Question #8. Can recent college graduate expect to be project managers right away? What is the typical career path of a project manager? Using the internet, research the average starting salary of a PM in South Florida? Is this for an experienced Project Manager? Which site did you use for to find the average salaries?

8) Can recent college graduate expect to be project managers right away? What is the typical career path of a project manager? Using the internet, research the average starting salary of a PM in South Florida? Is this for an experienced Project Manager? Which site did you use for to find the average salaries?


Answer:

I do not see a recent college graduate to be a project manager right away, for  he/she will lack experience and credibility, not to mention that further education and a impressive projects portfolio are needed in order to be a project manager.   As for salary, according to indeed.com¹, in South Florida a project manager is paid an average  $85,000.00 , SimplyHired.com² on the other hand places the average salary in $68,000.00.

1.     http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Project-Manager-l-South-Florida,-FL.html

2.     http://www.simplyhired.com/salaries-k-project-manager-l-south-florida-fl-jobs.html

Posted by Vagner Domingues

Question #7. Project Attributes- Describe the attributes of a project? What are your expectations as major stakeholders in this class(CIS1513)? What do you expect to get out of this class? What do you expect from your instructor, classmates, and yourself in order for this class to be a success?

7)Project Attributes- Describe the attributes of a project? What are your expectations as major stakeholders in this class(CIS1513)? What do you expect to get out of this class? What do you expect from your instructor, classmates, and yourself in order for this class to be a success?

Answer:

Due to the diversity of projects (either in size, shape or complexity), attributes help us further define them. Among these attributes we can assume that:

           

a) A project must have a unique purpose

b) A project must be temporary

c) Projects should be developed in increments

d) A project requires resources(people, hardware, software, and others), that limited most of the time, and       must be used effectively.

e) A project must have a primary sponsor or customer, who will provide a direction and funds for the               project.

f) A project yields uncertain results , and it is most of the time affected by external factors. 

My expectation as one of the major stakeholder in this project is that this class follows the syllabus in a timely manner, and at the end of the term, students will be able to use this knowledge to work and manage projects.

 

My expectations  are to learn how to develop a project plan, understand how to execute a project plan, and manage project scope.

I expect from the instructor  and classmates, the same I expect from myself;  professionalism and dedication.

Posted by Vagner Domingues

Question #6. Many information technology manager come from senior technical positions. What can you do to help them transition into the project management role.

6) Many information technology manager come from senior technical positions. What can you do to help them transition into the project management role.


If I was a project manager, to help someone in this transition from a technical position into a project management role I would share my experiences and give him advice in managing people. If it is possible, I would introduce this person to a team to make him familiar with different team members and their diverse personalities and abilities. I would also make this person realize that he is going to represent his team and has to be updated of new technologies and he has to keep improving his skills.


Posted by Daniel Vasquez

Question #5.Process Group- How much time and money is typically spent on projects in each of the process group. Assume that you have one year and $100,000 to spend. Justify your answer.

5) Process Group- How much time and money is typically spent on projects in each of the process group. Assume that you have one year and $100,000 to spend. Justify your answer.

·        Initiating Process

In this process the project is defined and authorized, Alpha Project Managers recommend that it should take 2% of the total time. For one year project this process group would take 1 week (7 days) and $2000.

·        Planning process

This process group includes scheduling and planning the project. Spending enough time on planning is going to reduce the executing time, and should be around 21% of the total time, in this case 2 months (76 days) and $21000.

·        Executing process

In this process group the plans are executed to produce products or services. The most time of the project should be spent on executing, 69%. For this case this process should take 251 days and $69000.

·        Monitoring and controlling process

This process group includes measuring and monitoring the progress of the project to ensure the team meets the objectives, to take corrective actions if necessary. Keeping track of the project is necessary along the duration of the project, but it is estimated to take the 5% of the total time. In this case 18 days and $5000.

·        Closing process

In this process the project is closed and the acceptance is formalized. This process should take 3% of the time, 10 days and $3000.

      Posted by Daniel Vasquez

Question #4. Some of the adaptive approaches to developing systems(like agile) are becoming more popular. Are they better or more appropriate than prescriptive approaches in most cases? Why or Why not?

4) Some of the adaptive approaches to developing systems(like agile) are becoming more popular. Are they better or more appropriate than prescriptive approaches in most cases? Why or Why not?

Adaptive approaches are usually better than prescriptive approaches because they offer more flexibility in the development of the project. This approach allows team members to share their advances and being updated with changes made to the project. Furthermore, the adaptive approach is especially useful in an environment where the technology is frequently changing and the requirements of a project can change at any moment, and the project need to be improved and adjusted accordingly.



Post by Daniel Vasquez

Question #3. Briefly describe the strategic planning process; including the SWOT analysis. Which method do you think businesses use most when identifying IT projects? Why?

3) Briefly describe the strategic planning process; including the SWOT analysis. Which method do you think businesses use most when identifying IT projects? Why?

The strategic planning process involves upper management making decision on what long term objectives that must be pursued. This is accomplished by analysing which projects would be beneficial and profitable to the organization on the merits of strength, weakness, opportunities and threat (SWOT analysis) .

Strengths:-  Potential project characteristics that are more advantageous over other projects

Weaknesses:- Potential characteristics of the project that gives it a disadvantage compared to other similar projects.

Opportunities:- All the possible deliverables that the project could exploit to its advantage.

Threats: - External and internal factors that could be potential opposition and trouble for the project.

By using the analysis it helps the decision makers to identify and select potential projects that can be meaningful progression to the organizational strategic objective.

In my opinion I believe that most business uses the method of performing net present value or other financial analyses when identifying IT projects. The reason why this method is used is because it has a more detailed analysis of the cost and the possible profit and benefits from the project. This method shows a more detailed idea of how much the project will cost and at what point the benefits will manifest as in the case of Return on Investment (ROI) and Payback analysis.

Post by Nicholas Clarke

Question #2. Describe the triple constraint. What are the three components and what is the relationship between them.

2. Describe the triple constraint. What are the three components and what is the relationship between them.

The triple constraint includes cost, scope and time. These three constraints are closely related and are often the center of attention with regard to balancing a project. While time to complete a project is fixed, if the project sponsor request more requirements (wider scope), adjustment in the projects’ projected completion time will have to be altered. Also, a wider scope as in the case of scope creep may also increase the cost of the project. To balance these goals there will be a need for trade-off between the three constraints. This may include asking for more time to complete the project, choosing to deliver scope requirements that are critical to the project success or more funds to cover the additional cost of implementing a wider scope.

Post by Nicholas Clarke