Project Management Methodology Integration
PMI PMBOK

The Project Management Institute (PMI) provides a practical project management framework that is
used globally to manage information technology (and other) projects. PMI developed a guidebook
called the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) that is the cornerstone of the
implementation of methods for initiating, planning, controlling and monitoring, and closing projects.
The PMBOK guidance can be tailored to an organizations requirements for project management,
and the key is in the tailoring process. Without tailoring, the PMBOK will not provide a PMM that fits
within your organization's culture.

PM Directions has tailored the PMBOK methods for many organizations to account for differences in
management philosophy, organizational constraints, and operational considerations, but it is our
contention that the PMBOK does not function well as an overall management
method for delivering IT project value and service to a business. PM Directions
promotes that the PMM developed include critical linkages to your system and software development
and project life cycle, as well as to your overall IT development, system delivery, service delivery, and
risk management environment.
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
Key to establishing an effective PMM within your PMO, PM Directions provides support in
identifying industry practices that fit within your organization style and culture.

Critical to our philosophy is that most organizations will require the integration of methods from
different univerally accepted institutions and standards. These standard practices are
combined to form the unique PMM that will be effective in IT project development, monitoring,
and control within your company. We call this Project Management Methodology Integration
(PMMI).
PM Directions
What It is

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and techniques for
managing information technology (IT) infrastructure, development, and operations.

ITIL is published in a series of books, each of which cover an IT management topic. The names
ITIL and IT Infrastructure Library are registered trademarks of the United Kingdom's Office of
Government Commerce (OGC). ITIL gives a detailed description of a number of important IT
practices with comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that can be tailored to any IT
organization.

Why It's Important

ITIL is a globally accepted and growing body of knowledge that is becoming more important in the
U.S. as companies such as HP based products such as OpenView on ITIL best practices. ITIL
provides the necessary framework for service level establishment, management, and delivery, and
plays a key role in establishing IT processes within an organization.

How it relates to the PMM

The process models in ITIL should be integrated for all IT infrastructure projects, but tailored for
each organizations' unique PMM model.
Agile PM Methodologies
PM Directions believes strongly in Agile Project Management Methodologies for certain client
cultures. Central to this process is the acceptance that change is constant, cannot be effectively
planned for, and methods must be implemented that respond to change in a rapid and effective
manner. Organizations that adopt and are successful with agile PM methods usually possess the
following characteristics:

  • They have projects that have new and risky technologies that must be incorporated
  • Time to market or deployment is critical to company success
  • Cultures that are used to or need high collaboration among and between project
    stakeholders
  • Cultures that are change tolerant and customer focused

Now, given that characterization, who doesn't want to be agile? PM Directions follows guidance
developed by the agile community based on the following principles (1).

  • Assume Simplicity – as the project evolves it is assumed that the simplest solution is best.
    Overbuilding the system or any artifact of the project must be avoided. The project manager
    should have the courage to not perform a task or produce an artifact that is not needed for
    the immediate benefit of the stakeholders.
  • Embrace Change – since requirements evolve over time, the stakeholder’s understanding
    of these requirements evolve as well. Project stakeholders themselves may change as the
    project makes progress. Project stakeholders may change their point of view, which in turn
    may change the goals and success criteria of the project.
  • Enabling The Next Effort – the project can still be considered a failure even when the team
    delivers a working system to the users. Part of fulfilling the needs of the stakeholders is to
    ensure the system is robust enough to be extended over time. Using Alistair Cockburn’s
    concept, “when you are playing the software development game your secondary goal is to
    setup to play the next game”  
  • Incremental Change – the pressure to get it right the first time can overwhelm the project.
    Instead of futilely trying to develop an all–encompassing project develop a small portion of
    the system, or a high–level model of a larger portion of the system. Evolve this portion over
    time, and discard portions that are no longer needed in an incremental manner.
  • Maximize Stakeholder Value – the project stakeholders are investing resources —  time,
    money, facilities, and etc. — to create a system to meet their needs. Stakeholders expect
    their investment will be applied in the best way.
  • Manage With A Purpose – by creating artifacts that have stakeholder value. Identify who
    needs the artifact. Identify a purpose for creating the artifact.
  • Multiple Project Views – considering the complexity of any modern information technology
    system construction or acquisition process, there is need for a wide range of presentation
    formats in order to effectively communicate with the stakeholders, participants, and service
    providers.
  • Rapid Feedback – the time between an action and the feedback on that action must be
    minimized. Work closely with the stakeholders, to understand the requirements, to analyze
    those requirements, and develop an actionable plan, which provides numerous
    opportunities for feedback.
  • Working Software Is The Primary Goal – not the production of extraneous documentation,
    software, or management artifacts. Any activity that does not directly contribute to the goal of
    producing working software should be examined to determine its value.
  • Travel Light – since every artifact must be maintained over its life cycle. The effort needed to
    maintain these artifacts must be balanced with their value. These principles need a context
    in which to be applied. More importantly they need specific actionable outcomes within that
    context.
The definition of Agility....

Jim Highsmith provides one in
Adaptive Software
Development.

“Agility is the ability to adapt
and respond to change …
agile organizations view
change as an opportunity, not
a threat.”