Rating: 
Summary: very general and little new here
Review: This book is laced with generalities that people could figure out without spending the money for book. The platitudes are only matched by the level of generality. There is a lack of addressing very specific problems that you face in projects. Better bypass this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Important new work - Quality and Value
Review: This is an important new work on project management that is written is refreshing new way that gives the reader new perspectives on the problems of managing projects. Murch has found a way to stimulate his readers. The book continually draws you in and is so interesting - - among the topics are history, team building, team retention ( a very important topic) project reporting and skills development. All this is achieved in the first section.In the next section Murch details a complete Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) down to the task level, suggesting best practices - very few books have ever done this. This alone justifies the price and value of this book. In the techniques section, he reviews necessary project management methods such as Rapid Application ( RAD ), problem management, risk management, PM methodologies, (another very important topic) and other topics In conclusion as a seasoned and battle scarred Project Manager - this book will be read by my team(s) and other members of my organization. It will not leave my desk - excellent --- full kudos to Mr. Murch.
Rating:
Summary: Great collection of best practices (has one glaring gap)
Review: This is not a book about project management, rather it is a collection of IT project management best practices that will guarantee success if they are incorporated into your project management bag of tricks. Mr. Murch has classified the best practices by providing a set of general practices and a set of specific ones that are aligned to each phase of the system development life cycle. This organization allows you to use this book as a resource guide when planning, estimating and scheduling the project, and as a desk reference when controlling it. While some of the best practices are widely known (although not as widely practiced), the real gems in this book are: associating tasks with deliverables (too often the deliverable part of the task is not identified during planning, which results in tasks that do not contribute to project goals - if a task does not produce an associated deliverable you need to question why the task is included), project status reporting (the sample status report is excellent, except for one glaring omission discussed below), and the focus on quality assurance and configuration management metrics, which encompasses factors that are frequently missing from IT project controls. The project status report example is a highlight of this book. Mr. Murch's proposed format will provide a succinct summary of a project's health, and give the project manager, his or her team and the sponsor an ongoing view of the project's status. What mars this otherwise perfect format is an integrated view of cost and schedule performance is completely missing from the picture. He comes close by discussing estimate at completion vs. budget in the project cost performance of the report format, but does not connect it to the schedule performance. A true best practice is to compute a schedule performance index (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed divided by Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled), and a cost performance index (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed divided by Actual Cost of Work Performed). These link schedule and cost performance and show a true picture of the project's health. I hope this gets rectified in the next edition of this excellent book. Every chapter of this book contains at least one or more gems that will make you a better project manager. I think every IT project manager should have a copy close by. We should applaud Mr. Murch's efforts for successfully cataloging and documenting these IT project management best practices. Despite the incomplete picture his project status report gives this book deserves 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: I would give it ten stars - if I could
Review: This is the best piece of literature on Project Management that I've found anywhere. It provides proven methods you can feel confident to apply in your IT projects, and gives case studies, examples and suggestions to Best Practice levels where it is applied. This author knows what he is talking about. Could become a classic in its field.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: This well written book with incisive text and the author expresses a sense of excitement and optimism about IT Project Management that pervades throughout. The book is broad in its coverage but hits the bulls eye for content,accuracy and quality. The book is particularly strong in the first parts which includes an excellent chapter on the History of Project Management and team building and retention practices. In section two there is a detailed description of a Software Development Project Lifecycle and well-illustrated description of the tasks and milestones, deliverables. The sections on techniques is well balanced and highly informative with Chapters on Rapid Application Development (RAD),Risk management and others. This is an important new book in the highly competitive field of Project Management and it comes highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Clarity, Style and Knowledge - Excellent Book
Review: Whether you are an experienced project manager, a novice or someone who manages project managers,this book is for you. It is also a book for senior management and CIO/CTO's particularly. Almost all in IT department can gain from this book. BUY IT and READ IT. Breaking down the practice of project management into easy to learn steps, Mr. Murch take you through the basics of project management. Each section is methodically thought out and presented well. The writing style is excellent, clear, easy to read and understand, more importantly it stays with you. There is an excellent section of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) which is full of best practices and excellent advice for any reader. This is unusual, as my many other books on project management do not address thus important issue, KUDOS Mr. Murch and thank you~! Once you understand the basic principles of managing a project (any project!) and lay out the steps defined, it is easy to bring your projects under control. This book belongs in your library. As with any good reference book, you'll find yourself referring back to it over time.
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