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Summary: A Basic to Intermediate Textbook on IT Project Management.
Review: As one can guess from the price, this book is geared to be used as a text book in a University setting. But almost anyone will find this book extremely useful because the book occupies a unique niche in the market on Project Management books. There are several project management books out in the market that mostly fall into the following categories - General Project Management, Advanced Project Management, PMP Exam Preparation, and PM Software books. The problem I have had with these books is that there are very few that address IT Project Management and even fewer that use Case Studies throughout. I am in IT Project Management and absolutely require Case Studies to learn any subject thoroughly. Especially a practical subject like Project Management. This book is perfect for an IT Project Manager because it - covers basic project principles, incorporates the IT view on every topic, has plenty of exercises to prepare for a PM exam (like the PMP or CompTIA's ITProject+), has a very decent section on using Microsoft Project 2000, a 120 day trial version of MS Project 2000 software in case you don't have it, plenty of mini case studies, a real-world running case study of the Northwest Airlines' ResNet project, and an excellent reference list at the end of each chapter. It is clear that the book was aimed at being the perfect reference for any IT Project Manager. The only downside of this book is that it is very light on all the topics and does not address any advanced topics. But that would have doubled the number of pages in the book and potential been a turn-off to anyone new to the subject. It might not have appealed to an Intermediate level Project Manager either. So I don't feel that this is such a big downside and is actually a positive. After obtaining my PMP, I came across this book when I was given the opportunity to teach Project Management Part-Time on a need basis at the Austin Community College. They use this book as the required text book for their comprehensive IT Project Management class aimed at those new to the field or those looking to gain a deeper knowledge of IT Project Management. I am glad I received a free copy of this book as I would have normally passed it up as too basic a book (since I already have my PMP). But I now realize that I will benefit tremendously by doing all the exercises in the book and strengthen/deepen my understanding of several Project Management concepts. So my immediate future is going to involve devouring this book. I hope you too benefit from this book and enjoy using it for any one of the many purposes!
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Summary: Excellent source of Project Management techniques in IT.
Review: By studying the Project Management processes in this book, I passed my PMP exam! A wealth of information is contained in this structured text. The concepts are easy to understand, and the real-life examples are enjoyable to read. Every Project Manager should have this book to use as a reference. All IT professionals would benefit by the author's knowledge and expertise. Helpful ideas are jumping off the pages!
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Summary: Good book in general with a few buts
Review: I agree with most of the reviews in general. I have been using this book as a textbook for a class on Project Management. I enjoy reading the chapters and it gives you a good overview of Project Management and the terms used in it but, that is my issue, it's an overview. I like reading the case studies but frankly I think the assignments at the end of each chapter have many that ask for more detail then the overview content of the book gives. I find this to be an issue with many textbooks. They write the book concisely to cover a whole topic in one textbook hitting the highlights, but write the assignments to be done as if you had been studying the subject in depth.
Case in point: Chapter 11 Exercise 5 on page 357. Draft an RFP (Request for Proposal) for purchasing laptops for all students, faculty and staff at your college or university. use the outline provided in Figure 11-4. List all the assumptions you made in preparing the RFP.
Sounds like a great assignment, with the exception that an RFP is a very detailed document. In the outline it is also suppose to include a Statement of Work ( a document that should be prepared before an RFP) and schedule information. To do this assignment you basically have to dream up an entire project and do previous prep work in order to write an RFP. Also, this outline is the only example of an RFP in the whole book. There is no example of a completed RFP, after all, this is an "overview" book. I have been researching on the net for sample RFP documents. I have yet to find one that even remotely looks like this outline or follows the criteria in this book.
I spend hours and hours every week just doing the prep work to get my head around this random assignments.
This book would have been better had it just made the assignments a case study that built from Chapter 1 on, instead of bits and pieces of this kind of project or that. I think I read in the main review that the book uses NWA as a case study to teach, that doesnt even happen till like Chapter 12 or 13. Did this person really read this book??
I don't mind being taught principles of Project Management but don't just hand me terms and principles and sketchy outline examples and expect me to give you the full blown details of a project that I have to make up mostly out of my own head and hope it's right. Projects are team efforts and some of these things asked for would be the product of a whole team's input not just one person yet in assignments it is just the student doing it all as if they were the whole freaking team. This kind of thing annoys me to no end in textbooks.
I could give more examples but I am already a partially dissenting voice among reviewers. I guess I could sum it up as a good book to have and read but it is a LOUSY TEXTBOOK.
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Summary: Good reference to help study of PMBOK
Review: I bought the Chinese version of this book in Beijing. It covers all knowledge areas and processes described in PMBOK. Unfortunately, the Chinese version is based on first edition, which only covered the PMBOK 1996. It seems a little old. But the book is very well structured, organized, and well written(eventhough some translation may not be appropriate). The book begins with the chapters aligned with the structure of PMBOK, followed by the applcation of project management processes to a IT project in all project phases. The book provide expanded information and materials to the knowledge areas and processes described in PMBOK. Some examples of the expansion include project management maturity model, MTBI, Covey's 7 habits of effective people and etc. This book also include the application of popular tools, such as Microsoft Project and Excel, in project management. Besides as a good reference to help study of PMBOK, I think this book is also an exellent guide for IT professionals to master the essence of mormern project management and pursue further studies on other specific and extensive IT/IS project management materials.
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Summary: Software included with book
Review: I have not read the book, but I wanted to post a review to let those know that post#1 is wrong. The book does NOT come with a 120 day evaluation of Microsoft Project 2000. It comes with a 120 day evaluation of Microsoft Project '98. BIG DIFFERENCE! I will write a review of the actual book once I work through it. Just wanted to make sure others, like myself, are not disappointed when they get the book and it has Project '98.
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Summary: Software included with book
Review: I have not read the book, but I wanted to post a review to let those know that post#1 is wrong. The book does NOT come with a 120 day evaluation of Microsoft Project 2000. It comes with a 120 day evaluation of Microsoft Project '98. BIG DIFFERENCE! I will write a review of the actual book once I work through it. Just wanted to make sure others, like myself, are not disappointed when they get the book and it has Project '98.
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Summary: Project Management for Information Technology Professionals
Review: I like this book! It is a very useful aid in instructing I.T. people on the basics of Project Management. It follows the framework established in the PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge but comes at it from an I.T. perspective in the text, case studies and examples. If you are a PM working in an I.T. environment, you will find this book useful.
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Summary: This text uses the PMBOK Guide(from PMI) as a fundation
Review: I read this book to help understand the details in "Project Management Body of Knowledge" Guild (ISBN: 1-880410-12-5). This book use some IT projects for examples. It is good for beginners who want to know all the project management knowledge areas.
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Summary: This text uses the PMBOK Guide(from PMI) as a fundation
Review: I read this book to help understand the details in "Project Management Body of Knowledge" Guild (ISBN: 1-880410-12-5). This book use some IT projects for examples. It is good for beginners who want to know all the project management knowledge areas.
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Summary: Project management overview
Review: I used this book as a study guide for the CompTIA IT Project+ exam. I passed the exam. This book is very well structured, organized, and well written. However, it is only a fundamentals overview of IT project management: experienced project managers might find it a good review, but this book would likely fall short of providing you with all the tools necessary to practically implement good project management. Fortunately, the book is riddled with references to provide you with sources of further study. Also, this book only briefly touches on concepts specific to software development. This book is really a general project management book with most of the examples taken from the world of IT, and only a few IT specific concepts.
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