IS project manager: what is your role and responsibility in an IS project?

The IS project manager is responsible for managing all projects related to a company’s information systems.

He is involved at every stage: needs analysis, drawing up specifications, setting up the steering committee, supervising teams, technology watch and progress monitoring.

But beyond the definition of the job, it’s the question of how this role is filled in your organization that directly conditions the success of your projects.

This article is part of our series on IS project governance. To find out more :

• MOA / MOE: how are roles divided on an IS project?
• Project comitology: IT project governance bodies
• IT project management and governance: which profiles should be involved?

The IS project manager, a rare and strategic profile

The mission of an IS project manager is to manage a project and bring it to a successful conclusion on time and on budget. He/she plans, coordinates and monitors progress, acting as the point of contact between the organization funding the project and all parties involved in its implementation.

What distinguishes an IS project manager from a traditional IT project manager is their dual business and technical skills. They don’t just manage developments: they understand the business challenges, translate management requirements into usable specifications, and ensure that the delivered solution is aligned with the organization’s strategy.

Why this profile is hard to find internally:

In most organizations, IT teams are absorbed by the run. Entrusting the management of a transformation project to an employee who has already been called upon, means running the risk of slippage in terms of deadlines, budget or quality of deliverables. It’s precisely in these situations that externalproject management support comes into its own.

Planning: the most critical and often underestimated task

The project manager cannot work alone on the project. It must therefore call on resources already present in the company, especially if they have the technical expertise to help. If these skills are missing, it is necessary to organize the recruitment of new employees or to consider a contract with service providers, as is the case with some technical consultants. Once the team is in place, the mission can be explained. Everyone’s role is assigned by the project manager, but when using agile methods, it’s the team that organizes itself according to precise rules.

Objectives should be presented in a clear manner so that all staff can work while minimizing outside interference. Meetings can be organized from time to time to review the situation. In general, the project manager monitors the progress of the work and intervenes when it is necessary to reorganize tasks or reshape the team. It also manages contacts with all external parties, such as suppliers, customers, investors and stakeholders.

Deliverables expected in the planning phase :

• Functional and technical specifications
• Provisional schedule with milestones and control points
• Risk matrix and mitigation plan
• Stakeholder mapping and communication plan

What happens without rigorous planning: unclear scopes that expand over the course of the project (scope creep), unidentified dependencies that stall teams along the way, and arbitrations made in a hurry rather than upstream.

Budget management

A project also includes effective budget management. To do this, the project manager must anticipate what he will need financially. It must consider the costs of the various materials, but also of personnel, marketing and logistics. In short, all expenses must be planned and included in a budget forecast. During project implementation, the manager must continue to monitor expenditures to ensure that there are no overruns. If not, a portion of the project will have to be modified to make up for the costs not initially anticipated.

Time management

In addition to managing human resources and the project budget, the project manager must also manage time. Indeed, the manager must foresee in advance the time that the realization of the project will take. It is essential to stick to it and thus monitor the progress of the project to make sure that the projected schedule is followed scrupulously. As with the budget, it is essential that the planned deadlines are met.

Other roles of the IS project manager

It’s the available data that drives the IS project manager’s activity. He or she gathers useful information, generates Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and uses this basis to monitor progress and make any necessary adjustments.

The creation of documentation and reports is also central: these documents ensure communication between stakeholders, and archive the experience gained for future projects. Methods such as Scrum facilitate this regular communication through structured rituals (daily, sprint review, retrospective).

Should this role be internalized or outsourced?

This is the question many organizations ask themselves before launching a major IS project. The answer depends on three key factors:

1. Real availability of internal resources

An effective IT project manager must be able to devote his or her full attention to the project. If your IT teams are already mobilized on the run, entrusting the management of the project to an in-house team dilutes attention and runs the risk of drift.

2. Project complexity and challenges

For incremental upgrades to known tools, an in-house project management team may suffice. On the other hand, for a multi-business transformation program (ERP deployment, cloud migration, Finance or HR IS overhaul), the support of an external expert provides the necessary method, neutrality and hindsight.

3. Risk management

An external project manager provides an independent viewpoint, uninfluenced by internal political issues. It structures the project from the scoping stage, secures arbitration decisions and protects your interests vis-à-vis technical service providers.

Conclusion: the IS project manager is an investment, not a cost

A well-managed IS project means a transformation that keeps its promises: on time, on budget, and with teams who adopt the new tools. Conversely, the absence of structured management is one of the main causes of failure in digital transformation projects.

Whether this role is taken on internally or entrusted to an external expert, the most important thing is that it is clearly identified, sized and equipped from the outset of the project.

In organizations where internal bandwidth is limited, calling in an AMOA consultant makes it possible to secure this critical function without burdening the structure.

Do you have an IS project in the process of being scoped or in difficulty? Our AMOA consultants support project teams from the analysis phase through to deployment. Find out more about our approach, or contact us for an initial discussion.

FAQ – IS project manager and project management assistance

Also in our “IT project governance” issue

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• The PMO, a role emerging with the transformation of organizations
• What new features does Oracle Integration Cloud Gen3 offer?
• How do you create complex integrations with Workday?
• Lowcode platform: the future of application development?
• Using UIPATH as an RPA solution
• Project comitology: IT project governance bodies and their roles
• Steering and governance of a Finance IS project: which profiles should be involved?
• IT project management and governance: which profiles should be involved?
• Project governance: what role for the steering committee?
• Project team members: organization, roles and skills
• The IS manager at the heart of systems development and evolution
• HRIS Manager: what role in the evolution of HR Information Systems?
• IS project manager: what is your role and responsibility in an IS project?
• Functional consultant: a role close to business processes
• Technical consultant: a profession at the heart of technological development
• Solution architect: a profession that manages development and deployment
• DevOps consultant: role, missions and development skills
• Data Protection Officer (DPO): roles and missions?
• CISO: a key role within the business lines for system security
• The service delivery manager at the heart of team management
• Scrum master, a key profession for Scrum project management
• Data scientist: a strategic business line serving management
• MOA / MOE: how are roles divided on an information system implementation project?