Reaching Success through Best Project Management Practices

Read the following articles:

• "OPM3® Case Study: OPM3 in Action: Pinellas County IT Turns Around Performance and Customer Confidence".
• "IT project management and virtual teams". SIGMIS CPR '04 Proceedings of the 2004 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Careers, culture, and ethics in a networked environment, pages 129-133

Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:

1. Identify the common challenges that exist within IT projects based on the first article. Highlight the best practices that could be linked to the successful performance of IT project teams.

2. Determine at least three (3) challenges that exist when working with virtual teams based on the second article titled "IT project management and virtual teams". Analyze how the efficient management of these challenges influences the success of project deliverables.

3. Based on the lessons learned within the first article titled "OPM3® Case Study: OPM3 in Action: Pinellas County IT Turns Around Performance and Customer Confidence", draw a workflow diagram to show how a project should initiate to gain support from the various project stakeholders. Use the graphical tools in Microsoft Word or Visio, or an open source alternative such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.

4. Compare and contrast the assessment steps provided by the OPM3 Model presented in the first article with the CMMI-DEV-v1.2 process framework presented in Appendix 1A of the textbook. Discuss how the CMMI maturity levels are related to the assessment steps.

5. Summarize at least three (3) CMMI processes that can improve the productivity of virtual teams. Determine the three (3) most significant measures and the activities associated with each process. Note: Refer to table 1A.4 in Chapter 1 of the textbook for information on purposes of the CMMI-DEV-v1.2 processes.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

• Must have introduction and conclusion.

• Each paragraph must be labeled.

• Each paragraph must have an in text citation.

• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Case: IT Project Management and Virtual Teams by Catherine M. Beise, PhD Salisbury University

OPM3 case study :OPM3 in Action: Pinellas County IT Turns Around Performance and Customer Confidence