IT management is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities. These resources may include tangible investments like computer hardware, software, data, networks and data centre facilities, as well as the staff who are hired to maintain them.
Managing this responsibility within a company entails many of the basic management functions, like budgeting, staffing, change management, and organizing and controlling, along with other aspects that are unique to technology, like software design, network planning, tech support etc.
A primary focus of IT management is the value creation made possible by technology. This requires the alignment of technology and business strategies. While the value creation for an organization involves a network of relationships between internal and external environments, technology plays an important role in improving the overall value chain of an organization. However, this increase requires business and technology management to work as a creative, synergistic, and collaborative team instead of a purely mechanistic span of control
These five process groups comprise the project management life cycle and are universal to all projects. The specific phases within a project, however, are unique to each project and represent the project life cycle.
Initiation – the project goal, need or problem is identified. The project manager is assigned to the project and the project charter is created. Planning – the project manager and the project team work together to plan all of the needed steps to reach a successful project conclusion. The project planning processes are iterative in nature and it’s expected that planning will happen often throughout the project. Execution – once the project plan has been created, the project team goes about executing the project plan to create the deliverables of the project. The project can shift to project planning as needed throughout project execution. Monitoring and controlling – as the project is being executed by the project team, the project manager monitors and controls the work for time, cost, scope, quality, risk, and other factors of the project. Monitoring and controlling is also an ongoing process to ensure that the project addresses its targets for each project objective. Closing – at the end of each phase and at the end of the entire project, project closure happens to ensure that all of the work has been completed, is approved, and ultimately transferred ownership from the project team to operations.
