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IT-494 IT Project Management

Course Description:

In this course, the relationship between information technology and the fundamental processes driving the business enterprise are evaluated. The course aims to reorient students from a “business as usual” approach to information systems toward an integrated, cross-functional reassessment of the critical processes of the firm. The role of information technology as both an objective of and a participant in effective change is emphasized in relation to crucial organizational, managerial, and cultural factors. Students work as members of project teams to analyze case studies of actual reengineering efforts and to participate in original prototype exercises.

Personal Reflection

Information Technology Project Management (ITPM) is one of my favorite courses at Monroe College. We learned that a project is a transient undertaking that aims to produce a one-of-a-kind product, service, or outcome. Every project has scope, time, and cost constraints, which we refer to as the triple constraint. Successful projects will often find the correct balance between the triple constraints since they are often competing goals. For example, a bigger scope may mean increased cost and time, while a low budget will mean limited scope and time. In addition, limited time will also reduce the scope and inflate the project's cost. After understanding the definition of a project and its constraints, we defined project management as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Finally, we focused on each of the ten project management knowledge areas, namely, Project Scope, Project Schedule, Project Cost, Project Quality, Project Resource, Project Communications, Project Risk, Project Procurement, Project Stakeholder, and Project Integration Management.
IT Project Management was new to me. Nevertheless, it helped me improve many higher-order thinking and soft skills because I had to develop a project and apply the ten project management knowledge areas as part of a group. For example, ensuring that each week's deliverables were on time and of quality helped me improve my time management and teamwork skills. In addition, my communication skills and listening skills improved because we coordinated our work through written and verbal communication. Each knowledge area helped enhance my critical thinking and problem-solving skills; however, project scope management did the most for me in those areas. For example, while developing the business case, I learned to use excel to create the financial analysis for our project.
As stated previously, our final group project as project managers spanned approximately two months and helped prepare us for ITPM and the job market. Teamwork, collaboration, communication, time management, and being responsible for our actions were undoubtedly some of the indispensable benefits of the final group project. You may view my final group project here.