R. Max Wideman
AEW Services, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2002
From time to time we are asked to recommend project management systems and methodologies, or to compare them as part of some selection process. We have been taking an in-depth look at PRINCE2, a widely recognized de facto standard used extensively by the UK government and in the private sector. As a basis for comparison, and because we are located in North America, we will refer to the Project Management Institute's "PMBOK" which actually refers to their publication "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge" (2000 Edition).
"PRINCE" stands for Projects IN Controlled Environments and is described as a structured method for effective project management for all types of project, not just for information systems, although the influence of that industry is very clear in the methodology. The 2002 version has been through a number of incarnations in the past and is now the result of the "experience of scores of projects, project managers and project teams." The 408-page document, like the Guide (216 pages) is copyright, but the content is clearly generic common sense. The PRINCE2 Introduction lists a significant set of reasons why projects fail, and the methodology sets out to remove these causes.
It must be born in mind that both sets of documentation must be tailored to suit the occasion. For example, PMBOK is not intended to tell people how to do any of the techniques or use any of the tools described. It only lays out the processes, how they link together and the tools and techniques that can be invoked. Somewhat similarly, the application of PRINCE2 must be scaled for the size and needs of the project. Indeed, scalability is a topic specifically included in the description of each process.
The full text of Max Wideman's paper "Comparing Prince2 with PMBOK®."
by Rose Blackburn
Portfolio management is a term that has been used in the financial investment community for many years. It has recently come into vogue within the project management community and for one very good reason: Organizations commit huge amounts of resources to new projects and they need to know if their investments are paying off.
To continue the financial analogy, individuals create financial portfolios to direct and control their finances for a secure future. The process that many financial advisors use includes the following items: establishing the investor’s goals, understanding the risk profile of the investor, and then creating a portfolio mixture of investments to create a proper balance of risk/secure investments. Once created, the investor must monitor/manage the portfolio so that the projected goals are achieved.