Project Management
In the present world of fast-changing technology coupled with varying user needs, it is challenging for project managers to achieve project objectives. According to Khan (2019), leaders should consider “smarter planning and new concepts to help their projects succeed” (p. 693). Therefore, project management entails using different know-how, abilities, tools, and approaches to achieve the set goals (Khan, 2019).
Radujković and Sjekavica (2017) view project management as a process that involves designing, coordinating, supervising, and managing all project parameters to meet requirements regarding the planned budget and performance criteria efficiently. There are three critical success factors of a project, commonly referred to as triple constraints, namely, quality (scope), time, and cost (Radujković & Sjekavica, 2017). This paper will examine and evaluate the usefulness of the mentioned factors and provide a standpoint on the most important of the aspects to be considered.
Project Management Constraints
Time
Time is the duration required to deliver the final version of a project. According to Khan (2019), the timespan largely depends on the project cost and the project’s outcome. This constraint involves organizing, computing, and monitoring project aspects efficiently to provide them within the allotted time (CNet Training, n.d). Therefore, project managers should strive to be time-conscious in delivering projects to meet this requirement.
Quality
Quality defines how suited a project is to fulfill user needs. It is the required standard of the projects as decided by the organization. A quality project is targeted at meeting customer’s demands and inspiring their interest (CNet Training, n.d; Jainendrakumar, 2015; Khan, 2019; Davis, 2017). The quality of a project should be considered beforehand to guide the whole process into achieving the organizational goals.
Cost
The cost of a project refers to the amount of money, resources, and tools to deliver it as per the planned budget. According to Khan (2019), any financial aspect of project requirement is considered as the cost. Without sufficient funds, it may be challenging to develop a product. The managers must ensure that the project is cost-effective to avoid additional expenditure, which may be counter-productive.
Reflection
The most critical of the three constraints is the quality of the project. A project manager should strive to develop a product that meets the current market demands and the standards that were set for the project (Davis, 2017). Customers cannot gain interest in using poorly designed projects that do not satisfy their needs (Khan, 2019). Such circumstances can result in losses, hence, causing further financial liabilities.
The concept of triple constraints means that of the three factors (time, cost, and quality), if one is altered, the others will be directly affected. Therefore, changing the quality directly impacts the time and cost (Khan, 2019). Project quality can be improved by increasing the scope, which would mean that more requirements are incorporated. If these new project requirements are met, the project group will have to spend more time on the work. If the team chooses to outsource tasks or increase the workforce, it is bound to incur costs. The implementation of additional user requirements can attract extra charges, and the project manager should be ready to facilitate this.
Conclusion
Project management for information technology security acquisitions ought to be done as per hierarchical, public, and global set principles to guarantee secrecy, uprightness, and accessibility of the systems and data. Correct IT acquisition procedures prevent data breaches, which would otherwise compromise organizational and user information confidentiality and privacy. Project managers should, therefore, make quality IT acquisitions that are cost-effective and within the agreed period.
References
CNet Training (n.d). Certified Telecommunications Project Management (CTPM). Web.
Davis, K. (2017). An empirical investigation into different stakeholder groups perception of project success. International Journal of Project Management, 35(4), 604−617. Web.
Jainendrakumar, T. D. (2015). Project quality management for project managers. PM World Journal, 4(7), 1−17. Web.
Khan, A. U. (2019). An informative study of project management constraints. International Journal of Science and Research, 8(2), 693−695. Web.
Radujković, M., & Sjekavica, M. (2017) Project management success factors. Procedia Engineering, 196, 607−615. Web.