Project management (Scope management)

Executive Summary

In this project management, two companies in the PM solutions and PM College with diverse services and challenges are presented. There will be need to look into various technology considerations that will be necessary in each of the two companies represented by case 1 and case 2. Technology considerations within a project management training-offering company are an important aspect to which the success of the companies in availing knowledge and skills pertaining the project management strategies to the respective business organizations in the industry.

Despite both companies ruing programs and courses that are linked to project management. The products and services offered by the company in PM College are totally different from those offered by the company in PM solutions. This might have attributed to their different needs of technology considerations and as per the findings that are observed from the companies, there is need for different recommendations applicable to the Information Technology of these two global companies.

Description of Products and Services

Case 1

The company is an international organization which provides land, sea and air power solutions at an international level. This has enabled the company to strategically establish itself in a leading position especially in civil aerospace, defense, marine as well as energy markets. The major services provided by the company include program management, project costing and scheduling, external vendor management as well as mentoring and couching on project management.

Through project management, the company trains business organizations on how to initiate, plan, execute, control and close the work of a team with an aiming of achieving a set goal or objective. This service include teaching business organizations on how to meet their set success criteria within the set period of time. The company also guides business organizations on how to avoid the major challenge of this project management which is achieving all the set project goals within the specified constraints.

Within the project costing and scheduling service, the company guides business organizations on how to effectively schedule the assigned projects within the limited time and with least costs possible in the organization. It trains business organizations on the manner in which they may allocate the necessary resources to the business without necessarily incurring a lot of costs in the process.

The company also guides its customers most of which are international business organizations on how to use their internal structure in dealing appropriately with the external vendors within their industry. It is advisable to note that the business operates within the manufacturing, transportation equipment and supplies industry at an international level.

Therefore, the onboarding companies in the company may experience a burden while dealing with their external vendors in an international level. Business ethics are an important parameter when comes to dealing with external vendors within the internal structure of the organization. The company therefore solidifies on exposing the critical business ethics that are considerate in their internal structure.

Case 2

The company operates under a general merchandise and retail industry in an international business level. It is a fortune 100 global retailer that has spurred itself in operating thousands of facilities across the globe. This heightens its business project liabilities when dealing with its customers. Unlike the company in PM solutions, the company in PM College majorly concentrates on project management services which they outline in their project management training curriculum of six courses that has been aligned with company processes.

Unlike in the case with the company in PM Solutions, the company does not align itself with a split offering of services and split training programs as seen in the company in PM solutions. Rather, it identifies all the shortcomings that business organizations may globally face while dealing with their project management in the business and enlist them in their project management training curriculum which as mentioned above is comprised of six courses facilitated by the company.

The company’s value delivered reflected that there was 31% increase in course participants’ knowledge of management tools as well as project management processes in an organization. This describes why this company has renowned and listed itself amongst the Fortune 100.

Technology Considerations

Prior to advocating the technology considerations applicable in each business case amongst the two companies, there is need to first analyze the major challenge that each business organization is facing and possible solutions towards mitigating or ceasing such challenges. The findings of these challenges will essentially help in recommending the various actions that the companies might taking in improving their respective Information Technologies in their project management valiance.

Case 1

The major challenge that this company is currently facing in its information technology management is the information centers getting old with time and expiry of long-term lease that the company has contracted with its customers and associate business organizations. Despite the company’s effort to secure a 6 million dollars fund approval and identification of new 8000 square-foot facility location, the company is still lacking a proven resource with prior information center move experience with these capabilities.

The technological considerations that the company needs include apprehending their state of Information Technology Sector to a new state-of-the-art 8000 square foot facility in the company. The company also has to relocate 225 physical as well as virtual servers along with supporting network infrastructure to the newly built information center. The company also has to ensure that they have performed a leasehold improvement on the current office space as well as ensure that they have relocated 70 employees from the old information center to the newly build information facility.

Other considerable technologies in the company include ensuring that the Information Security manager has decommissioned the old information center and returned it back to its landlord. The company also has to improve its technological advancements and ensure that the servers in the information technology sector are up to date and that their updates are well installed through thorough management of the chief information security officer in the sector. There is also an essential need to rectify on the cyber-attacks prevention and weaknesses that may exhibit their information to the attackers.

Case 2

The major challenge that this company in case 2 is currently experiencing is connected with its participants’ feedback which are not currently pleasing as per the company’s finding. Within the Information Technology division of the clients, it is evident that the company has an existing project management training curriculum which is not consistent with their processes. From the findings, the participants’ feedback showed that the courses which were offered by the company were not well received and may not have helped the participants in meeting their goals of standardized project management processes and knowledge across the organization something that really made the participants uncomfortable.

As from the case, the client had sought to replace their current project management curriculum with a series of courses which cannot be customized to seamlessly incorporate their respective processes. This may have been the root that caused the challenge in the business in the PM college scenario.

One of the considerable technologies to install in this company include a platform that would accommodate all the preferences and feedbacks coming from the course participants. The platform will help in accommodating all the participants’ view pertaining the six courses offered by the company. This will also substantially help the company in improving some of the program hitches that it is currently encountering as per the client’s feedback hence improving the business performance of the company.

The company also have to improve some of its shortcomings that they are undergoing in the information technology sector. The company needs to keep their updates well installed and reduce their information vulnerability to the attackers. The company also has to ensure that its project management training curriculum are aligned with the latest project management tactics and strategies that are employed at an international level.

Product/Service Marketplace

The market place of company in case 1 is dominated by international factors and forces that define their quality of program management, project costing and scheduling, external vendor management as well as mentoring and couching. Their market considerations are elevated by the business project management considerations unlike the company in case 2. The company in case 2 has all the programs incubated within a one course program and thus can have many business considerable.

In case 2, the market place of the company may be inclusive even of the project management students who are aspiring to become competent project managers. This may make this organization become a company that is being hunted by both business organizations and schooling students. The inclusion of the company without separating its courses is one of the advantageous factors that the company has over the company in case 1.

The company is case 2 also has a wide market coverage as compared to the company in case 1. As described in the case, company case 2 has numerous facilities across the world which are attributively making the wide market coverage for this respective market. The company has managed to establish its facilities across the world which has intrusively facilitated its market coverage.

On the other hand, the company in case 1 has also a marketing advantage of facilitating its project costing and scheduling. Generally, numerous business organizations have been attracted to anything that has to do with the mitigation of its project costs across the world. International business organizations often have mega projects which may enforce these business organizations to incur millions of money in their execution. Having a company that will help these companies limit their costs and expenditures they experience will attractively bring the business organizations close to the company. This will presumably make the company gain a competitive advantage over the company case 2 as it has a financial limitation advice on the business economics.

Probability and Impact Matrix

Case 1

Case 2

Cost and Benefit Analysis

Case 1

Case 2

Findings and Recommendations

The findings in the company under PM solutions majorly revolved under the outdated information centers that the company had. The company also had a shortcoming in their long-term lease which has currently expired. The company consulting the PM solutions was an apprehensively right choice and a recommendable one. The company may have some ineffective spending on its finance hence the need for project costing and scheduling. The reason behind it is relevantly acceptable to recommend for project costing and scheduling in the company is the manner in which the company was still uncomfortably lacking a proven resource with its prior information center move in leading the ten month and time-sensitive initiative despite having funded the project with six million dollars.

The findings in the company under PM College rotated around the inconsistence in the company processes with the current project management training curriculum. This made most of the participants to give negative feedback pertaining the quality of courses in which the company facilitated. The company needs to replace the current project management curriculum with a number of courses that are at the right level of employee as well as meeting their training metrics requirements.

The call to the PM College in installing and customizing as well as delivering a series of courses which are aimed at various levels of knowledge is a recommendable action and a positive effect on the company’s performance. A technology considerable taken by the PM College is also an appropriate action to which the company should use in solving its marketing and performance hitches. The company also need to broaden the variety of courses it offers to its participants as one of the positive recommendations in reviving the business performance of this respective company.

Conclusion

After doing the company analysis, risk analysis, cost benefit, my final project will be the second case. I will focus on creating PJM courses for a global retailer. The sessions will be used for thousands of facilities worldwide with the minimum cost. The benefit will be practical in the short-term and long-term for thousands of employees. It will cut down management costs due to better management from top-tier to low-tier employees; the employees will stay motivated, which will increase the work efficiency.

References

PM College, Customizing Project Management Training Drvies Process Adoption and Shows Positive Impacts on Quality and Productivity.

PM Solutions, Consolidating Data Center Operations with Zero Business Disruption.

Project Management Institute. (2017). Project Management Body of Knowledge PMBOK ® Guide(6th Edition). Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute