The Essentials of IT Project Management: The Best Techniques for Success
Regardless of the project you have on your plate, setting out a management strategy is key to its success.
Effective project management is particularly important at the moment, and small businesses are being empowered by various technologies, delivering efficiency improvements and cost savings.
IT projects are therefore a vital part of any organization, so here are some tips to help you manage them optimally.
Having the right tools
Without the most appropriate tools to hand, you will struggle to manage IT projects with any degree of effectiveness.
Thankfully there are a multitude of amazing solutions available on the modern market, each of which can streamline the management process and automate many of the more tedious aspects.
For example, with monitoring tools you can deploy and manage databases to power apps and websites, tracking performance and pinpointing issues so that downtime is kept to a minimum. There are several competing products in this space, so carrying out SQL monitoring tools comparison before you commit is sensible.
There are also scheduling and communication tools which are well suited to wrangling the human side of the equation. Being able to assign tasks, check on project progress, collaborate with colleagues on-site and remotely, and do much more besides will avoid a lot of the roadblocks to productivity which existed in the past.
Lots of other solutions may be suitable to your specific needs. It is just a case of knowing that if you have a problem to overcome, someone has probably built a software solution to support your efforts.
Following data migration practices
Another of the biggest challenges faced when managing modern IT projects is dealing with data migration. This is inevitable at some point, because information can rarely stay on a single system indefinitely, so being able to move it elsewhere and make it accessible is a necessity.
Mission-critical data needs to be migrated and maintained with care, so sticking to best practices and being rigorous in following the policies you put in place is a must.
Firstly, your migration plan has to begin with a data audit. This will give you a baseline understanding of the scope and nature of the data in question, and ideally highlight any potential sticking points so they can be addressed ASAP.
Next, you need to think about how to sustain the quality of data over time, regardless of where it is stored and used. The more unreliable, disordered and generally messy your data, the less useful it will be.
Finally, you must factor in governance policies which will determine how data is managed, analyzed and exported after the migration.
While this might make data migration practices sound somewhat rigid, there is certainly room for flexibility depending on your needs and budget. And of course whichever route you take, it pays to backup valuable data before pulling the trigger on migration, and test your plans thoroughly and frequently so that you can iron out any wrinkles.
Establishing cyber security protocols
Another area in which modern businesses cannot afford to cut corners when it comes to IT projects is security.
Threats face projects small and large alike, and it is a management responsibility to shore up systems and solutions as much as possible through the implementation of the right tools combined with resilient security protocols.
In brief, you need to plan for various scenarios and eventualities which could arise in the event of data loss, theft or an incursion of any kind carried out by malicious third parties.
Humans are often the weakest link in the cyber security chain, so your protocols need to be well understood by all employees, and providing appropriate training to bring everyone up to speed is all part of project management and IT today.
From teaching staff how to sniff out phishing emails to ensuring that strong passwords and two factor authentication are used to manage access to in-house systems and services, there are lots of avenues to explore.
Risk mitigation practices in IT project management
Cyber security is not the only thing which IT project managers need to be attuned to, as broader risk management best practices can be instrumental in insulating projects from all sorts of crises.
Communication is perhaps the most effective weapon in the arsenal of any project manager, because by keeping every member of the organization in the loop with regards to what is expected of them, common conundrums can be avoided.
This goes hand in hand with the need for clarity in any policy that you set down. If employees are confused by your risk management efforts, then it is unlikely that they will adhere to what is asked of them.
Lastly, vigilance at all times is a way to make known threats a diminished danger, while complacency can land you in hot water.
