The John Marshall Law School Moves to Formal IT Project Management -- Campus Technology

Project Management

The John Marshall Law School Moves to Formal IT Project Management

By Dian Schaffhauser
08/20/09

The John Marshall Law School in Chicago has deployed TeamDynamixHE's project portfolio management (PPM) software in its IT department. The software will provide a central repository for the IT staff to manage and track all projects and evaluate and allocate resources. Each IT team member has access to a customizable dashboard that shows tasks and current issues.

Previous project and portfolio management was done through Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Exchange. CTO James Velco initiated a search for a replacement after becoming frustrated by the lack of communication and oversight on projects and the inability to sort out what people were working on which projects.

"Formal project management is becoming a standard in higher education, and TeamDynamixHE is tailored to fit and scale to meet the needs of higher education institutions, which have different priorities than those found in the corporate environment," said Velco. "TeamDynamixHE's Web interface is easily customized to meet our organization's structure, allowing our team to understand the PPM concepts and get up and running on the solution quickly."

Velco is also working with the school's administration to develop a new IT governance structure. He said he expects the application to provide transparency for administrative decision-making by helping to prioritize projects and improve project workflow and accountability.

"I am very happy with this software because using it will mean that project management is no longer the sole responsibility of the CTO," Velco added. "The team members in IT can now take charge and directly manage projects, while the CTO has oversight. This software is a great tool that allows me to stay in tune with the various projects as they progress."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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