Educator Gerson Salce Explains Project Management Methodologies

GARFIELD, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES, September 14, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Which of the project management methodologies suits my needs best? This is one of the questions that students frequently ask during the various interventions regarding the application of Project Management in Technology and Information Security. However, before reflecting on the answer to this question, let us start by defining project management. It is no more than applying knowledge, methodology, technology, processes, and tools to define, plan, and carry out activities with the main purpose of transforming ideas into reality.

Having a clear understanding of what project management consists of, let us outline what the TOP methodologies consist of and what must be considered in contemplating these. The traditional or Waterfall methodology seeks to reach agreement with the clients at the outset on what the objectives and the scope of the project would be in order to plan it from the inception through completion. This methodology characterized by control at each step of the project’s lifecycle. The following methodology we will review is the agile methodology, which is based on getting to know the objectives and scope of the project as needs are discovered, meaning, we do not know when and how the project will be completed because, as the objectives and scope are being discovered, small units of value are assigned so that the clients can grasp and modify them as necessary. This is by nature an adaptive and flexible methodology. Lastly, we will address the hybrid methodology, which I like to call the best of both worlds, traditional methodology and agile methodology. It is a type of mix of methodologies, which involves taking part of the control in planning from the traditional methodology but executing and adapting in an agile manner.

Which of these methodologies works best for me? As an example, let us consider an organization that needs to implement information security controls pursuant to ISO 27001:2018. If using traditional methodology, we will need to take a series of sequential steps (initiation, planning, execution, control, and closing out the project) to obtain a possibly delayed final result. However, when using an agile methodology, we would get to know the requirements to implement controls as the guidelines are discovered and implement it gradually, as opposed to the traditional methodology. This can yield results faster. When using a hybrid methodology, you would plan which security controls are applicable to the organization and determine the duration of the project. Once the planning process is complete, initiate the agile execution of the project, which consists of assigning value (in the case of controls) partially until completing the previously planned steps to ensure that the project is being executed in accordance with what is planned, using a series of measurement techniques.

In light of the previous example, one could say that the hybrid methodology is the best to adapt to organizations nowadays, but that is not the case. The type of organization, its external and internal environment, types of clients, level of maturity, among other factors, will guide the decision as to which methodology to use.

Gerson Rafael Salce Ortega
Professor
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