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Project Management Tools for IT Executives

By Alice LaPlante

Blackberries, Web 2.0 tools and other nifty widgets may make life easier, but they don't change the primary responsibility of a senior IT executive. The basic job description still involves overseeing all the resources -- personnel, financial budgets, software and equipment -- invested in various projects, whether they are temporary or one-time projects whose goal is to create a unique product or service, or permanent ongoing operational work performed to create the same product or service repeatedly.

Although hands-on project management tasks are usually delegated to someone lower in the IT organization, senior IT executives still need tools to manage resources. A new generation of software is being developed to provide managers with a complete picture of all the ongoing projects in their organization and help them better monitor and manage them.

What's Going On: The Widescreen Version
Dave Garrett, president and CEO of Washington, DC-based gantthead, a site devoted to project management, says that senior IT executives generally need to concentrate on four main tasks related to project-management:

• Identifying opportunities for cost cutting, quality improvements and anything else that helps the company achieve its strategic goals or gain competitive advantage.
• Understanding how the projects map to the overall business strategy as well as defining product development milestones and other organizational objectives. 
• Knowing how to prioritize, select and stop projects at the appropriate time.
• Applying resources to maximize their positive impact on the company.

Much of the time, these tasks can be overseen individually using standard (article continues)

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