Advanced IT Project Management

Course Length: 5 Days

Next Events: April 1-5, 2019; July 15-19, 2019

Cost: $1995

The 5-day Advanced IT Project Management (ADV-ITPM-Virtual) training covers project management in the IT environment for system and software projects ranging from new development & enhancements to upgrades & acquisitions. This class discusses the unique requirements and opportunities IT projects often present. The class encourages interactive discussion and examples of real life projects, especially those encountered by class participants. The class is 8 hours per day and involves optional, but recommended, 1-2 hours of additional independent study (e.g., reading and exercises) outside of the classroom.

Aimed at IT project managers who manage IT projects, and skills embracing industry-recognized practices, this advanced course bridges “real-world” project experience with “best” practices, and enhances successfully managed IT projects.

The Advanced IT Project Management Skills--Virtual course is accessible by students online from anywhere using virtually any PC, Apple, or Linux computer, tablet, or mobile device. The hosting application is browser-based, with no software to download or special permissions required.

Classes are interactive and require student participation. Participants are provided advance access to download and print course materials, or the materials in hard copy are physically delivered to them. Students also receive access to online resources, including a private study group forum for questioning and discussing project management topics covered in the class.

Course Objectives
Advanced IT Project Management--Virtual is a 5-day course for persons with a foundational knowledge and understanding of project management. It focuses on the finer points of project management – those ultimately determining the effectiveness of the project deliverables to accomplish measurable mission/program outcomes and results.

Participants’ learn the vital role of business analysis normally expected to precede project initiation. This is particularly important for all IT project initiatives in view of IT as a vital, mission critical element of the enterprise and its ability to accomplish its mission.

After completing this training, participants shall, through discussion and exercise, be able to:

Present common project management practices -- understand basic project workflow, common milestones, work products, and deliverables;
Present common IT project and development practices -- understand the basic challenges of IT projects including how to determine and adapt the best approach to their execution (e.g., predictive or adaptive methods like traditional SDLC, Scrum, etc.);
Address relevant project management and IT practices promoted in the PMBOK® Guide -- ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 and 15288, MIL-STD-881C, ISO-9001, CMMI, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Unified Process, SDLC, DAU Integrated Life Cycle, Agile Manifesto, Scrum, etc.
Initiate a Project -- Interactive discussion and exercise on receiving, accepting, and kicking off an IT project, including the steps to identify stakeholders and plan planning;
Plan an IT Project. – Steps in planning an IT project from collecting requirements and setting scope, creating a robust project management plan, creating a project and solution Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and building a schedule from it (including resources, duration, and cost estimates). Planning also address quality, risk, procurement, and other relevant planning topics;
Execute, Monitor, and Control a Project -- Following the plan to execute, monitor, and control the project and create the product, service, or result required of the project. Topics range from configuration management, change control, quality control and quality assurance, to earned value and continuous process improvement;
Close Projects -- Steps to fully close and hand off a project so that follow-on projects can reuse or pickup from where the project left off, so that other projects might learn from the project, etc.
Next Steps. Brainstorming on the practice of project management and how to implement it in individual projects as well as within groups and organizations. Emphasis is on identifying and adopting best practices, capturing metrics, and employing change management techniques to improve the practice of project management in any organization, under any time or budget constraint.

Suggested Audience
This class is oriented to IT project management and is ideal for all IT professionals, especially project managers, senior managers, and executives. Any project team member or person supporting projects gains value and insight into the requirements for successfully authorizing, initiating, planning, executing, and completing projects.