How To Cheat At IT Project Management

In the competitive world we live in today, the fact that more than 50% of all IT projects are deemed failures is a statistic no business can afford to ignore, according to local business and IT consultant, Susan Snedaker. Snedaker is the author of How to Cheat at IT Project Management, a guide to IT project management just released this week by Syngress Publishing.

“On average, all IT projects run over schedule by a whopping 82%, go over budget by 43%, and deliver only 52% of the desired results”, says Snedaker, Principal Consultant for VirtualTeam Consulting, LLC, based in Tucson. “IT departments increasingly are tasked with getting more done with fewer resources. At the same time, IT is reaching into every corner of business”, she explains. “The purpose of this book is to bring together proven methods for IT professionals to better manage projects that drive corporate bottom line results.”

Described by Snedaker as a comprehensive hands-on training manual, How to Cheat at IT Project Management is a clear, concise road map for bringing every IT project in on budget and with the highest quality possible. “You don’t have to have an advanced degree in project management to run a project successfully. What you need is an easy-to-implement system for managing your projects. This book provides that system,” says Snedaker. Combining the three critical elements needed in business and IT today - business sense, management and IT skills - this new publication is a complete resource on IT project management that covers ground most IT project management books miss, including detailed information on developing and aligning IT projects with corporate strategies. There are chapters on dealing effectively with organizational politics; applying a systematic approach to managing IT projects; developing and managing high performance teams; and easy-to-use methods readers can customize to make use of their own style and the personality of the organization.

“This is what makes this book unique in the world of IT resources,” says Snedaker. “In today’s IT world, this combination of skills is critical for short- and long-term success and underlying this success is the ability of IT professionals to adapt these essential skills to their unique situation and business. With this book, they can do just that.”

“I wrote this book as a way to share the lessons and experiences I’ve gained working on many IT projects over the years. I interviewed many successful project professionals in both IT hardware and software implementation projects to create a book of best practices that span the Information Technology field. These professionals represent many different perspectives and provide a well-rounded, real world view of IT project management,” adds Snedaker.

The book is reader friendly with an easy-to-use format that allows readers to understand and immediately apply the concepts presented without being overwhelmed by useless or arcane information. There are numerous examples of real world problems along with proven solutions provided throughout the book. A roadmap steps you through each part of the process and helps you continually understand the process from end-to-end and where you are in that process at any given time.

This book contains more than 20 templates and example files that can be downloaded from the Syngress website to help convert plans into actions. This includes covering all key activities in the book to give IT professionals the tools they will need to immediately begin managing projects more effectively. From communications plans to bug reports, the templates add immediate value to an IT organization by providing the reader some of the proven solutions for activities key to all companies and essential to successful IT projects.