Presentation by: Simon McLean

1. "Describe the role of programme and project management in the implementation of distributed, integrated systems in Windows/web environment." Presentationby: Simon McLean

2. What is Programme Management? “The co-ordinated management of a portfolio of projects to achieve a set of business objectives.” (Definition: CCTA - Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) or “The co-ordinated support, planning, prioritisation and monitoring of projects to meet changing business needs.” (Definition: The Program Management Group )

3. Key Criteria 2. Planning 3. Systems Integration 1. Communication Successful IT Projects/Programme Management 6. Complexity 5. Technology 4. Usability

4. Students Lecturers Researchers Maintenance Staff Administrative Staff TVU / Research Project Local business Government NHS Stakeholder map Key stakeholders: Internal and external Researchers, Potential Research Students Back to Planning

5. Strategy Analysis (Requirements, Specification, Task Breakdown) Design Build Document Test Transition to Live Production Project life cycle Back to Planning

6. Project Task Breakdown List (MS Project) Back to Planning

7. Prince 2 Overview Back to Planning Process Model

8. Prince 2 Process Model Back to Planning

9. Complexity Resources: • Some skills needed (or core competencies) critical to the project success might be in short supply • Balance between maintenance/support and defining new systems if staff have many responsibilities, not just single focus on development • Sharing the vision – ensuring project members understand what the project goal is & what their contribution to the project will do. Technical: • Myth that web site development is faster than traditional development - may be part of a technically complex infrastructure with CMS, Frameworks, Accessibility, Browser compatibility , user interface design. • Competing standards cause many issues e.g. a video server project using Microsoft Streaming Media Server won’t stream Realplayer audio files, Apple Quicktime files may have to be converted from Microsoft format to allow for PC and Mac users. Different Network bandwidths for students outside the University mean you may have to provide different quality of formats for the same content. • Rate of change of technology means e.g. support for Mobile or PDA devices also brings new demands (SMS, small browser windows, WAP etc) * Back to Overview

10. Conclusion • Programme & project management contribute to the effective planning of new IT services. • Proven ‘Best Practice’ methods like Prince2 help in managing projects but they also depend upon many other skills from the programme manager, not just the ability to document effectively. • Prince 2 methodology does provides us with a consistent way to deliver projects. It covers areas like Risk Assessment and Quality which haven’t been covered in detail here. *

11. Thanks for listening

12. IT Context • A number of projects assumed ongoing at any one time. There may be a balance against support and maintenance tasks as well as implementing new projects. • Technology varies greatly amongst systems e.g. Linux, Unix, Windows, .Net, J2EE, Open Source vs Microsoft. • Experience in the IT field can contribute to making informed decisions e.g. estimating timescales e.g. for a vb .Net development project. • Projects may be inter-related e.g. use of a single login system. *

13. The Role of the Programme Manager • Responsibility & accountability (budget, projects) • Planning & design • Manage stakeholders • Manage risks • Use appropriate techniques e.g. Prince 2 • Effective interpersonal skills – communication, persuasion etc • Maintain quality • Build teams (& appoint) • Monitor projects • Leadership • Problem solving skills • Bring projects to successful completion • Examine project dependencies. *