Management Frameworks for Information Technology

An IT framework is a model of good practices that recommends how IT projects, processes and other demands should be managed. These frameworks serve to guide the work of IT, setting standards and guidelines so that information technology is an increasingly strategic area within the company.

Adopting frameworks for the information technology area can bring several benefits to the organization, such as:

  • Agility , as there is no need to spend time trying to find the best way to work, the established models already detail everything that needs to be done. In addition, these frameworks are often described in detailed documentation, so new members of the IT team will find it easier to learn how team work works and it will be faster to train new employees.
  • The communication is improved, after all, there will be a common language with terms and standards that all staff know.
  • Likewise, an IT framework decreases the chances of errors , since they are standards previously tested and created by specialists, and which exist precisely to increase the success of deliveries.

Given that, you certainly want to choose the best framework for your company, right?

To help you, we list below the 5 best project and process management frameworks for IT. Check out:

5 best IT management frameworks

 

ITIL®

The ITIL (Information Technology Infraestructure Library) is a library of best practices for managing IT services.

It was created by the UK government, and today it is the most widely used framework around the world, it is even adopted by technology giants like IBM.

ITIL is called a library precisely because it is structured in books (five in total). These books detail how IT projects and processes should be managed, so that IT can help the organization achieve its strategic objectives.

The books describe, for example, good practices for staff training, user support, problem solving, design of new projects, how to improve what is not going well in the IT area, and more.

The books that make up the ITIL library are:

  • ITIL Service Strategy ( Service Strategy )
  • ITIL Service Design ( service design )
  • ITIL Service Transition ( transition services )
  • ITIL Service Operation ( Service Operation )
  • ITIL Continual Service Improvement ( continuous service improvement )

The main advantages of ITIL:

  • Reduced operation costs.
  • Increased productivity.
  • Improvement in the quality of the service delivered.

COBIT®

COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies) is a structure that recommends good practices for IT management.

Like ITIL, it is primarily focused on transforming the organization’s goals into IT goals. However, the difference is that, while ITIL describes good practices for planning and executing IT services, COBIT focuses on the management of processes and controls in the information technology area.

Therefore, COBIT is more focused on management, it recommends “what” to do, while ITIL is focused on service, on “how” to do after the demand is received.

That is why many companies use these frameworks together, since their contents are complementary.

In its most recent version (the 5th), COBIT is structured around five principles:

  • Meet the needs of stakeholders.
  • Understand the organization from end to end.
  • Apply a single, integrated framework.
  • Allow for a holistic approach.
  • Distinguish Governance from Management.

The main advantages of using COBIT are:

  • Reduces risks.
  • Provides more control of IT activities.
  • Aligns the organization with the information technology area.

SCRUM

Scrum is an agile framework for project management in information technology.

It divides the project into small parts called “sprints”, facilitating the management of the project, as it arose precisely to circumvent the high need for documentation and make management more agile. It also works with a list of features that must be met in order of priority.

To understand how Scrum works, you need to understand some concepts, such as: Sprint, Product Owner, Scrum Master and Time Scrum. To help you, we recommend that you read our post “ What is Scrum and how does it apply to project management ” and find out the meaning of these terms and how Scrum works!

Its main advantages are:

  • It supports changes during execution.
  • Clearer leadership.
  • It allows constant feedback from the parties involved.

PMBOK®

The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) is a set of good practices organized and disseminated by the PMI (Project Management Institute).

The PMBOK is structured in ten areas of knowledge, each responsible for managing a part of the project – from costs to time. It is also structured into five processes: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control and closure.

This is one of the most used project management models in the world, however, it is highly criticized by the IT area because it is a traditional method, which works intensively with the planning and documentation of the project, while often the IT projects they demand agility, more action and less planning.

However, documentation and planning cannot be totally ignored in the management of IT projects, so PMBOK is still necessary. As it is also a set of good practices, it is possible to merge some of the PMBOK recommendations with other principles of agile management and have the best of both worlds.

The advantages of using PMBOK are:

  • Greater visualization and control of projects.
  • More efficient communication between stakeholders.
  • Standardization of the project life cycle.

SAFe®

SAFe is an acronym for Scaled Agile Framework.

It is a framework for agile systems development. It was created by Dean Leffingwell to increase the agility of managing system development projects. However, he recommends that there is an agile transformation in the entire organization, after all, it is no use for IT to be agile if the rest of the company is not.

Its main objective is to get products to market faster, so it is ideal for development teams with many demands, and it does it through three practices and principles: Lean, Agile and DevOps.

According to Scaled Agile’s own website, there are already more than 250 thousand professionals trained in the methodology and 70% of the 100 companies that most earn in the USA have professionals trained in this framework.

Its main advantages are:

  • Helps to make the product available on the market faster.
  • Incorporates other agile methods, facilitating deployment.
  • It is always being updated.
by Abdullah Sam
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