Project managers need integrated IT

Only 11 per cent of project managers are 'very confident' of their ability to manage critical projects in most efficient way

Project managers across all industries consider better integration between IT systems, particularly between financial and other resource planning tools, is paramount in making sure individual projects are profitable.

A survey conducted by the International Project Management Association (IPMA), sponsored by enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendor IFS, questioned 273 project managers and C-level executives in the UK, Scandinavia, Benelux, the US and Australia.

It reported that 65 per cent were finding their customers expected projects to be delivered faster. And 60 per cent said the margins their companies earned on completing those projects had shrunk because clients wanted to negotiate costs and prices within existing contracts.

When asked where they were most likely to spend their money, investment priorities were cited as more IT integration (49 per cent), real time data (40 per cent) and resource planning (37 per cent), with only a quarter saying they had already had fully integrated IT systems in place for project management purposes.

The IPMA defines a project management-orientated business as any that organises its business strictly on an individual project-by-project basis. And whereas many in the IT industry itself tend to consider project management solely in software development terms, the IPMA widens that definition to industries including manufacturing, ship building, defence and construction, for example.

"It is any business that works on individual projects, with the vast majority being fee earning workers or companies that organise their business around specific project teams," said IPMA chairman Miles Shepherd.

Shepherd recognises that most organisations face a "fiscal drag between doing something and invoicing for it", something that occurs up and down their supply chain. This could be eased by giving project managers tools that help them input data more quickly and share up-to-date spending and scheduling information with their colleagues more easily.

"Most people recognise that software cannot solve the problem totally, but it can help them get a grip on it, which is why software integration is so high on the list, particularly where it can marry the financial side with the raw project management scheduling side of things," he said.

"Project execution needs to be connected to finance and systems and financial planning tools, especially during a recession where the risk elements are increasing substantially," said IFS global vice president for sales and marketing, Thomas Peterssen. "Execution management systems also need to run in parallel, and be integrated, with ERP systems, and everything they do with staff and other resources be managed in a project context."

Shepherd feels companies can also gain by giving their project managers better training.

"Most organisations feel that a better handle on training and improving the competence of project management would aid their business," he said.

According to the IPMA survey, only 11 per cent of project managers considered themselves "very confident" of their ability to manage critical projects in the most efficient way. In his experience, Shepherd feels this is not that surprising.

"Most experienced project people would never say they were very confident because we are talking about a risky business, from both a financial and technical perspective, where you are often relying on other people to do the work for you," he said.