Application of project management softwae in IT projects

Abstract

Information Technology has changed our lives dramatically over the past. With this enormous dependence on Information Technology the proper management of IT projects has become a critical aspect for many IT projects. Thus many tools and techniques were developed to assist the IT project management easier. Project management software was heavily used in IT projects in the initial stages of IT project management. But with the advent of new project management strategies such as agile methodologies and increased emphasis on cost and schedule compliances more and more organizations and individuals are turning away from the traditional project management software. The main goal of this research is to find the factors affecting the application of project management software in the context of an IT project. The sample of this research was formed with IT professionals in Sri Lanka who are especially involved with IT project management responsibilities in their respective organizations. Data was gathered through a questionnaire survey distributed to the sample via email and web access. The main findings of this research show that majority of IT professionals understand the management tasks that can be performed by project management software. It also confirms that IT projects have different aspects which are not addressed by traditional projects and requires. special attention to these aspects. The research is also aimed at discovering user specific and organizational specific factors affecting the use of project management software. The impact of organizational methodologies adopted in IT project management in selection of project management software and the limitations faced by the organizations are discussed in this research. One of the key recommendations of this research is that knowledge of IT project management should be instilled in those who are responsible for such activities. The research also tries to recommend a guideline in selecting project management software for an organization. Limitations of this research were the small sample space and the limited time duration. Although it was deemed that formal interviews and forum discussions would greatly benefit the purpose of this research, such research methodology could not be performed due to the short time allocated to the research project.