMA DMBOK, include various types:

 Centralized: all the data lives in one system in one place. All users come to that one system to
access the data.
 Distributed: Data resides over a variety of nodes, making quick access possible. “Rather than
rely on hardware to deliver high-availability, the Database Management software…is designed to
replicate data amongst the servers” allowing it to detect and handle failures.
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 Federated: Provisions data without additional persistence or duplication of source data. It maps
multiple autonomous databases into one large object. This kind of Database Architecture is best
for heterogenous and distributed integration projects. Federated Databases can be categorized as:
 Loosely Coupled: Component Databases construct their own federated schema and typically
requires accessing other component database systems through a multi- database language.
 Tightly Coupled: Component systems use independent processes to construct and publish
into an integrated federal schema.
 Blockchain: A type of federated database system used to securely manage financial and other
types of transactions.

Advantages of DBMS

 DBMS offers a variety of techniques to store & retrieve data

 DBMS serves as an efficient handler to balance the needs of multiple applications using
the same data
 Uniform administration procedures for data
 Application programmers never exposed to details of data representation and storage.
 A DBMS uses various powerful functions to store and retrieve data efficiently.
 Offers Data Integrity and Security
 The DBMS implies integrity constraints to get a high level of protection against
prohibited access to data.
 A DBMS schedules concurrent access to the data in such a manner that only one user can
access the same data at a time
 Reduced Application Development Time

Disadvantage of DBMS

DBMS may offer plenty of advantages but, it has certain flaws-

 Cost of Hardware and Software of a DBMS is quite high which increases the budget of
your organization.
 Most database management systems are often complex systems, so the training for users
to use the DBMS is required.
 In some organizations, all data is integrated into a single database which can be damaged
because of electric failure or database is corrupted on the storage media
 Use of the same program at a time by many users sometime lead to the loss of some data.
 DBMS can't perform sophisticated calculations

Types of databases
Depending upon the usage requirements, there are following types of databases
available in the market:

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  Centralised database.
 Distributed database.
 Personal database.
 End-user database.
 Commercial database.
 NoSQL database.
 Operational database.
 Relational database.
 Cloud database.
 Object-oriented database.
 Graph database.

1. Centralised Database

The information(data) is stored at a centralized location and the users from different
locations can access this data. This type of database contains application procedures
that help the users to access the data even from a remote location.
Various kinds of authentication procedures are applied for the verification and validation
of end users, likewise, a registration number is provided by the application procedures
which keeps a track and record of data usage. The local area office handles this thing.

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2.Distributed Database

Just opposite of the centralized database concept, the distributed database has
contributions from the common database as well as the information captured by local
computers also. The data is not at one place and is distributed at various sites of an
organization. These sites are connected to each other with the help of communication
links which helps them to access the distributed data easily.

3.Personal Database
Data is collected and stored on personal computers which is small and easily manageable. The
data is generally used by the same department of an organization and is accessed by a small
group of people.
4.End User Database
The end user is usually not concerned about the transaction or operations done at various levels
and is only aware of the product which may be a software or an application. Therefore, this is a
shared database which is specifically designed for the end user, just like different levels’
managers. Summary of whole information is collected in this database.

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5.Commercial Database
These are the paid versions of the huge databases designed uniquely for the users who want to
access the information for help. These databases are subject specific, and one cannot afford to
maintain such a huge information. Access to such databases is provided through commercial
links.
6.NoSQL Database
These are used for large sets of distributed data. There are some big data performance issues
which are effectively handled by relational databases, such kind of issues are easily managed by
NoSQL databases. There are very efficient in analyzing large size unstructured data that may be
stored at multiple virtual servers of the cloud.
7.Operational Database
Information related to operations of an enterprise is stored inside this database. Functional lines
like marketing, employee relations, customer service etc. require such kind of databases.

8.Relational Databases
These databases are categorized by a set of tables where data gets fit into a pre-defined category.
The table consists of rows and columns where the column has an entry for data for a specific
category and rows contains instance for that data defined according to the category. The
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the standard user and application program interface for a
relational database.
There are various simple operations that can be applied over the table which makes these
databases easier to extend, join two databases with a common relation and modify all existing
applications.

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9.Cloud Databases
Now a day, data has been specifically getting stored over clouds also known as a virtual
environment, either in a hybrid cloud, public or private cloud. A cloud database is a database that
has been optimized or built for such a virtualized environment. There are various benefits of a
cloud database, some of which are the ability to pay for storage capacity and bandwidth on a per-
user basis, and they provide scalability on demand, along with high availability.
A cloud database also gives enterprises the opportunity to support business applications in a
software-as-a-service deployment.

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10.Object-Oriented Databases
An object-oriented database is a collection of object-oriented programming and relational
database. There are various items which are created using object-oriented programming
languages like C++, Java which can be stored in relational databases, but object-oriented
databases are well-suited for those items.
An object-oriented database is organized around objects rather than actions, and data rather than
logic. For example, a multimedia record in a relational database can be a definable data object, as
opposed to an alphanumeric value.

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11.Graph Databases
The graph is a collection of nodes and edges where each node is used to represent an entity and
each edge describes the relationship between entities. A graph-oriented database, or graph
database, is a type of NoSQL database that uses graph theory to store, map and query
relationships.
Graph databases are basically used for analyzing interconnections. For example, companies
might use a graph database to mine data about customers from social media.

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Topic 8
INFORMATION SYSTEMS CONTROL AND SECURITY

Information systems security, more commonly referred to as INFOSEC, refers to the processes and
methodologies involved with keeping information confidential, available, and assuring its integrity.

Controls: Methods, policies, and organizational procedures that ensure safety of

organization’s assets; accuracy and reliability of its accounting records; and
operational adherence to management standards

Security: Policies, procedures and technical measures used to prevent unauthorized

access, alteration, theft, or physical damage to information systems  Information
system: The term information system describes the organized collection, processing,
transmission, and spreading of information in accordance with defined procedures,
whether automated or manual.

Information vulnerabilities

A vulnerability is that quality of a resource or its environment that allows the threat to be
realized.

When your computer is connected to an unsecured network, your software security could be
compromised without certain protocols in place. Forgetting updates, product weakness and
unresolved developer issues leave your clients wide open to computer security vulnerabilities.
Here is a list of several types of vulnerabilities that compromise the integrity, availability and
confidentiality of your clients' products.

Threats
Critical errors in your clients' computer software can leave data in the entire network vulnerable
to a number of malicious threats, including:

 Malware
 Phishing
 Proxies
 Spyware
 Adware
 Botnets
 Spam

Cyber attackers, hackers and malware can take over your clients' software, disable it and steal
data. How does this happen?

Common Computer Security Vulnerabilities

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Your clients' software connects outsiders on their networks to the inner workings of the
operating system. Every time a user opens a program on the operating system without
restrictions or limited access, the user potentially invites attackers to cross over and rewrite the
codes that keep information protected.
In 2011, the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identified the Top 25 Most Dangerous
Software Errors. While the list remains comprehensive, there are many other threats that leave
software vulnerable to attack.
The most common software security vulnerabilities include:

 Missing data encryption

 OS command injection
 SQL injection
 Buffer overflow
 Missing authentication for critical function
 Missing authorization
 Unrestricted upload of dangerous file types
 Reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision
 Cross-site scripting and forgery
 Download of codes without integrity checks
 Use of broken algorithms
 URL redirection to untrusted sites
 Path traversal
 Bugs
 Weak passwords
 Software that is already infected with virus

The list grows larger every year as new ways to steal and corrupt data are discovered.

Internal Network Security

There are even more security breaches that occur from within a network. Watch out for USB
drives, unencrypted laptops and netbooks, unsecured wireless access points, unrestricted
employee access, untrustworthy humans and smartphones and misused emails.

How to Prevent Computer Security Vulnerabilities

Your clients' data is important for so many reasons. Now, more than ever, protecting their data is
an integral part of business.
Software security tools and services for transferring large data sets can help users find
architectural weaknesses and stay up to date with reliable data tracking and measuring. At
SolarWinds MSP (formerly LOGICnow), we combine Web Protection with Managed Antivirus,
MailProtection, patch management and backup to offer clients complete protection from every
security angle, delivering comprehensive web security, web filtering and bandwidth monitoring.

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Our SolarWinds MSP software is one of the best-in-class security programs with 100% cloud
competency. We keep your clients' computer networks and backed-up data safe and secure from
vulnerabilities by:

 Staying on top of bandwidth usage with alerts when devices exceed thresholds
 Blocking users from visiting suspected and confirmed unsafe sites
 Setting white lists and black lists to override category based filters
 Applying Web Bandwidth checks
 Filtering Internet activity by day, category and URL to reveal trends, spikes and
irregularities
 Completing with detailed reporting tools to let you analyze browsing activity and
demonstrate the effectiveness of web security
 Identifying risks with our iScan Online software to tell you where it is and places a dollar
value to the risk of it being there Protect your clients' data. Start a free trial today.

MITIGATING/PREVENTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY THREATS

Steps that all organizations should take to mitigate these threats and protect important company
data:

1. Always encrypt your data

If you want to minimize the impact of an insider threat, always encrypt data. Not all employees
need access to all data and encryption adds another layer of protection.

2. Know the different types of insider threats

There are different types of insider threats. Some are malicious, and some are simply due to
negligence. Malicious threats may be identified by employee behavior, such as attempting to
hoard data. In this case, additional security controls can be an effective solution.

3. Do background checks before hiring

Before you hire a new employee, make sure you are doing background checks. Not only will
this show any suspicious history, it can stop you from hiring any criminals or those associated
with your competitors. Personality tests can also red flag the propensity for malicious behavior.

4. Educate your staff

Educating your staff on best practices for network security is imperative. It is much easier for
employees to use this information if they are aware of the consequences of negligent behavior.

5. Use monitoring solutions

There are monitoring solutions that you can use, such as application, identity and device data,
which can be an invaluable resource for tracking down the source of any insider attack.

6. Use proper termination practices

Just as you want to be careful when hiring new employees, when terminating employees, you
also must use proper practices. This includes revoking access to networks and paying attention to
employee actions on the network in the days before they leave.

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7. Go beyond the IT department
Though your IT department is a valuable resource, it cannot be your only defense against insider
threats. Make sure you are using a number of programs and several departments to form a team
against the possibility of threats.

8. Consider access controls

Access controls may help to deter both malicious and negligent threats. This also makes it more
difficult to access data.

9. Have checks and balances for all staff and systems

It is also important to ensure there are checks and balances in place, i.e. having more than one
person with access to a system, tracking that usage and banning shared usernames and
passwords.

10. Analyze network logs

You should collect, store and regularly analyze all of your network logs, and make sure it’s
known that you do this. This will show the staff that you are watching what they are doing,
making them less likely to attempt an insider attack.

11. Back up your data

Employees may be malicious or more likely they make big mistakes. And when they do, you’d
sleep better at night knowing you have redundant, secure cloud based backup to keep your
business up and running.

Information systems control

Information Systems controls are a set of procedures and technological measures to ensure secure and
efficient operation of information within an organization. Both general and application controls are used
for safeguarding information systems.

General Controls

These controls apply to information systems activities throughout an organization. The most
important general controls are the measures that control access to computer systems and the
information stored or transmitted over telecommunication networks. General controls include
administrative measures that restrict employee access to only those processes directly relevant to
their duties, thereby limiting the damage an employee can do.

Some general controls are as follows.

1. Software Controls – Monitor the use of system software and prevent unauthorized access of
software programs, system failure and computer programs.

2. Hardware Controls – Ensure the computer hardware is physically secure and check for
equipment malfunctions. Computer equipment should be specially protected against extreme
temperatures and humidity. Organizations should make provisions for backup or continued
operation to maintain constant service.

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 3. Computer Operations Controls – This include controls over setup of computer processing jobs
and computer operations and backup and recovery procedures for processing that ends
abnormally.

4. Data Security Controls – Ensures critical business data on disk and tapes are not subject to
unauthorized access, change or destruction while they are in use or in storage.

5. Implementation Controls – Audit the system development process at various points to ensure
that the process is properly controlled and managed.

6. Administrative Controls – Formalize standards, rules, procedures and control discipline to

ensure that the organization’s general and application controls are properly executed and
enforced.

Application Controls

Application controls are specific to a given application and include measures as validating input
data, regular archiving copies of various databases, and ensuring that information is disseminated
only to authorized users.

This can be classified as input, processing and output controls.

1. Input Controls – Input controls check data for accuracy and completeness when they enter
the system. There are specific input controls for input authorization, data conversion, data editing
and error handling.

2. Processing Controls – Processing controls establish that data are complete and accurate
during updating. Run control totals, computer matching, and programmed edit checks are used as
processing controls.

3. Output Controls –Output controls ensure that the results of computer processing are accurate,
complete and properly distributed.

Information system and auditing

An information technology audit, or information systems audit, is an examination of the

management controls within an Information technology (IT) infrastructure. The evaluation of
obtained evidence determines if the information systems are safeguarding assets,
maintaining data integrity, and operating effectively to achieve the organization's goals or
objectives.

A thoroughly conducted audit program can assure organizational stakeholders of the financial,
operational and ethical well-being of an organization. It should confirm the effectiveness of
current operations and on-going compliance with administrative or legal regulations. Or it can
reveal the need for change or urgent action.

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 Information system (IS) audits support all of these outcomes, focusing on the information and related
technology and systems that organizations depend on for competitive advantages.

TOPIC 9
INFORMATION SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SELECTION
Enterprise software implementation is a big deal. Most enterprise software projects can take
many person-years of effort and have a large price tag. Many companies find that they require
expertise from third parties like software vendors, system integrators and subject matter experts
(SMEs) to round out their team.
Yet many organizations have more clearly defined selection criteria for smartphones – a small
purchase – than for enterprise software. If you need a system integrator or implementation
consultant, how do you select the right one? Beyond finding a firm that appears to have the right
resources to meet your needs, consider the following six essential selection criteria.
1. Business and industry expertise
Enterprise IT projects can impact the entire business. Your system integrator or implementation
consultant (aka "the firm") should bring more to the table than IT skills and subject matter
expertise.
 How well does the consulting firm’s leadership understand the position of the business in a
global market?
 Do they demonstrate knowledge of your industry, the subject matter and best practices?
2. Market knowledge
Understanding your business and IT needs is a given. To be most effective, they must also know
about the software market, to help you arrive at a solid "short list" of vendors.
 Does the firm understand which solutions can best meet your needs?
 Do they have solid contacts within the software market niche (e.g., financials, HR, EHS, asset
management)?
 Do they understand the strengths and weaknesses of key competitors within that niche?
3. Program/project management capabilities
Program/project management goes well beyond a GANTT chart.
 Can the firm help you navigate the entire systems lifecycle if needed?
 Have they demonstrated the ability to manage large, complex efforts?
 Do they possess the skills to clearly define and manage the project scope, schedule and budget?
 Can they manage scope creep, at the same time making critical changes when necessary?
4. Methodology
A good methodology and clearly defined deliverables can keep the effort on track, while the lack
of a clearly stated methodology raises a red flag.
 Does the firm have a methodology that has proven successful on other projects?
 What are the primary technical and project management approaches?
 What methodology and tools do they employ?
 What are the main deliverables?
 Can the firm show examples of completed work products?
 What do their clients say about the efficacy of the firm's methodology and tools?
5. Communications
Assume that scope changes and issues will arise throughout the systems lifecycle. What’s not
always so clear is how to manage these changes.
 Does the firm have the business savvy and communication skills to identify issues that others
may miss?
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 Will they communicate critical issues to key stakeholders before the issues have a large impact
on scope schedule, and budget?
 Will they recommend solutions and help you to make sound decisions?
6. Independence and objectivity
Enterprise software initiatives can span months or years, so it is important to find a firm that has
your best interests in mind. This is where independence and objectivity play an important role.
 Does the firm have your best interests in mind, or are they more interested in billable hours and
keeping consultants off the bench?
 Is the firm independent? Are they allied with one or more software vendors?
 Are they good listeners?
 Do they have a "one size fits all" mindset, or can they be objective about your initiative?
 Can you trust their advice?
 Will they tell you when you are about to make a bad decision?
You can enhance your organization’s chances for success by developing – and applying –
objective system integrator/consultant selection criteria. My previous blog post provided six tips
for making the selection.

Systems selection often includes the following elements:

Business requirements definition. We define your specific business requirements for a
particular technology or information system.
Strategic assessment. Your current IT systems and technologies are analyzed with respect to
your business strategy.
IT system specification. We help to develop detailed specifications for your IT systems.
System evaluation and selection criteria. Guidelines and recommendations are created for
evaluating and selecting products and vendors to fulfill your technology needs.
Contract review and negotiation. We prepare new contracts and service agreements and review
those already in place.
Implementation and conversion services. A timely and accurate conversion is guaranteed with
project management support.

Challenges in selecting a software

There are many factors that impact the project delivery, including the speed of technological
changes and the level of competition in the market.
Challenge 1: Extremely high competition
If your software company has a great idea, chances are another company has already thought of
it. The competition is extremely high both at the local and international levels, and it affects
software businesses in terms of pricing, customer reach and retention, etc. PMs have to work
closely with business owners and other stakeholders to identify the right market segment and
ensure the ROI of their software.
Challenge 2: Old legacy systems
Software companies often spend significant resources on maintaining and upgrading the old
legacy systems. Having invested a lot of financial and human resources, stakeholders become
resistant and don’t want to change the existing system, even when it no longer meets their needs.

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Instead of starting a battle and making stakeholders’ more resistant, PMs should find ways to
alleviate their fears and convince them of all benefits a new solution will bring to their business.
Challenge 3: High-level software expertise
When it comes to software selection and implementation, the best variant for business owners is
finding project managers with the relevant software expertise. And the more complex the
software system is, the more experience and the more specific skill set will be required for its
implementation (e.g. think of large ERP systems).
Challenge 4: Third-party integration
Modern companies are no longer interested in standalone solutions and look for third-party
integration. In general, it looks like implementing multiple systems in one project (e.g. a PM
implements a financial management system with accounting and reporting modules which
interface with CRM and contract management software). This puts PMs under pressure and
makes them improve their expertise and learn more about other software that integrates with the
solution they are implementing.
Challenge 5: Multiple-level users
Most companies look for systems that allow different types of users – from basic users to strictly
IT users. Project manager’s who are responsible for the system implementation, must be familiar
with all types of users and know what user rights and permissions should be assigned to each.
Challenge 6: Quality testing
Successful system implementation requires numerous testing iterations to ensure that the final
outcomes align with the desired results. Project managers need to make sure all bugs are
discovered and all issues are fixed before the system goes live. This is essential to avoid
additional rework and ensure customer satisfaction.

AVAILABLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARES IN KENYA

1) Takeoff software
This allows you to measure lengths, areas and volumes from digital files (such as CAD
drawings) or blueprints. Planswift and ProEst some of the software that enable you to perform
take off electronically – saving you the hustle of keeping paper records.

2.) Cost estimating software

This enables you to create professional bids based on your take off. Solutions such as Maxwell,
ConEst, Accubid and ProEst pull labour and material costs from a costs data base thus enabling
you to make accurate estimates.

3.) Bid management software

This is what you need to manage all your procurement and purchasing processes. The application
provides a database to record contractor information from where you can obtain a list of firms to
send bid requests at a later date. These include SmartBidNet, pipelineSuite and Bid eXchange
among others.

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4.) Project scheduling software
This provides the critical path method (CPM) to help you to schedule people, resources and
tasks. The system tracks all the people working in various sections and equipment usage.
Examples include: Maxwell ProContractorMX CPM, PMWeb and Primavera P6.

5.) Project management software

This enables you to manage crucial documentation such as change orders, track project costs and
collaboration with all those involved on the project. The software includes Prolog, Procore and
Paskr.

6.) (Bonus) Accounting and job costing software

It handles main accounting and job costing of contractors. The systems are designed around a job
costing module that allows accountants to allocate costs by the job to manage project
profitability.

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Topic 10
EMERGING ISSUES AND TRENDS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEMS

a) Digital tools are must for managing projects

Digital tools are simply tremendous. Pick a digital tool depending on your workflow,
teams and tools that will work better all the time for your business. Digital project
management tools will help project managers manage their projects and help tackle
problems to make their work more productive. You can also automate most of your tasks
using a digital tool on daily basis for being profitable in the future.
b) Emotional Intelligence
A project manager needs to have an understanding of emotional intelligence and it will
become a growing and influential trend in project management industry. Project manager
need to have the ability to track schedules and budgets for their projects that demands
efficiency and productivity. Your emotional intelligence will determine your ability to
resolve issue and the success of your project.
c) Emphasis on soft skills
It is the soft skills in reality that helps us to move forward in our career. The right soft
skills like leadership, collaboration and communication will give you an edge and will
determine whether you fit in the company culture. The soft skills are going to be more
valued and as the demand for the project management is growing, emphasis on soft skills
will become the new trend. Along with the best practices, human interaction side will also
be treated important. Project managers will develop a constructive way to address issues
of project management as soft skills is becoming high in demand.
d) The rise of business agile
Project management software is more appealing to meet the need of today’s project
managers. It is just a trend that enables project managers to deliver high-priority and high
quality projects. It can be challenging to manage Agile and give necessary risks to
innovation bringing quick change. Today’s smart organizations are no longer using
waterfall project management and have started using an Agile approach. 2018 will see
project managers hit key milestones and provide fast project status with Agile project
methodology. Project managers can streamline collaboration and decision making and
bringing the results they want to.
e) The internet of things
Internet of things is going to be one of the greatest project management trends. It will
affect every part of business and projects that are not internet related. IoT will drive next
opportunities and bring a notable effect in 2018 will be in project management software
and in the project management role itself. It will change the face of project management
by allowing team collaboration, increase in project timelines, enhanced security and will
allow remote controlling of objects.
f) Kanban Boards
Kanban Board is increasingly being integrated into more structured project management.
It is composed of a grid to manage workflow that are smaller and solve all your
performance of poor project by adding more control mechanism. It can be used well for
those projects that are more likely to have changes for an efficient way to limit work in

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 progress and avoid multitasking. The adaptation of Kanban project management will let
project managers embrace innovation to manage their projects. It offers managers a
centralized place to manage lists, tasks and files with wide packages that can be applied to
every situation.
g) More of professionalism
Project management is facing today some big challenges related to project and jobs that
are quickly growing to keep up with professionalism. As the project work is huge and
complicated, professionalism is important for project managers to form a distinct
occupational group. Using a project management software will give you a professional
framework for getting your work done. Professionalism in project management will raise
future standards, increase trust that others bestow, improve business relationships at all
level and provide a greater chance of success.
h) Remote Teams
The remote teams is becoming a standard in the world of project management. More and
more companies are embracing the concept of distributed teams to keep talent from
around the world for their projects. Workers are also Looking for flexibility in work to
save hours and their energy. This trend is on rise and project management for remote
teams will continue with the collaborative trend. Project managers are going to invest in
technology and tools to promote communication over a wide variety of platforms and
foster day-to-day growth in distance work. With the right project management tools
like Proof Hub, remote can be managed effectively and can be more productive.
i) Social responsibility and accountability
Social responsibility is becoming a part of project management and will lead to increase is
better accountability in teams. Trustworthiness and accountability will embrace
responsibility to encourage a positive impact on environment, employees, stakeholders
and other members. People are increasingly willing to do business with companies that
conduct themselves in ways that are socially responsible and accountable. Project
managers can change their companies socially responsible behaviour at the local level
with an improvement in workplace regulations, environmental protections and employee
rights.
j) Collaboration at workplace
In the coming years, we are going to see fundamental shift in collaboration in project
management. A project manager will need to bring change management to turn in their
deliverable. With the change in hierarchies, there is a change where people are generally
asked for who do they work with. Collaboration at workplace on projects is becoming a
necessity for success. With wider teams and project managers need to have a knowledge
of how to engage stakeholders to bring better results. Also, in project teams, collaborative
nature of project management holds utmost importance.

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