IT Project Management: An Expert Guide

Over time, the strategic integration of information technology (IT) has become an essential component for gaining a competitive advantage and driving business success. Technology hardware, software and services — and the business processes they underpin — serve as the foundation of day-to-day operations and as launchpads for growth and innovation. Therefore, effective IT project management must be a core capability for both IT service providers and businesses with internal IT departments. These practices and processes ensure that new technology projects, as well as the ongoing management and maintenance of existing systems, are planned and implemented in a way that not only meets organizational needs but delivers the intended business outcomes. In addition, when an IT organization invests in developing robust project management principles, practices and tools, it is better equipped to deliver technology and the business benefits it engenders — on time and on budget.

What Is IT Project Management?

IT project management incorporates all the processes required to plan, schedule, implement, monitor and report on technology projects within a business. An IT project may involve setting up or maintaining many types of technology — software, mobile apps, web development, cybersecurity systems, hardware, networks, databases — but the overall approach is largely the same no matter the technologies involved. For IT service providers and many professional services firms, IT projects are the bread and butter of their businesses. But because companies of all sizes across multiple industries and geographies depend on IT today, it’s important for all businesses to possess some level of IT project management understanding and capabilities — even if the business is using a third-party service provider to oversee the project.

Key Takeaways

• IT project management refers to the oversight of a business’s internal technology projects.
• It involves planning, scheduling, implementing, monitoring and reporting on the project from start to finish.
• The key phases of IT project management are initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and reporting, and closure.
• There are a number of approaches to IT project management, ranging from traditional and sequential Waterfall method to the more flexible Agile.
• IT project management is complex. Following best practices and focusing on practical technologies are keys to success.

IT Project Management Explained

IT project management refers to the end-to-end oversight of a project involving IT infrastructure, software or related systems. The IT project can vary. It may be the maintenance of existing systems or the migration of software to the cloud. It could be the installation of new hardware. It might be the development of a new mobile app or the introduction of a network upgrade. Whatever the case, IT project management is responsible for ushering the intended technology maintenance, upgrade or change through the various stages of the project’s development and execution.

There are a number of ways to approach IT project management, from the traditional and sequential Waterfall method to more modern, iterative methods like Agile and Kanban. But the goal is the same: to coordinate the many moving parts — scope, schedule, costs, resources, quality, communications, stakeholders and users — in order to develop and implement the project for the business.

Even amid economic uncertainty, business spending on new technology continues to grow. Worldwide IT spending was projected to reach $4.6 trillion in 2023, an increase of 5.5% over 2022, according to Gartner. So, IT project management will continue to be a critical enterprise skill.

Phases of IT Project Management

While one might associate an IT project with its eventual rollout within a business, successful project management begins long before implementation and continues after it. The five general phases of an IT project are similar to those inherent in many other business projects:

1. Initiation: The first step in IT project management is to identify the business needs the technology will meet and the objectives for the project. At this stage, most businesses will create a project proposal. Making a business case for the technology initiative (including all projected costs and returns) and getting buy-in from key stakeholders will verify that the project is worth pursuing and that the business is willing to invest the time and resources necessary for its success.
2. Planning: Once business leaders have signed off on a project proposal, the IT project manager and team can begin to create a more detailed project plan aligned with the identified objectives. The project team will lay out requirements, set budgets, identify risks and risk management approaches, create goals and build a schedule for the project. Developing an overarching project road map will help keep the project on track through implementation and beyond.
3. Execution: This stage, during which the technology deliverables are fully developed and introduced, is typically the longest phase of IT project management. At a high level, execution involves the completion of tasks laid out in the project road map — but it will look different from those other tasks, depending on the project management approach or framework being employed. The role of IT project management during this period is to ensure that key milestones are met.
4. Monitoring and controlling: Because technology and business needs can change during the course of a project, flexibility and course correction are often in demand during the execution phase. IT project managers, using their initial project road map as a guide, continually evaluate project performance and stay alert for issues related to resources, cost, quality and risk. Project managers will then make changes to the execution plan, as necessary, to achieve intended business outcomes. Any changes should be clearly communicated to the client, if the project is being delivered by an IT service provider, or to other key stakeholders, like management, for internal IT projects. This work will also continue post-implementation, as project leaders monitor for snags related to user adoption or training. This will ensure that the technology is being used to its full potential.
5. Closing: Once the technology has been rolled out and incorporated into day-to-day use, the time will come to close the project. At this point, the project manager will check that all tasks have been completed and then transfer ownership of the technology to the appropriate person or department in the business. One of the most valuable steps to take at the end of an IT project is conducting a “postmortem,” a process used to examine what worked well and what could have been done better. Taking the time to document lessons learned, and use them to refine the organization’s IT project management methodology, will help improve IT project outcomes in the future.

IT Project Management Best Practices

The primary goal for IT project management is to deliver a working product that meets business needs. The discipline of IT project management, including attendant project management tools and frameworks, are designed with this end in mind. No matter the project management technology or methodology, though, there are a number of proven best practices that can increase the likelihood of IT project success. These include:

• Emphasizing Clear Communication

  
  IT project managers must know how to communicate with a variety of audiences — team members, business leaders, user groups, vendors and partners. In fact, communication is the most important skill for project managers, according to the Project Management Institute’s “Pulse of the Profession 2023” report. But communication can be especially challenging given the distributed teams and remote work environments common in the IT industry.
  
  Establishing clear and effective communication channels is critical for the success of IT project management success. It ensures that everyone is on board with the plan and, as the project progresses, can help support consistent engagement among project team members and stakeholders. Just as important is understanding the different information needs of various audiences and tailoring communications to them. A CFO may want regular updates about the cost and return on the project, while business managers will be more concerned about the impact of the ultimate solution on their teams.



• Utilizing the Right Tools and Technology

  
  Keeping everyone involved in the project on the same page over the many months or years of the initiative is essential. Clear and consistent communication helps, but it often isn’t enough if the right tools and technology aren’t in place. Project management software, for instance, is known to deliver significant returns in IT project management efficiency and efficacy by managing tasks, facilitating communication and automating the tracking of project progress. Similarly, tools that provide robust, user-friendly reporting capabilities and dashboards can keep stakeholders and project team members apprised of potential hiccups. If a project is running behind or is at risk of going over budget, for instance, regular reporting or a dashboard indicator can alert relevant parties to the issue so they can mitigate it. In addition to helping project managers track timelines and budgets, project management software can also help assess the team’s competencies and support development by generating reports on team performance and identifying areas ripe for skill enhancement.



• Ensuring Flexibility and Adaptability

  
  Keeping pace with changes during an IT project can be a challenge. Today’s business environment is dynamic; technology itself is always evolving, and a business’s real-time needs may have to adapt accordingly. With IT project management, the question is when, not if, assumptions may change, so IT projects and project managers must be flexible and adaptable. A new hardware option better aligned with the organization’s needs might be released while the IT organization is in the midst of planning for the implementation of an alternative, for example. Or, a business unit may realize that it needs additional functionality to get the most oomph out of software in development. Creating mechanisms for handling change requests from stakeholders is vital, as few IT projects make it to the finish line without some pivots along the way.



• Maintaining and Managing Stakeholder Involvement

  
  In the early days of IT, stakeholders, such as the end users that will ultimately benefit from the technology, were rarely involved in project management beyond early requirements-gathering. But IT project leaders eventually learned the value of getting early and consistent involvement from all key stakeholders, from executives to line staff, throughout the phases of project management. This helps make sure that the technology and process changes being implemented will ultimately meet business needs in a realistic way. Involving stakeholders in meaningful ways is essential, from aggregating requirements to getting input during development, testing and execution. This ongoing communication, be it in the form of status reports or feedback requests, will increase the likelihood of a successful IT-enabled business change.

IT Project Management Methodologies and Frameworks

Over the years, a number of IT project management methodologies and frameworks have emerged to better support the delivery of IT-enabled change to an organization, whether digital transformation, system upgrades or process automation. Today, there are several options to choose from, depending on the needs of the business and the particular skills available to manage IT projects. Each option carries its own benefits and challenges.

• Waterfall: This sequential approach to IT project management, dubbed “Waterfall” because each phase cascades into the next, is one of the oldest project management methodologies. Each phase takes place in a linear sequence: Stakeholder or customer requirements are gathered, a project plan is created, and the subsequent steps of development, testing and implementation follow one after the other. It’s a time-tested, familiar and clearly structured approach with a well-defined outcome that many organizations still use for IT project management.
  
  However, the Waterfall methodology’s linear and sequential nature demands rigid conformance to the plan. While this approach is designed solely to help the project team move the initiative most efficiently through its various stages, it permits little stakeholder involvement beyond the planning phase. This lack of flexibility means the Waterfall method can make it difficult to accommodate changes along the way, potentially resulting in costly reworking should the resulting deliverables not meet client, business or user needs.
• Agile: The Agile — capital “A” — framework emerged as an alternative to the more rigid Waterfall approach. Initially a methodology specifically for software development, it is now used for all kinds of projects, IT and otherwise. Agile offers a more adaptive approach that accommodates cross-functional teams that work with stakeholders throughout the development and implementation of the solution. This approach can minimize the risk of going too far down the development road with an IT project that may ultimately prove disappointing to users because it takes a more iterative approach.
  
  Agile is built upon the assumption that changes will be necessary and is designed to incorporate improvements throughout the project. However, it requires that everyone involved be trained in the Agile methodology of choice and be willing to participate in its collaborative framework, as companywide collaboration is central to being able to rapidly respond to change.
• Scrum: Scrum is a project management framework often used to implement the Agile methodology, but note that Agile approaches can be implemented without Scrum. At its core are “sprints,” or short periods of time during which the team is dedicated to completing a specific set of tasks. In Scrum, the Scrum Master facilitates the team’s adherence to the Scrum framework. Key components of the Scrum process include daily standups (i.e., brief meetings to discuss progress and obstacles), backlogs (a prioritized list of work items), sprint reviews (informal sessions to demonstrate and review work completed during the sprint) and retrospectives (meetings held at the end of each sprint to reflect on successes and areas for improvement).
  
  While Scrum can help project teams deliver new functionality quickly and efficiently in manageable sprints, it requires the adoption of new roles and processes. Because of this, Scrum is generally more easily adopted by small to medium-sized teams, but it can be adapted for larger groups.
• Lean: Lean has its roots in lean manufacturing, a production method designed to eliminate unnecessary waste and enhance efficiency. In the project management context, “waste” is anything that doesn’t add value to the project, such as excessive documentation or planning, unproductive meetings, overly detailed requirements and unnecessary rework. Lean principles aim to streamline processes, reduce costs, increase speed and improve the overall quality of output — all of which can potentially increase project profitability. While Lean’s principles can be applied independently, it’s also highly compatible with the Agile methodology; its emphasis on efficiency and waste reduction complements Agile’s focus on flexibility and iterative development.
  
  While beneficial, adopting Lean methodologies can require a significant shift in work practices and mindsets, sometimes causing cultural resistance. This makes it a particularly effective approach for organizations already familiar with Lean principles, such as those using lean manufacturing. That said, Lean methodologies are adaptable and can be tailored to fit the specific needs of many different types of projects and organizations. In addition, an overemphasis on efficiency could inadvertently compromise quality, underscoring the need for regular quality checks to maintain high standards.
• Kanban: From the Japanese word for “billboard,” Kanban is a visual approach to managing work tasks. Its roots lie in manufacturing, but it has since expanded to software development and IT project management. At its core, Kanban is a workflow management approach that uses Kanban cards and boards to help project managers visualize the tasks to be accomplished. These tools, whether digital or physical, can then be used for planning, scheduling and tracking those tasks — an approach that offers visual transparency into the planning and progress of the project. Companies that adopt Kanban start with visualizing their current project workflows and then make continuous improvements over time, as they uncover issues or bottlenecks in the process. This flexibility makes Kanban a useful approach to implementing the Agile methodology as well, though Kanban can be used independently of Agile.
  
  Unlike some other approaches, Kanban does not necessitate the creation of new roles or responsibilities. though for teams accustomed to more structured frameworks, like Scrum or the Waterfall methodology, the lack of prescribed roles could lead to confusion or inefficiency. In addition, due to its iterative nature, Kanban might not be the best fit for projects requiring a strictly sequential approach.
• Hybrid: As the name implies, a hybrid approach to IT project management incorporates both the Waterfall and Agile methodologies. Depending on the culture of the organization and its IT project management goals, it can be a good option for those seeking to integrate some flexibility into a more traditional approach to IT project management. For example, a company might choose to employ the Waterfall methodology to create a highly detailed planning phase but use Agile during the actual implementation process, proactively allowing for potential scope changes. This helps the organization maintain clear project objectives and timelines, while also facilitating responsive adjustments and improvements based on real-time feedback and changing requirements.

The Role of a Project Manager in IT

At a high level, the aim of an IT project manager is similar to that of any other business project manager: to oversee projects and deliver high-quality results on time and on budget. The most important skills for a project manager, according to Project Management Institute’s aforementioned survey, are communication (68%), problem-solving (65%), collaborative leadership (62%) and strategic thinking (58%).

However, because IT projects can have such a significant impact on the business as a whole, IT project managers often take on a broader range of responsibilities than other types of project managers. Therefore, the best IT project managers tend to be adaptable and resourceful leaders capable of effectively and efficiently delivering complex initiatives throughout the various phases of the project.

The role of a project manager in IT typically includes:

• Engaging and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders (inside and outside of IT).
• Defining project goals.
• Developing project strategies and plans.
• Creating, managing and reporting on the project schedule and budget.
• Assessing project risks and developing risk mitigation strategies.
• Allocating and managing all human and technology resources.
• Assigning and monitoring project tasks.
• Providing regular communication and updates to the project team and key stakeholders.
• Integrating lessons learned to improve the project management process.

Because of the broad scope of their role, IT project managers must possess a wide range of skills and leadership abilities. They must be effective and empathetic communicators. They should understand the fundamentals of delivering user-friendly technology. They should be motivational team leaders. They need to be intimately familiar with both the technology used to manage the project and the technologies that the project will deliver to the business. They must understand how to set achievable goals and know which methodology and tools will help achieve them. They must understand project accounting and billing and be adept at adhering to budgets and schedules. But they must also remain flexible enough to respond to changes during the course of the project.

Common IT Project Management Challenges and Solutions

Due to the complexity of most IT projects, dealing with challenges is part of the territory. Understanding these likely hurdles enables IT project managers to establish processes to address or mitigate them. Years of successful — and unsuccessful — technology projects offer insight into some of the most common IT project management challenges a business is likely to face, as well as some proven solutions for dealing with them.

Handling Scope Creep

Project scope refers to the early boundaries set around an IT project, including the goals, deadlines and deliverables the team is working toward. Scope creep tends to happen when stakeholders add new requirements or goals along the way. While it’s important for a project to meet the business’s needs, scope creep can quickly have a negative impact on an IT project, eating away at budget and timelines and potentially distracting the team from its original intent. Thus, project leaders should strive to adhere to the original scope of a project, while allowing for adaptability to expand the scope in cases where the project had been poorly defined or underestimated at the start.

Setting clear initial objectives and clarifying expectations concerning the extent to which any deliverables and functionality can be changed along the way form a good first step for heading off scope creep. Since changes may be necessary, it’s also important to create a well-defined change management process for assessing any additional requests from stakeholders. Ongoing communication is always helpful in thwarting unnecessary expansion in the scope of the IT project.

Managing Tight Deadlines and Budgets

In IT project management, time and money represent the most important and limited resources, posing significant challenges for IT project managers. Because there may be pressure to keep costs low or deliver projects quickly, IT project managers must be realistic from the start about the time and money necessary to successfully deliver desired business outcomes. Agreeing to overly tight deadlines or insufficient funding can risk project failure and place undue strain on efforts to stay on schedule and within budget.

Creating a full business case for every IT project, including necessary budgets and timelines, is critical. Even with a well-researched budget and reasonable deadlines in place, it can be a challenge to stay within those parameters if teams don’t employ continuous monitoring to make sure things stay on track. Project management software can help IT project managers oversee timelines and costs, making it easier to keep management and key stakeholders informed if problems in either category crop up.

Dealing With Technological Changes and Updates

Technology and business situations can each evolve quickly and even unexpectedly, but IT projects can take months or even years to come to fruition. So, another big issue for IT project managers is keeping up with those changes during the project life cycle. For example, a company might be in the middle of migrating on-premises software to a public cloud provider when the original software vendor releases its own cloud solution. An IT project manager, in this case, must be able to consider this new technology development and assess whether it makes business sense to halt or change the project to take advantage of it. Such changes may be easier to implement for teams that have adopted the Agile project management approach.

IT Project Management Tools

Having the right IT project management tools goes a long way toward dealing with many of the most common IT project management challenges. There is a variety of prevalent project management tools that can be helpful when managing workflows, increasing transparency, monitoring and measuring performance and communicating results. Leading project management systems tend to package these capabilities together and complement them with advanced analytics and reporting features.

Some common IT project management tools include:

• Gantt charts. IT project managers using the Waterfall method often use these horizontal timeline charts to map tasks, subtasks and interdependencies for each phase of a project life cycle. Each bar on the chart illustrates a task in the project, and the length of each bar represents the time involved for each task. Gantt charts help IT project managers, team members and stakeholders visualize what needs to be done and how different tasks may impact one another.
• RACI charts. Short for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed, RACI charts are an essential tool used to clarify roles, responsibilities and decision-making authority within an IT project team. Unlike a Gantt chart, which outlines project schedule and timelines, a RACI chart distinctly specifies who is responsible for executing tasks, who is accountable for their completion, who needs to be consulted during the process and who should be informed about progress. This clarity can help prevent confusion and overlap in roles.
• Kanban boards. A central tool in the Kanban method, Kanban boards allow teams to visualize their workflow in a clear and accessible way. These boards can either be physical (like a whiteboard with sticky notes) or digital (using specialized software). A standard Kanban board is broken down into columns that represent different stages of the workflow. This visual representation can help with project planning, managing the team’s capacity and identifying bottlenecks — thereby facilitating the continuous improvement inherent in the Kanban methodology.
• Budgeting and scheduling tools. Essential for IT project managers, these tools facilitate the creation of project budgets and deadlines. They also help managers measure and compare estimated costs and timelines against actual spending and schedules. This is crucial for staying on top of the financial and temporal aspects of projects. Project management software often incorporates these features.
• Task- and time-tracking tools. These types of tools enable project managers to measure and analyze how team members are spending their time on various tasks. This ensures adherence to the project plan, while facilitating necessary changes or improvements that are identified based on the analysis. Task- and time-tracking tools are also integral parts of project management software.
• Benchmarking. Project managers use benchmarking tools to monitor a project’s key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics in real time, comparing their performance to internal goals or external benchmarks. These tools may be part of some project management software options, but they may also exist as standalone software options or as software that can be added or integrated into business intelligence platforms.
• Dashboards. Dashboards bring together the most important metrics related to cost, deadlines and workloads in a visual manner. They provide IT project managers, team members and key stakeholders with easy-to-consume, real-time updates. Users can also drill down into more detailed KPIs or metrics based on project area, providing more granular insights into project progress. Dashboards are typically available within project management software or on business intelligence platforms.

IT Project Management Example

To understand how IT project management works, it can be helpful to walk through a hypothetical example. Consider a business that wants to launch an IT project to deliver a new mobile app for its field salesforce.

During the first phase — initiation — the project team begins by digging into what problems the project is seeking to solve for both the sales department and for the business overall. They will then assess whether a mobile application is the right solution for the problem and what capabilities it would need to provide to deliver the desired business outcomes. They should then develop a business case that examines estimates of costs and potential returns of the project, whether the project is doable given available resources and skills, and whether the project makes sense for the business at this time.

Once the mobile sales app is approved, the project planning can begin. At this stage, the IT project manager will determine the budget and resources required to develop and/or implement the mobile app. Specifics depend on whether the app is something being developed in-house or being purchased from a software vendor. Once determined, the project manager creates a project road map.

The most important — and extensive — phase of the mobile sales app project is the execution of the project plan. During this time, the mobile sales app will be developed and rolled out to the sales team. The project team will use the IT project methodology of its choice (Waterfall, Agile, Kanban, etc.) and incorporate the appropriate project management tools for the approach. While many challenges will likely arise during the execution phase (as outlined above), an IT project management team with the right tools and processes in place will focus on keeping the mobile sales app project on track and — most important — ensure that it continues to align with the project objective as outlined in the initiation phase.

The IT project manager will continue to manage and monitor progress toward delivering the fully functional mobile sales app to all users, with an eye toward full adoption and integration into day-to-day work. After closing out the project, the team will perform a postmortem to look at key successes and challenges during the course of the project that might inform changes to the project management process for the future. If a postmortem survey reveals that a significant portion of participants did not understand everyone’s responsibilities during the project life cycle, the project management team would note it as an area to improve for the next project.

Organize Your IT Projects With NetSuite Professional Services Automation

For businesses that rely on IT services in any capacity, having access to all IT project information in one place is essential for effective management. But adding access to real-time project data that easily integrates with other key business software, such as accounting and human capital management, can be a game changer for IT project managers. This combination allows for a more holistic view of project impacts and facilitates strategic decision-making.

NetSuite SuiteProjects is a cloud-based solution that provides real-time access to all IT project information in one place. The platform is designed to increase collaboration and transparency, enabling better tracking and control of project issues at the task level. It can also play an instrumental role in driving on-time and on-budget delivery of IT initiatives. For IT project managers, the system serves as a crucial tool to monitor key metrics, including project budgets, estimates, tasks in progress, invoices, milestones, actual costs and more.

For example, when starting up a new project, IT project managers can take advantage of NetSuite’s project templates and automated job creation to quickly get the ball rolling. They can also use the project management module within SuiteProjects to organize communication, meetings, tasks and other events. By linking these activities directly to specific projects, tracking resources becomes an automated process.

What’s more, NetSuite’s Project 360 Dashboard consolidates status information for all projects in play, right down to the task level. IT project managers can zoom in on a specific project to access resource data, project financials and visualized insights, such as Gantt charts. Additionally, other stakeholders can effortlessly access up-to-date KPIs and project data, thanks to the system’s intuitive dashboards and robust reporting features.

Because so much of a business’s day-to-day operations and future prospects depend on the successful implementation of new technologies, IT project management has evolved from a “nice-to-have” feature to become a strategically vital function. But, the key to this transition lies in having skilled IT project management leaders and implementing appropriate project management methodologies. Adopting proven project management best practices and investing in robust project management software can further help ensure that IT projects not only meet their deadlines and budgets but also deliver their intended business outcomes.

IT Project Management FAQs

What skills do IT project managers need?

IT project managers should possess an array of skills, including fluency in project management methodologies and tools, budgeting, resource management, risk management, scheduling, technology, communication, team leadership, empathy, organization and flexibility.

What does an IT project manager do?

The role of an IT project manager is similar to that of any other project manager, in that they oversee projects with an eye toward delivering high-quality results within a given timeline and budget. Because IT projects are often complex and impart a broad impact across the organization, IT project managers have a wide array of responsibilities. Some tasks that fall under the purview of the IT project manager include working with stakeholders (inside and outside of IT), defining project goals and outcomes, developing strategies and plans to achieve those goals and outcomes, building and maintaining budgets and schedules, managing project teams and tasks, assessing and mitigating risks, allocating resources, monitoring project performance, providing regular communication and updates to key stakeholders, and integrating lessons learned into future project management methodologies.

What is an example of IT project management?

IT project management can be used to oversee any number of business technology projects, such as building a new software solution, moving systems to the cloud, upgrading a network, implementing new cybersecurity tools or rolling out a mobile app. Any technology-enabled business change would likely fall under the purview of IT project management.

Is IT project manager a good role?

IT project management can be a rewarding role, given its responsibilities for planning, executing and monitoring technology projects within a business. Salaries for IT project manager positions vary based on company, location and the individual’s years of experience. Job growth for IT project manager roles would seem to be strong, given the importance of technology to business success. However, like any career, it’s also important to consider personal interests and aptitudes, as success in this field requires a combination of in-depth technical knowledge, management and communication skills and the ability to handle diverse project challenges.

What is a project in IT management?

Examples of a project in IT management could be software development, web or mobile app development, the implementation of software, hardware installation, network configuration, system upgrades or routine maintenance work.