ITM 501
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There are many software products on the market to increase and support business productivity and growth. The majority of these applications assist a company in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. However, there are many different types of business processes in addition to data-mining, each with a different information requirement. One of these is the field of project management.
Project management is the process of managing both human and financial resources, to include schedules and budget, for the entire life cycle of a project. The majority of projects are focused on the production of an end product, from inception, design, production, and life cycle support.
There are various types of software applications which have been developed to assist project managers. Most of these products are used to develop, track, and manage schedules, resources, and budgets. The meat of any project management software is in schedule development and tracking.
Microsoft Project 2000, showing a Gantt chart
Microsoft Project 2007 showing a simple Gantt char...
screenshot of the project management software in-S...Schedule for a project manger includes tracking not only when end items are delivered, but more importantly in managing the resources used to produce the product and tracking milestones in the development process. Resources to track include sub-assemblies from sub-contractors, raw materials, and time and tasks of the team members. Many of these items are tied into each other, and adjustments to one part of the schedule will impact many of the other items. Project management software helps to tie all these interdependent resources together into one concise and viewable schedule.
Project management software also assists the project manager in facilitating communication within all members of the project team. It accomplishes this by providing portals for team access to important information. Most of the applications will provide an information warehouse with varying forms of access, whether by LAN or mobile. Through these portals, team members can access or share schedules,