Project Management Exam (212-79)

Credit Towards Certification:

• Certified e-Business Associate
• Certified e-Business Professional

Exam Objectives and Sub-Objectives:

Following are the objectives of this exam.

1. Introduction to Project Management

• Understand the growing need for better project management, especially for information technology projects
• Explain what a project is and provide examples of information technology projects
• Describe what project management is and discuss key elements of the project management framework
• Discuss how project management relates to other disciplines
• Understand the history of project management
• Describe the project management profession, including recent trends in project management research, certification, and software products

2. The Project Management and Information Technology Context

• Understand the systems view of project management and how it applies to information technology projects
• Analyze a formal organization using the structural, human resources, political, and symbolic organizational frames
• Explain the differences among functional, matrix, and project organizational structures
• Explain why stakeholder management and top management commitment are critical for a project’s success
• Understand the concept, development, implementation, and close-out phases of the project life cycle
• Distinguish between project development and product development
• Discuss the unique attributes and diverse nature of information technology projects
• List the skills and attributes of a good project manager in general and in the information technology field

3. The Project Management Process Groups: A Case Study

• Describe the five project management process groups, the typical level of activity for each, and the interactions among them
• Understand how the project management process groups relate to the project management knowledge areas
• Discuss how organizations develop information technology project management methodologies to meet their needs
• Review a case study of an organization applying the project management process groups to manage an information technology project
• Understand the contribution that effective project initiation, project planning, project execution, project control, and project closing makes to project success

4. Project Integration Management

• Describe an overall framework for project integration management as it relates to the other project management knowledge areas and the project life cycle
• Describe project plan development, including project plan content, using guidelines and templates for developing plans, and performing a stakeholder analysis to help manage relationships
• Explain project plan execution, its relationship to project planning, the factors related to successful results, and tools and techniques to assist in project plan execution
• Understand the integrated change control process, planning for and managing changes on information technology projects, and developing and using a change control system
• Describe how software can assist in project integration management

5. Project Scope Management

• Understand the elements that make good project scope management important
• Describe the strategic planning process, apply different project selection methods, such as a net present value analysis, a weighted scoring model, and a balanced scorecard, and understand the importance of creating a project charter
• Explain the scope planning process and contents of a scope statement
• Discuss the scope definition process and construct a work breakdown structure using the analogy, top-down, bottom-up, and mind mapping approaches
• Understand the importance of scope verification and scope change control to avoid scope creep on information technology projects
• Describe how software can assist in project scope management

6. Project Time Management

• Understand the importance of project schedules and good project time management
• Define activities as the basis for developing project schedules
• Describe how project managers use network diagrams and dependencies to assist in activity sequencing
• Explain how various tools and techniques help project managers perform activity duration estimating and schedule development
• Use a Gantt chart for schedule planning and tracking schedule information
• Understand and use critical path analysis
• Describe how to use several techniques for shortening project schedules
• Explain the basic concepts behind critical chain scheduling and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• Discuss how reality checks and people issues are involved in controlling and managing changes to the project schedule
• Describe how software can assist in project time management

7. Project Cost Management

• Understand the importance of good project cost management
• Explain basic project cost management principles, concepts, and terms
• Describe how resource planning relates directly to project cost management
• Explain cost estimating using definitive, budgetary, and rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimates
• Understand the processes involved in cost budgeting and preparing a cost estimate for an information technology project
• Understand the benefits of earned value management and project portfolio management to assist in cost control
• Describe how software can assist in project cost management

8. Project Quality Management

• Understand the importance of project quality management for information technology products and services
• Define project quality management and understand how quality relates to various aspects of information technology projects
• Describe quality planning and its relationship to project scope management
• Discuss the importance of quality assurance
• List the three outputs of the quality control process
• Understand the tools and techniques for quality control, such as Pareto analysis, statistical sampling, Six
• Sigma, quality control charts, and testing
• Describe important concepts related to Six Sigma and how it helps organizations improve quality and reduce costs
• Summarize the contributions of noteworthy quality experts to modern quality management
• Understand how the Malcolm Baldrige Award and ISO 9000 standard promote quality in project management
• Describe how leadership, cost, organizational influences, and maturity models relate to improving quality in information technology projects
• Discuss how software can assist in project quality management

9. Project Human Resource Management

• Explain the importance of good human resource management on projects, especially on information technology projects
• Define project human resource management and understand its processes
• Summarize key concepts for managing people by understanding the theories of Abraham Maslow,
• Frederick Herzberg, David McClelland, and Douglas McGregor on motivation, H. J. Thamhain and D. L.
• Wilemon on influencing workers, and Stephen Covey on how people and teams can become more effective
• Discuss organizational planning and be able to create a project organizational chart, responsibility assignment matrix, and resource histogram
• Understand important issues involved in project staff acquisition and explain the concepts of resource assignments, resource loading, and resource leveling
• Assist in team development with training, team-building activities, and reward systems
• Describe how project management software can assist in project human resource management

10. Project Communications Management

• Understand the importance of good communication on projects and describe the major components of a communications management plan
• Discuss the elements of project communications planning, including information distribution, performance reporting, and administrative closure
• Discuss various methods for project information distribution and the advantages and disadvantages of each
• Understand individual communication needs and how to determine the number of communications channels needed for a project
• Understand how the main outputs of performance reporting help stakeholders stay informed about project resources
• Recognize how the main outputs of administrative closure are used to formally end a project
• List various methods for improving project communications, such as managing conflicts, running effective meetings, using e-mail effectively, and using templates
• Describe how software can enhance project communications

11. Project Risk Management

• Understand what risk is and the importance of good project risk management
• Discuss the elements involved in risk management planning
• List common sources of risks on information technology projects
• Describe the risk identification process and tools and techniques to help identify project risks
• Discuss the qualitative risk analysis process and explain how to calculate risk factors, use probability/impact matrixes, the Top Ten Risk Item Tracking technique, and expert judgment to rank risks
• Explain the quantify risk analysis process and how to use decision trees and simulation to quantitative risks
• Provide examples of using different risk response planning strategies such as risk avoidance, acceptance, transference, and mitigation
• Discuss what is involved in risk monitoring and control
• Describe how software can assist in project risk management
• Explain the results of good project risk management

12. Project Procurement Management

• Understand the importance of project procurement management and the increasing use of outsourcing for information technology projects
• Describe the procurement planning process, procurement planning tools and techniques, types of contracts, and statements of work
• Discuss what is involved in solicitation planning and the difference between a request for proposal and a request for quote
• Explain what occurs during the solicitation process
• Describe the source selection process and different approaches for evaluating proposals or selecting suppliers
• Discuss the importance of good contract administration
• Describe the contract close-out process
• Discuss types of software available to assist in project procurement management

Exams Detail: