CHAPTER 14
PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

14.1 INTRODUCTION

Accurate and timely information is essential for the management of a project. Project planning, organizational design, motivation of project stakeholders, and meaningful project reviews simply cannot be carried out without information on the project—and how it relates to the larger organizational context in which the project is found. An accurate and complete project management information system must exist to provide the basis for how the project is doing. The project manager—or any other manager for that part—simply cannot make and execute meaningful decisions without relevant and timely information.

In this chapter, a project management information system (PMIS) is presented. Project failures attributed to lack of information are offered. The value of the PMIS, a description of a PMIS, and the uses to which a PMIS can be put are offered. How to use the PMIS in the management of a project is described, along with how project information can be shared. The role of technology vis-à-vis the PMIS is provided. A summary description of PMIS hardware and software is suggested, along with descriptions on how to plan for the PMIS. A description of the essential elements of a PMIS closes the chapter.

14.2 THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

In Chap. 5, the project management system and its subsystems are described. Figure 14.1 shows the project management system and its subsystems. The project management information system (PMIS) is intended to store information essential to the effective planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of the project, as well as provide a repository of information to be used to keep stakeholders informed about the project’s progress.

FIGURE 14.1 Project management system—information subsystem.

All too often projects are characterized by too much data and not enough relevant information on where the project stands relative to its schedule, cost, and technical performance objectives as well as the project’s strategic fit and function in the parent organization’s strategies. The 80–20 rule tells us that typically there will be the vital few and trivial many, or 20 percent will be relevant and the remaining 80 percent will be of significantly less importance.

Information is essential to the design and execution of management decisions allocating resources in a project. Decisions coming from project planning, organizing, direction, motivation, and control must be based on timely and relevant information. Motivation of the project team and discharge of leadership responsibilities by all managers associated with the project require information by which informed decisions can be made and executed.

Information is required for the operation of any enterprise. In organizations, making and implementing decisions depend on the character of the information available to the decision makers. Information availability and flow are critical considerations in the speed and eloquence with which the efficient and effective use of resources is carried out in meeting the purposes of the enterprise.

Organizations of all sizes need information to design, produce, market, and provide after-sales support to the products and services that are offered to customers. In large organizations the flow of information can be incomplete and sequential, often not getting to the people who need the information for their work in time to make the best decisions. Information may be found lying around in organizations waiting for someone who has the authority to make a decision. The best information loses its value if it is not available to people who need it to make decisions and direct actions.

A system for collecting, formatting, and distributing information is needed for the organization and each project. The organization’s management information system will contain some information that is needed for the projects, but there is a need for additional project-related information as well as that information generated as a result of the project’s activities.

An important part of the management of any project is a well-developed strategy for understanding and managing the set of procedures and documents that establish information used in the management of the project. The procedures for established a PMIS might be documented in an organization’s project management manual.

Sometimes the initiation of a project for the development of an information system for one element of the enterprise results in the broadening of information usage. For example, at 3M during the development of a computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) approach for the company, a total integration of all the information technology for one of the company’s plants was initiated. The name given to this effort became integrated manufacturing system (IMS). Tying the administrative systems into their CIM structures provided for further broadening the notion of concurrency in the management systems of the organization.¹

In addition to the immediate participants to a project, there is a need to consider all stakeholders. A project manager might characterize the PMIS as being able to provide information that he or she needs to do the job and information that the bosses need. Typically, stakeholders have various information needs that can often be satisfied through the information stored in the PMIS. Table 14.1 describes some of the stakeholders’ information needs on a routine basis.

TABLE 14.1 Stakeholder Information Needs

Those individuals with real or perceived information needs about the project soon become disenchanted when inadequate or inaccurate information is provided. No stakeholder likes surprises that reflect a change to the project plan or anticipated progress. Surprises quickly erode confidence in the project manager’s capability to manage the work and keep key stakeholders fully informed on progress. One corporate vice president in Rochester, N.Y., stated to her managers, “Surprises on projects are not career-enhancing moves.”

14.3 INFORMATION FAILURES

Not all projects are managed by using a relevant and reliable information system. For example, on the Shoreham project, the administrative law judges found that the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) nuclear power plant’s measurement and reporting systems continually and repeatedly failed to accurately depict cost and schedule status at Shoreham. LILCO managers were unable to use LILCO’s measurement system to gain an accurate picture of what was happening on-site and complained that LILCO’s reporting systems were confused and cluttered.²

The judges left no doubt as to the overall responsibility of the LILCO board of directors for the Shoreham project:

Inadequate information systems on the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) project contributed to the lack of adequate controls. Crandall testified:

These major projects were materially affected by the lack of adequate information with which to make informed decisions. There is no doubt that if a functioning information system had been in place, the outcome would have been significantly different and perhaps would have avoided the external reviews and criticism.

These two examples demonstrate the need for an information system for projects to collect, format, and distribute information to the decision makers. Without information, decisions are made through “best effort” based on something other than the facts. Managers at all levels must manage by facts if the enterprise is to achieve the best results from projects.

14.4 VALUE OF THE PMIS

The PMIS is a vital part of the communications for the project. As a store of knowledge, the plans, practices, procedures, standards, guidelines, and methodologies are readily available to consult prior to making a decision or taking an action. A single store of information facilitates the collection and recovery of key data at any time—during planning, project implementation, and postproject activities.

Figure 14.2 shows a conceptual arrangement of the project’s information. This diagram depicts the organizational information being loaded into the PMIS from the computer on the left. Organizational information would be all background information such as contracts, strategies, operational plans, policies, procedures, and other documents influencing how and when the project will be implemented.

FIGURE 14.2 Project store of knowledge.

The three computers on the right depict the interaction between the project team and the store of knowledge. The project team would be populating the PMIS with such information as the project plan, including all its subordinate documents, schedules, budget, correspondence, specifications, statements of work, and drawings. Once the initial data are loaded, the project team would maintain the system through updates.

A fully populated PMIS would be accessed anytime there was a need for information. It would be the first source of information for managing the project with the relevant information from both the enterprise’s information system and the project-generated information.

During postproject assessments, the PMIS can provide a wealth of information on what was accomplished, what should have been accomplished, and how it was accomplished. The actual performance data for the project provide a record of how well the project accomplished its purpose. This written record is more reliable than the memory of individuals. When individuals typically transition through the project to complete their work, they may not be available for postproject questioning.

One project may generate significant information that has value for future projects. The PMIS, as the store of knowledge, can be made available at any time to support the enterprise’s work on another project. Although the project may be ongoing, there is still valuable information that can support planning and initiation of new projects.

One may give a value to the PMIS by comparing a current method of managing a project’s knowledge store with a model of what it could be. The comparison should consider the project’s needs for information and the benefits derived for the enterprise’s other projects, whether they are ongoing, being planned, or being assessed in a postproject audit. Some questions that could be asked:

• How are the present project management information needs being met and are they adequate?

• What improvements are needed to support projects in the future?

• What information is provided by completed projects to support planning and implementation of other projects?

• How are best practices captured and passed on to others?

• How is project information distributed to functional departments?

• What benefits could be derived from an improved PMIS?

• What are the costs and benefits of a PMIS?

14.5 DESCRIBING A PMIS

There are many descriptions of a PMIS. The authors believe that a fully capable PMIS consists of all the information needed by the project team to conduct its business. This includes information from the organization that guides the project as well as background information on the project.

In Fig. 14.3, Tuman presents a model of an information system that is the minimum type of PMIS for a project. Tuman’s model concentrates on schedule, cost, and technical performance information related to the project’s objectives and goals—and does not present the interface with the strategic management of the enterprises. In the context of information and control, Tuman’s model serves as a very effective means of describing the process. In describing this systems model, he states:

FIGURE 14.3 Information control system. [Source: John Tuman, Jr., “Development and Implementation of Effective Project Management Information and Control Systems,” in David I. Cleland and William R. King (eds.), Project Management Handbook (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983), p. 499.]

Another view of a PMIS is that project teams need information to support their efforts in the project. Information should be readily available and easy to obtain, preferably by computer. The PMIS should be a store of knowledge for the project and the first source for information about the project. It should include background information on the project, current information on project activities, and information that reflects organizational guidelines. The PMIS is a critical area that supports the project and allows it to be managed by fact.

The PMIS store of knowledge should be an enabling tool for the project manager and project team. It does not replace leadership or project methodologies, but will provide the means to make the projects more successful. The PMIS may be divided into four categories of information.

1. Organizational guidance or support information in the PMIS could be:

• Project management manual

• Project management methodologies

• Organizational policies for projects

• Organizational procedures for projects

• Organizational briefings on project capabilities and implementation

2. Historical information in the PMIS could be:

• Files from other projects that contain performance data and best practices

• Proposal, quotes, and bids on this project

• Budgets, schedule, and technical performance measures from prior projects

• Project plans from prior projects

• Marketing presentation for this project

3. Current project information in the PMIS could be:

• Contracts for easy access by the project manager

• Project charter

• Specifications on the project’s product

• Statements of work

• Drawings, schematics, and illustrations related to the project

• Schedules

• Budgets

• Risk assessments

• Risk plans

• Communication plans

• Project correspondence

• Project internal policies and procedures

• Resources lists (human and nonhuman)

• Approved vendor list

• Names and addresses of key organization people

• Stakeholder management plan

• Functional or operational plans prepared by the functional departments

• Project diary

• Product standards

• Time cards for project team

• Briefings

• Issue log

• Action item log

• Lessons learned

4. Old files from the current project that are no longer needed for the project’s ongoing work could contain:

• Old or superseded materials (schedules, briefings, expenditures, plans)

• Records of former project team participants

• Closed out contracts or closed invoices

• Inactive files for correspondence

• Superseded policies, procedures, standards, and decision papers

14.6 USES OF THE PMIS

The objective of an information system is to provide the basis to plan, monitor, do integrated project evaluation, and show the interrelationships among cost, schedule, and technical performance for the entire project and for the strategic direction of the organization. In addition, information should provide a prospective view in order to identify project problems before they occur, so that they can be avoided or their results minimized.

Information is required so that the project team can continuously monitor, evaluate, and control the resources used on the project. Also, higher management must be kept informed of the status of the project to satisfy its strategic responsibility. There will be times when the project status will require the active involvement of senior management and/or the project owner. Thus, when project status is reported to higher-level management, the report should contain the key data stating the problem; the circumstances surrounding the problem; the cause; the potential impact on project cost, schedule, and other pertinent areas; a recommendation for the action to be taken; the expected outcome of the action; and the assistance sought from senior management.

Several additional methods can be used to keep abreast of the project status, assuming that an effective project management information system is in place. An easy and important method is to go down and “kick the tires,” to observe what is going on in the project. Informal discussions with project team members during these visits can also provide insight into the status of the project. Analysis and interpretation of formal written and oral reports are useful, as are graphic displays of information. An essential way of keeping informed is to have formal project evaluation and control meetings.

The hardest part of any management job is not having all the right information yet having the responsibility of making the right decisions. Some companies find the project evaluation and control process so important that they have set up a project war room to facilitate the review process. A war room or information center has significant implications for improving project management. At an aerospace company, an information center provides information as well as information services such as analysis of user information requirements, specialized assistance, technology support, education, and training. As a clearinghouse for information, the facility provides database searches and assists users in deciding which products and services to use.

14.7 INFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTRIBUTES

Characteristics and attributes for information are the following:

• Accurate. Information in the PMIS should be accurate and represent the situation. Erroneous information can lead to wrong decisions and failed projects. Accurate information provides the best chance for managing by fact.

• Precise. The precision of the information needs to be only to the level of granularity dictated by the project decisions. For example, there is typically no need to estimate project labor-hours to less than an hour. It is a special case where labor estimates are to the nearest minute or nearest 10 minutes.

• Reliable. The information must be derived from a source that gives confidence that it is real and representative of the situation. Information from an unknown source or stated in terms that permit more than one interpretation should be labeled “questionable.”

• Level of detail. The information should be at a level of detail that permits easy translation to the current project. Too much detail masks the purpose and too little detail is not supportive of the project team.

• Graphics, pictures, and illustrations. The use of graphics, pictures, and illustrations can convey information more quickly than narrative text. These items can be supplemented with textual descriptions or highlights.

• Mathematics and numbers. Mathematics and numbers are a precise means of providing information. These are especially good to use for performance measures or product performance requirements.

The PMIS is an essential part of the project and critical to making the project successful. It takes an initial effort to provide the organizational and historical information as well as the project planning data. Once the PMIS is activated for a project, that project assumes responsibility for sustaining the system. It soon becomes outdated and loses its effectiveness if new information is not entered on a timely basis.

Files and documents that establish the project baseline should not be deleted, but placed in an archive when new files or documents supersede them. For example, the organization may issue a new project management manual that significantly changes the project methodology. It is important to maintain the superseded copy for reference when questions arise as to why something was accomplished a certain way.

14.8 SHARING INFORMATION

It is becoming more common for project information to be shared with the project stakeholders. When the project management information system provides information to stakeholders, the conditions for getting the stakeholders working together are facilitated. When project problems, successes, failures, challenges, and other issues are brought to the attention of the project stakeholders, there will likely be closer identification of the people with the project. If the stakeholders sense that the project manager is withholding information, there is the risk that stakeholders will perceive that the project manager does not trust them, because the information is not being shared. The sharing of information can promote trust, empathy, and more mature relationships among project stakeholders. Then, too, as the project stakeholders review information on the project, such as the problems that the project faces, they may have suggestions that can contribute to the solution of the problems.

Sharing of project information is one of the more important dimensions of keeping the team members working together cohesively and concurrently in the utilization of the project resources. Such sharing also facilitates the building of networks with the stakeholders through continuous interpersonal contact and dialogue. By using technology and a willingness to communicate, information systems can be designed for the project team that help everyone do a better job of making and implementing decisions in the utilization of project resources.

Every project manager has to ask key questions about the quality and quantity of information available to manage the project:

• What information do I need to do my job as project manager?

• What information must I share with the project stakeholders to keep them informed on the status of the project?

• What information do I need about other projects in the organization that interface with my project?

• What information do I require about the enterprise that provides me with insight into how the project fits into the overall strategy of the organization?

• What information do I require to coordinate my project’s activities with other initiatives in the organization?

• What is the cost of my not having adequate information about my project and how that project interfaces with other projects in the overall organizational strategy of the enterprise?

• What information about the project do I not need to do my project management job? Remember, too, that I can be overloaded with untimely and irrelevant information.

Following are two examples of sharing information, or making it available to anyone who requested it. The outcome of each project was materially affected by the two instances.

• One program manager would not share information on the performance of his major contractor. Information was exchanged between the program manager and the contractor’s project manager on a confidential basis and the contractor committed through his project manager to a certain course of action. The project team was aware of the confidential relationship, but did not have access to the information. When the contractor’s performance was questioned, the program manager insisted that there was a personal commitment by the contractor (through the project manager) to correct the identified deficiencies. The contractor’s senior management denied that there was any commitment and discharged its project manager. Partly as a result of the program manager and contractor’s project manager withholding information on performance deficiencies, there was a cost overrun of nearly five times the original cost estimate and the project was delayed 3 years before it failed for technical reasons.

• Another program manager established an open system of sharing information and allowing anyone to communicate with any other person in the project. The only stipulation was that anyone sharing information had to be certain that the facts were correct. The sharing of information was between the project office and several contractors. Electronic mail was the primary means of communicating information between locations around the United States, which permitted easy exchange of information in written form without regard to time zones or duty hours. This free exchange of information was viewed as one of the major contributing factors in the success of the early completion of the project within budget, and the product’s performance exceeded expectations.

14.9 INFORMATION VALUE

Information provides the intelligence for managing the project. Information must be processed so that decisions can be made and executed with a high degree of assurance so that the results will contribute to the project’s success. In the project planning role, information provides the basis for generating project action plans, schedules, network diagrams, projections, and other elements of planning. Information is essential to promote understanding; establish project objectives, goals, and strategies; develop mechanisms for controls; communicate status; forecast future performance and resources; recognize changes; and reinforce project strategies. The project planning function establishes a structure and a methodology for managing the information resources, which encompass defining, structuring, and organizing project information, anticipating its flow, reviewing information quality, controlling its use and source, and providing a focal point for the project’s information policies.⁶

Information is a valuable resource to be developed, refined, and managed by the project principals: project managers, functional managers, work package managers, project professionals, and the project owner. Project information is as much an essential resource as people, materials, and equipment. Information is also a key tool which facilitates the project management process. Information is needed to prepare and use the project plans, develop and use budgets, create and use schedules, and lead the project team to a successful conclusion of the project. Information, then, becomes both a key resource to the project stakeholders and a tool for all concerned to do their job. Information is important, but its role is limited. As Gilbreath states:

Gilbreath differentiates data and information. He states:

Information’s real value is when it is used effectively in the management of the project. Information does not automatically lead to effective management of a project, but lack of information can contribute to project failure. Information may be in varying degrees of completeness when the PMIS is not properly populated—both on a timely basis and an accuracy basis. Partial information can be misleading and inaccurate information can lead to the wrong decision.

Information is perishable. Managing a project requires planning, organizing, and controlling of resources on a moving target as the project evolves through its life cycle. Information on a project at a particular point in that life cycle can change quickly as new project problems and opportunities emerge. Aged information will provide a distorted picture for the decision maker as well as give undue confidence in the decision. Only current information gives the best picture of the situation and allows decisions based on facts.

Gilbreath believes that information with a detail structure adds to the project’s value as well as that of the parent organization.⁹ Analyzed and structured project management data become information that is summarized for ease of reading and understanding. This analyzed information is disseminated up to senior managers of the organization and used within the project for measuring results. Reliable information has an audit trail from its source through the analysis process to the dissemination points.

Analyzed information provides the project team with the knowledge of where it has been in preceding periods, where it is today, and the direction the project is heading in. The proper amount of project information will support these goals, whereas too little information will not give the clear picture. Too much information has the tendency to overload the project team with information that must be filtered to properly view the past, present, and future situations. Senior managers also need the proper amount of pertinent information with which to make sound decisions on the project’s future.

Information provides the basis for continuation of the project in the absence of the project manager. The project team can monitor the progress of the project and compare it to the project plan to assure that work is progressing satisfactorily. An effective PMIS provides the information that demonstrates when the project is on track or when it has exceeded the allowable limits of performance.

An important purpose served by a PMIS is that it can track at the work package level for early identification of schedule slippage or significant cost overruns on detailed work areas. Early identification of small problems permits the attention to detail before there are major impacts on higher-order work. This is especially important on large projects or projects that have a very rigorous schedule to meet the enterprise’s or customer’s goals.

14.10 TECHNOLOGY AND THE PMIS

Technological innovations support the development of a sophisticated PMIS that incorporates early warning measures to highlight variances from standard practices. The design of the PMIS should be general to meet the needs of projects across the board in an enterprise, but may incorporate unique items such as the means to sort information by date, by source, by originator, and by type of information.

Although most information may be stored in the PMIS for a project, there are other sources that may be more effectively used. For example, the Internet, or World Wide Web, has a wealth of information for background and ongoing information needs. Some examples of what is available through the Internet include building code ordinances, information on stakeholders like chambers of commerce, conference proceedings, databases on topics ranging from accounting to zoology, exchange rates and other money matters, design and engineering data, document delivery, government information, industry information, and patent data. The information available on the Internet is extensive and reasonably accurate, depending upon the source. The Internet allows the project manager the ability to search, ask questions, and find an incredible range of data that can be integrated into the management of the project. The Internet provides the project team more than 56 million information sources in over 150 countries—primarily in the English language.¹⁰

Companies today have in many instances separated their operational units by thousands of miles to achieve advantages associated with locales. Warehouses are built in Ohio because of its heartland location and data processing offices are set up where skilled farm-belt workers are available. This decentralization is supported by the growing sophistication of telecommunications. Facsimile machines, cellular phones, and toll-free telephone numbers have offset the disadvantage of distance. Computer and telecommunication technologies developed over the past two decades facilitate remote decentralized locations providing instantaneous communications between distant posts. Advanced technology for communications around the world minimizes the number of on-site meetings and hours spent traveling across country. Time that was previously spent traveling can now be devoted to productive tasks that are coordinated electronically over thousands of miles, across multiple time zones.¹¹

One aircraft manufacturer believes that air travel for business purposes will become less important as more sophisticated communication devices and techniques become available. This company believes that the people on business travel from one location to another carry within themselves a bundle of information that will be transferred to other person(s) at the end of the journey. Once the information is transferred, the traveler gets on the returning airplane and returns to the home office. Through modern telecommunications, the bundle of information can be transmitted quickly without time-consuming air travel for humans.

14.11 CHALLENGES TO AN EFFECTIVE PMIS

There are real challenges in developing and implementing a PMIS. These problems must be avoided or overcome if an effective PMIS is to be developed. Gilbreath cites uses and abuses of information. He opines that misuse of information is common—often sophisticated, and limited only by our imagination.¹² He delineates the acceptable uses and common misuses of information. When correctly used, information helps to:

• Promote understanding among the project team

• Target controls (by quantifying risks, testing proposed controls, and initiating corrective action)

• Dispel project phantoms (artificial failure factors)

• Allow project transactions (such as progress payments)

• Communicate status

• Predict the future

• Satisfy outside inquiries

• Enhance resource usage (efficiencies)

• Validate plans

• Comprehend change

• Sharpen and reinforce perspectives

• Test expectations

• Recognize failure

Information is often misused, in order to:

• Deceive or confuse

• Postpone a decision or action

• Create errors in the information department

• Justify errors

• Slow or divert processes

• Support the status quo

• Mask failure (or dress it up)¹³

A PMIS must to support the project for a host of reasons. Perhaps the most important is design of the system for the required information. The system must be capable of receiving the right information for the project and can be easily used to retrieve information in a timely manner. Too complex an arrangement for either inputting information into the system or retrieving information will frustrate many users—who will not take the time or make the effort to use the PMIS.

Second, there is a need to have confidence in the information stored in the PMIS. Users of the information will avoid the PMIS if the data are aged or inaccurate. Information in the system can easily fall into disuse when the project team loses confidence in the system to provide usable information in support of their work. Either poor initial population of the system or failure to maintain the system through timely updates with new project information can create this situation.

More information in a PMIS is not necessarily good. Overpopulating the system with irrelevant information or information that masks the vital few can lead to errors in decisions or avoidance of the system. When there is too much information to be sorted and reported, this can overwhelm the decision maker. Decision makers need the right amount of information to analyze and distill into a decision that supports the project. Populating the system with erroneous information can create conflicts between sources that waste time and efforts to sort though opposing information.

Some studies and observations of decision-making theory have concluded that one should have about 80 percent of the information to make the best decision. In some instances when there is a need for immediate action, there may be only about 40 percent of the information available—still the decision must be made without regard to the shortfall of information if a disaster is to be averted. It is accepted that a person will never have 100 percent of the pertinent information and many times will not have even 80 percent. Delays in decision making for lack of information may be worse than making a decision on inadequate information. To offset this situation, it may be well to anticipate the type of decisions that will be required and the supporting information needed. The PMIS should be designed to receive, store, sort, and retrieve the required information.

Project managers may not want to have a fully capable PMIS. Because of their personality and decision-making style, there is often reluctance by some project managers to be burdened with facts that do not permit the use of subjective, intuitive information. The management style exhibited by these individuals may include the following:

• Only my experience counts in decisions.

• Don’t tie me to decisions based on partial information; let me use my judgment.

• A PMIS would only confirm my decisions—if it had the right information.

• The facts in the PMIS are wrong; I can see what is happening.

Often, we forget that a system includes people with all their good intentions and differences. A computer cannot think and recognize situations as easily as a skilled person observing the parameters of the system. Yet people function in various modes—some good and some not so good. For example, who will give the bad news to the boss when the boss shoots the messenger? In this situation, people represent weakness in the system—the person who fails to report the bad news and the boss who blames the messenger for the bad news. It is up to the project manager to ensure that the people side of the system works—technology will not replace those people in the system.

Gilbreath believes that management reports are only as good as the information they contain that promotes analysis and evaluation of the project. The best reports, according to Gilbreath, manage to:

• Isolate significant variances and identify the reasons they occurred

• Emphasize the quantitative and specific rather than the subjective and general

• Describe specific cost, schedule, and technical performance impacts on other project elements (other contracts, areas, schedules, organizations, plans)

• Indicate effects on project baselines (what revisions are needed, when, why)

• Describe specific corrective actions taken and planned

• Assign responsibility for action and give expected dates for improvement

• Reference corrective action plans in previous reports (what happened)¹⁴

14.12 PMIS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

Computer-based information systems have become valuable for project managers to use in managing projects. In the past two decades, project managers could use a computing capability through a substantial infrastructure. Today, the desktop computer has led to a flood of project management software packages. Archibald separates computer-based software for project management into three categories: scheduling, cost and resource control, and cost/schedule/integration and reporting.¹⁵

Although much of the computer software is used for project scheduling and tracking, with capability to load resources and generate budgets, there is still a need for databases that can accommodate large volumes of data. These scheduling software programs must be supplemented with a means of electronically storing information in a structure that can be rapidly retrieved for use in the project.

Desktop computers currently have storage capacities of several gigabytes that can accept large volumes of data. Organizations are using an intranet—the internal network linking desktop computers with a mainframe computer—for distribution of information. The data may be stored on the mainframe computer and accessed at any time. Project-specific data are most often maintained in the desktop computer and a copy filed on the mainframe computer.

Figure 14.4 shows a typical configuration for linking desktop computers with a central computer that stores pertinent project and organizational data. Information is available to all project team members any time of day and the electronic linkage permits rapid access to any part of the database. Moreover, it permits any team member to contribute to the store of knowledge around the clock without regard to that person’s location.

FIGURE 14.4 PMIS with project team member linkages.

The power of the computer has made information sharing easy and rapid. Many laptop computers are used by project participants to store data while moving between locations. Typically, the laptop computers can be linked to the central mainframe computer for an interchange of information.

The power of the computer is harnessed only when there is a single person or group involved in sustaining the database. This may be a person on the project or it may be a project office. The individuals responsible for the mainframe computer do not populate data or manipulate the data, but will most often provide the framework for storing, accessing, backing up, transferring, and deleting the data.

Gilbreath offers advice on how to consider the use of project management software by noting that we need to understand our information needs and how we intend to organize and use the information. He notes that software failures often occur because the software does not match needs, organization, and intended uses. He concludes that poorly planned or performed projects are not helped by software.¹⁶

A good information system provides key input to the project decision makers. Projects that get into trouble often are found to lack information, or they have too much and the wrong kind of information. A good project management information system adds value to the data available on the project, and when those data are properly organized and structured, the project management team has a valuable resource to use.

14.13 PLANNING FOR THE PMIS

Planning for the PMIS is part of planning for a project infrastructure. Accordingly, the development of an information system for a project should consider the needs of all stakeholders and the timeliness of information to support decisions. Identifying information that will support project planning, such as organizational guidance documents, may be the first information needed to populate the PMIS. Second, there is a need to identify background information on the project that sets the purpose for conducting the work. The blend of guidance documentation and project background forms a basis for conducting the planning. Current project information like the project plan and all its supporting documents will be developed on the basis of the guidance and background information.

One may anticipate the type of information and the timing for retrieval by asking different stakeholders about their needs. Also, ongoing projects and past projects may provide valuable data in the design of the stakeholder requirements.

In designing the PMIS, it is well to remember that all required information will not be stored in the PMIS. Some information is readily available through other systems such as the enterprise’s management information system. Other information may be needed, but the PMIS hardware and software may limit its storage and retrieval in an orderly and efficient fashion. Knowing where there are limitations in the PMIS will cause the project team to identify other sources—if the information is needed.

How much information is needed in the PMIS? To paraphrase an Army general in 1974, the project manager might say, “I need that amount of information to do my job and to keep my stakeholders informed.” Using this criterion, it is easy to see that each project will have a unique PMIS. Many parts and functions will have common ground with similar types of information—take the guidance information from the enterprise, for example. Background information on a project should, for example, be uniquely fitted to that project.

In the planning context of a PMIS, a number of factors are essential to the establishment of an information system. The parent organization of the project should have in place the following:

• An information clearinghouse function, particularly in the design and execution of projects to support corporate strategy

• An established organizational design with supporting policies, procedures, techniques, and methodologies to manage the organizational information bases

• Appropriate people who can work at the interfaces between information technology and the project needs

By forcing a systematic delineation of the project work packages, the project work activities, and the integrated information components, the project manager can analyze the best way to translate the information to a format that produces useful information. Within an information center, project information networks are a medium for organizing the structure and continuity of information over the life of the project. These networks provide an integrated perspective of the project work packages and their interrelationships. The networks provide methodology to identify work packages, information requirements and sources, information flows, and decision parameters.¹⁷

A project plan may be considered to be an information system, which provides a time-phased array of work packages, appropriately sequenced to the WBS with resource estimates, to accomplish the project plan’s scope of work within an appropriate time frame. This baseline project plan eases monitoring and analysis by showing the information needed to measure against the proper control points. As the project is worked and the actual status data become available, the project plan and the networks are updated to provide for the tracking and monitoring process.

14.14 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A PMIS

In the design, development, and operation of a project management information system, a few essential elements can be applied:

• Information is needed to manage the project—to plan, organize, evaluate, and control the use of resources on the project.

• Information is needed to satisfy stakeholder queries about the project’s status and progress.

• The quality of management decisions in the project is related to the accuracy, currency, and reliability of the information on the project.

• Enterprise guidance and project background information form the basis for planning the project. This information should be a part of the PMIS.

• The information requirements for all stakeholders drive the design and development of the PMIS’s contents. The project manager and project team will be the primary users of the PMIS, but will need to consider stakeholders such as senior management, customers, and functional managers.

• The PMIS supports the full range of the project life cycle to include preproject analysis and postproject reviews.

• Information establishes the basis for all project decisions and commitment of resources. The PMIS is the repository of much of this information.

• Information to manage a project comes from a wide variety of sources, including formal reports, informal sources, observation, project review meetings, and questioning—aided by formal evaluation and analysis as to what the information says about the status of the project.

• Information systems reflect the user’s needs for making and executing decisions in the managing of project resources.

• The PMIS should interface with larger organizational information systems to permit smooth, efficient interchange of information in support of organizational and project objectives and goals.

• Planning for a PMIS requires that information be selectively included and irrelevant information omitted to preclude an overabundance of data and little relevant information.

• The PMIS should be prospective and capable of providing intelligence on both the current and probable future progress and status of the project.

Each PMIS is tailored to project situations to meet specific requirements for managing the project. General characteristics that should be in all PMISs would include the following:

• Be adaptable to differing customer requirements.

• Be consistent with organizational and project policies, procedures, and guidelines.

• Minimize the chances that managers will be surprised by project developments.

• Provide essential information on the cost-time-performance parameters of a project and on the interrelationships of these parameters, as well as the strategic fit of the project.

• Provide information in standardized form to enhance its usefulness to all managers.

• Be decision oriented, in that information reported should be focused toward the decisions required of the managers.

• Be exception oriented, in that it focuses the manager’s attention on those critical areas requiring attention rather than simply reporting on all areas and requiring the managers to devote attention to each.

• Be a collaborative effort between users and analysts.

• Be executed by a multidisciplinary team that views the design, development, and implementation of the information system as a project itself, amenable to project management approaches.

14.15 TO SUMMARIZE

The major points that were presented in this chapter include:

• The project management information subsystem is an important subsystem of a project management system.

• Relevant and timely information is essential to the management of an enterprise and to the management of a project.

• Plans, policies, and procedures are really a repository of information providing guidance on how the enterprise or project will be managed.

• Several examples were given of where the failure on large projects was caused in part by inadequate and inappropriate information systems.

• There is a direct relationship between quality and quantity of information and project planning and control results.

• When an adequate information system exists for a project, management of that project is made much easier with a higher probability of success.

• In this chapter, an important number of key questions were suggested that a project manager could ask about the quality and quantity of information available for the management of the project.

• Project and project-related information should be considered a valuable resource—and easily accessible to the project manager.

• Computers, telecommunications technology, and the Internet are revolutionizing the availability and use of information as a key element in the management of an enterprise and projects.

• Information available through the Internet is a major information source for the project team and for other stakeholders.

• Hardware and software for a project management information system permit round-the-clock access to the project’s store of knowledge.

• A comprehensive set of principles for a project management information system was presented. Following these principles should enhance the design and use of suitable project management information.

• The availability of timely and relevant information is critical to carrying out the monitoring, evaluation, and control of projects—and is particularly valuable during project progress review meetings. Availability of information permits decisions based on facts.

14.16 ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The following additional sources of project management information may be used to complement this chapter’s topic material. This material complements and expands on various concepts, practices, and theory of project management as it relates to areas covered here.

• Jeffrey K. Pinto and Ido Millet, Successful Information System Implementation (Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 1999). The authors provide a description and practices for implementing an information system. This book gives insight as to some of the challenges and success for managing information in a dynamic context.

• Christophe Longepe, The Enterprise Architecture IT Project: The Urbanisation Paradigm (London, England: Elsevier Science & Technology Books, 2003). The author shows how to organize the information system of a enterprise in as modular fashion. The need for the project comes from identification of changes to meet enterprise strategy.

• Leo J. Cohen, Creating and Planning the Corporate Database (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 1981). This landmark book describes how to create a corporate database and by extension a project database of information. The techniques described apply to all information systems.

• Y. Ohsawa and P. McBurney (eds.), Chance Discovery (New York, NY: Springer, 2003). This book addresses the significance of pieces of information by using the knowledge in decision making. It also discusses data mining on such sources as the Internet.

• Vladimir S. Lerner, Variation Principle in Informational Macrodynamics (New York, NY: Springer, 2003). The author describes a method for information flow to improve communication in such areas as thinking, communications, and management. This information can help during creation of a project management information system as well as the management of such.

14.17 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is the importance of the information subsystem to the project management system (PMS)? What is the relationship of this subsystem to the other subsystems of the PMS?

2. What is the difference between data and information?

3. List and discuss some of the essential elements of a project management information system (PMIS). What is the purpose of a PMIS?

4. What gives information value? How can information be used as a resource for project stakeholders?

5. What are some of the challenges in developing a PMIS?

6. Discuss some of the uses and misuses of project information.

7. Describe a project management situation from your work or school experience. How was information managed? Was it an effective resource in project control?

8. PMIS software can be essential to managing projects. What characteristics of software must project managers assess in order to determine appropriateness?

9. Discuss the essential factors in the establishment of an information system.

10. What is the difference in a PMIS for a small project, say 3 months’ duration, and a large project, say 2 years’ duration? What design/content difference might there be between the two PMISs?

11. List and discuss some of the principles of PMIS.

12. Why would you want to have background documents, such as the contract, the project management manual, and organizational polices and procedures, in the PMIS? What is the significance of having these documents in electronic form on a PMIS network?

14.18 USER CHECKLIST

1. Does your organization have an effective PMIS for each of its projects? Explain.

2. Do project team members understand the difference between data and information? Do the measurement and reporting systems that they use generate data or information? Explain.

3. Describe the flow of information of projects within your organization. What information is effectively communicated? What information is often lacking?

4. Does the information system used in projects within your organization contain all the essential elements of a PMIS as described in the chapter? Why or why not?

5. Think about some of the recent projects completed by your organization. Was information effectively managed? Did the information system contribute to the success of the project?

6. Do the project managers in your organization understand the purpose of a PMIS? Explain.

7. Do the project managers in your organization understand the value of information? Is information used effectively as a tool in controlling projects?

8. What problems has your organization had with its information systems? How can these problems be managed on future projects?

9. Do you believe that the information is used for legitimate purposes within your organization, that is, to promote the enterprise versus protect incompetent or wrong behavior? Explain.

10. What PMIS hardware and software comprise the system in your organization? How? Is the system capable of meeting your requirements? What alternatives exist?

11. Have the managers of your organization taken the time to assess the effectiveness of the information systems within your organization? Explain.

12. Is there sufficient information stored within your organization’s PMIS to facilitate the smooth and efficient support of projects, that is, provide accurate, timely information to facilitate answering most questions? What is missing?

14.19 PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

1. Project management requires information to give the greatest chance of success.

2. Project data are unanalyzed information; information is analyzed, formatted, and distilled data.

3. A PMIS must be tailored to fit the projects being served for the best results.

4. A PMIS is an essential part of the communication process for a project and must serve all stakeholder needs.

5. Electronic database PMISs are the trend of the future.

14.20 PROJECT MANAGEMENT SITUATION—PRESCRIBING A PMIS

Betac Corporation has just been awarded a contract to build 550 metal detection devices for airports in a foreign country. Betac has experience in metal detection devices, but has not kept up with the technology over the past 5 years. It is known that many advances have been made in detecting various quantities of metal that pass through airport entrances. Betac is an experienced user of project management to meet its business commitments.

The strategy for building the 550 devices is to construct and test three prototypes and then build the production models. Production models will be shipped from the United States directly to the airports, where they are to be installed. All production will be accomplished in the United States and installation will be accomplished by a joint team of U.S. personnel and indigenous personnel at each site.

Major concerns follow:

• What is the latest technology and digital processing for metal detection devices?

• How long will it take to build and successfully test the three prototype models?

• When can production be started on the final design models?

• What is the sequence of installation for the various sites?

• What training is required for operation by indigenous personnel?

• What are the contractual requirements for scheduled installation, training of operators, and training for diagnostic procedures?

• Who is available to travel to the installation sites and what skills are required?

This project requires a lot of coordination and keeping people informed of progress. A PMIS is needed that hosts all the information and includes daily updates on schedules. The project team will have access to the mainframe computer through their respective desktop computers. The installation team will have three laptop computers that connect to the host computer by telephone line and modem.

Senior management has committed to building a PMIS specifically for this project and stated that the project manager could construct any database of information required to assure success with this project.

14.21 STUDENT/READER ASSIGNMENT

You are a part of the project planning effort and have been specifically tasked with determining what information should be in the PMIS host computer.

1. What technology information will be in the PMIS and why do you believe there should be technology information, if any?

2. What cost information should be in the PMIS and what would it be used for during the project?

3. What schedule information should be in the PMIS and who should be responsible for populating the system and maintaining the information?

4. What type of feedback would you expect from the installation team and what should be entered into the PMIS—for immediate use, for post-project use?

5. How much of the PMIS information will be of interest to individuals external to the project team? What uses would these external people have for PMIS information?