1. About the book

This book is mainly aimed at anyone who is working within the IT industry that has an interest in IT project management and how it affects their role on a project. It is an ideal read for either new or experienced project managers, project team members or management as the aim of the book is to be small, compact, easy to pick up and flick through or to read cover to cover

The book covers the main principles of project management and the software development lifecycle with scenarios, tips and examples drawn from real life experiences that are used to explain how to overcome some of the challenges IT projects face in an ever-changing technical environment.

The book is currently being published iteratively and is not yet complete.

Why am I writing this book?

My background is in software development and, having made the decision to become more involved with managing projects, I noticed that most websites, articles and books discuss project management from a very generic perspective. There seem to be very few books that take a more holistic view of IT project management including what skills you need, problems you may come up against due to technology and general tips on project management principles. After all, technology projects have their own unique activities and challenges.

In addition to this I have worked within a project management office, where I provided guidance and support services for project managers who worked within a complex and changing IT environment. In undertaking this role, I found that the advice, support and document reviews I undertook started to show some common trends. These include a lack of understanding of how to define and present IT projects to the business and common mistakes made in day-to-day project management.

This trend led to me sounding like a “broken record”, repeating the same advice over and over again to different project managers. That started me thinking about writing a short book that is clear, concise and quick to read, covering the skills, principles, tools and activities that will help you to successfully manage an IT project in the real world.

About the author

I live in the beautiful island of Jersey (the largest of the Channel Islands) with my husband and family. Prior to that I lived in Kent, where I grew up. I studied Computer Science at the University of Reading and have since worked for a number of IT organisations in London. I have worked for one of Jersey’s largest organisations where I was responsible for running the Information Services Project Management Office. My interests are in project management, agile and change. With a background in software development, I have an understanding of the technical issues faced in project delivery from first hand experience.