IT Project Manager

An IT project manager (PM) is a specialist who provides administrative and organizational support and social and managerial work for the entire IT team.

A PM's business activities are directly related to communication: they require strong management skills and a good understanding of time management tools. A highly qualified specialist may be tasked with strategic management of the company's information technology development policy.

A PM can lead a team that creates IT products: software,websites, mobile applications, browser extensions, blockchain systems, etc.

Follow us onFacebook,Telegram,Twitter or Instagramso you don't miss anything!

Who can become an IT project manager?

Developers, testers, and HTML coders often become PMs—specialists with an intimate understanding of IT. However, today, even specialists without a technical background, but with a clear understanding of the field and a willingness to learn, can become PMs.

A professional IT manager will need:

• knowledge of competencies related to the field of information security (for example, knowledge of IDS/IPS/DLP systems, antivirus and cryptographic software, protocol analyzers, etc.);
• financial knowledge necessary to assess the commercial potential of a project, its payback period, types and volume of costs, and the effectiveness of budget use;
• knowledge of ITIL libraries for finding productive and up-to-date settings for business processes in the IT field;
• ability to work with the most well-known project methodologies;
• developed communication skills to communicate with the entire team.

Project management methodologies

There are two types of project management (methodologies):

1. Project Management Processes

These are universal standards suitable for projects in any field: they broadly describe a project management approach. They typically contain a list of high-level processes, techniques, and artifacts required for a project. These standards include PMI PMBOK, IPMA ICB, PRINCE2, SWEBOK, and others. The most common of these is the PMBOK (Project Management Handbook). It encompasses a comprehensive set of professional project management knowledge across various industries, regardless of organization, and presents fundamental and basic practices designed to ensure positive business results.

2. Project Life Cycle

These include standards that define specific project phases, the relationships between these phases, as well as specific processes and recommendations for their implementation. Clear recommendations may only be given for a specific industry. For example, in software development, this type of standards includes: Waterfall; Agile and its variations: SCRUM (the most popular), XP; MSF, RUP, and others.

What qualities will help you have a good career?

Egon Zehnder International studied the factors that contribute to successful careers for IT managers. According to experts, an effective specialist:

• must have an analytical mind,
• a tendency to effectively systematize information;
• strategic thinking;
• good self-organization skills;
• reputation as a specialist who “thinks like a businessman”;
• to argue your point of view on work issues;
• be able to persuade and find common ground with different people.

In this profession, communication and leadership skills, proper prioritization, a commitment to self-education, responsibility, and high standards for oneself and others come to the fore. An IT manager who dreams of a successful career must improve their soft skills.

To be noticed and entrusted with a leadership position, you need to be able to focus on tasks, have a good memory and reaction time, and be attentive to detail. You can hone these skills, for example, using the free online trainer "Vikium."

Two directions of the IT manager profession

In a global sense, an IT project manager is an intermediary between technical specialists and internal users or external clients.

A Project Manager must quickly understand the needs of the audience with whom they will interact. They must skillfully "translate" the client's wishes into language understandable to technical experts. It is the IT manager who is first to understand how an idea can work in practice and how to achieve this.

According to a study conducted by the London Business School, specialists in this field are divided into two categories in practice:

1. "Master of Change" - a manager of organizational and management processes who oversees changes to the company's business model.

2. "Business Strategist" is an employee who directly influences the company's development policy and is responsible for the technological side of e-commerce activities.

Analysts predict that IT managers will soon be given more control over the company's overall management.

Features of the profession

The main task of the RM is to organize the work on creating a product at an affordable price, while adhering to agreements and requirements agreed upon with the customer.

The Project Manager receives the general technical assignment, selects specialists, creates individual technical specifications for them, sets priorities, sets deadlines and monitors implementation.

The Project Manager also calculates the estimated budget required to complete the entire work cycle, agrees on deadlines and rates, the volume of resources, and performs an analysis of the competitive environment, risks, and requirements.

The scope of responsibilities depends on the specifics of the company's work. Employers typically have individual requirements for specialists. One company is interested in a strong manager, another in a developer with clear leadership qualities.

For example, an IT project manager at a large agency may only act as a controller, while in a small firm, they may have to perform the functions of a tester, analyst, and HR manager. In some cases, an IT manager oversees the product's launch, monitoring the sales and monetization process.

If you're new to this field but believe the PM profession is right for you, choose the right online project management course. By experiencing all stages of a project, from project initiation to completion, and gaining IT team management skills, you're sure to find a promising, high-paying job.