PRINCE2: STILL GOT THE “IT” FACTOR FOR ITSM

Posted on Thursday, 15th August 2013 18:42. Submitted by ILX Marketing Team

Did you know that PRINCE2 – the unbeatable methodology for managing projects across all business disciplines – was originally derived from PROMPTII, a method developed in the 1970s for bringing computer projects in on time and on budget? Did you also know that when PRINCE2 is partnered with ITIL it is particularly effective for managing the complex IT projects businesses face today? Why might these be important to you? Well, because the organisation and the individual with PRINCE2 and ITIL has a better chance of earning project success and less chance of adding to the number of IT projects that reputedly cost the world $3 trillion according to ZDNet.

Factors Critical To Project Success

This staggering sum has prompted much research into the reasons behind project failure and success. Among the many organisations that have examined this is the Standish Group. It regularly analyses the IT field and in its 2013 Chaos Manifesto Report has determined that the following are among those factors that are currently critical to project success: executive support, clear business objectives, emotional maturity, optimising scope and project management expertise. This is where PRINCE2 and ITIL combined come into their own to help both organisations and individuals.

PRINCE2: Proven Methodology

We all know that the PRINCE2 methodology is a proven way of controlling projects successfully. Remembering, of course, that a project is temporary, uncertain, unique, and brings about change, and remembering too that implementing the ITIL service management approach in a company is a project in itself, it makes business sense to use PRINCE2. Use it with ITIL, and you and your organisation can avoid common project pitfalls.

Use the Business Case to Improve Project Success Rates

PRINCE2’s principle of continued business justification and the preparation of an outline Business Case have stopped many a project going off the rails. Updated throughout the life of the project, it enables one to home in on the primary objective and avoid gold-plating by adding desirable but unnecessary extras. It also ensures that the reasons for starting the project remain true from start to finish - giving management the confidence that if the reasons for starting and continuing the project are no longer valid, it can be terminated, cutting its losses. ITIL’s Service Strategy neatly works with projects to deliver the Business Case.

The Value of Learning from Experience

The PRINCE2 methodology principle of learning from experience is invaluable to management. On the one hand, it can be used to avoid repeating past mistakes; on the other hand, it can ensure it replicates past successful measures. As a result, it is able to decide objectively whether to continue or end a current project.

PRINCE2 and ITIL: Complementary Methodologies

PRINCE2 and ITIL complement each other in many ways when used in IT projects. The complexity and 24/7 demands made of IT mean that the PRINCE2 principle of management by stages – dividing everything up into manageable chunks - is beneficial. Risk management in PRINCE2 is well developed and aims to ensure the project is delivered on time, on budget and within scope by helping to identify, assess and deal with risks. In ITIL, professionals can identify issues and then take them to the project in order for them to be dealt with. Change in PRINCE2 is about managing changes to things like the plan and design and this dovetails with ITIL’s change management process. Projects can benefit from having better estimates of variables such as costs and resources. The fact that PRINCE2 and ITIL come from the same stable, so to speak, has other positive benefits for the organisation as well as the individual: cross-teams understand each other better in large enterprises as both share common terms; team members are more likely to understand roles and responsibilities within both areas; plus the two approaches are already well-established in public and private sector organisations.

Benefits for Individuals When Combining PRINCE2 and ITIL

There are other benefits for individuals who combine PRINCE2 and ITIL. If you are already working as an IT project manager, then having both of the methodologies to draw upon improves your chances of success on an individual project, as well as boosting your opportunities for promotion. If you are a project manager aspiring to work within IT, you can apply for a wider range of roles. Thus, if you are working within the construction or engineering industries and a job comes up to manage an IT project, your ITIL qualification puts you in a stronger position as you will know the theory and the processes involved already. You could say that the world of ITSM is your oyster!

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