Overview
According to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) - Seventh edition (PMI, 2021, p. 4) the definition of a project is "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." Projects have the following characteristics:
- Has clearly defined beginning and end date
- Has clearly defined objectives that fulfills a defined business need that substantially improve business processes for a department or to the university
- Provides tangible and unique products or services
Projects vary from small to large, and vary widely with regards to resources, funding, and other requirements. Additionally, if the project requires multiple groups to contribute resources (time, money, and/or expertise) more people will have to agree the project is worth doing, as they may already have plans for those resources. Accordingly, the project size, or related risk have an influence on the approval process.
University of Alaska departments have a variety of methods by which they manage projects. One available option is to use the Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) solution. All potential projects in the PPM system start of as Project Requests which are business cases that connect the needs and/or problems of various stakeholders with strategic goals or directions of the institution. The requestor (i.e. the person creating the project request) will fill out general information about the project, and then submit that request to the department with primary responsibility for that area (e.g. a project request for a new IT system or application, will be reviewed by the MAU IT department affiliated with the requesting department).
Use of ESM for Project Management is currently limited. Availability for other departments is under consideration; however, no explicit time frame has currently been defined.
Caution: The ESM PPM application cannot currently be used for sensitive data. The vendor is working on a solution to bring projects into HIPAA compliance.
Additionally, the PPM application is a single instance across the university, meaning any data stored in PPM is potentially viewable by other individuals with access to the PPM service.
Note: The ESM PPM application is intended to manage projects which have a distinct start date and end date, not operational activities. Departments looking for tools to manage operational activities should consider one, or more, of the following solutions:
Participating Departments
The following departments/organizations are currently utilizing the ESM PPM system. If you have a project request relating to a department not listed below, you will need to contact that department directly.
- University of Alaska
- Office of Information Technology (OIT)
- University of Alaska Anchorage
- Information Technology Services (IT Services)
- University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Nanook Technology Services (NTS)
If your department is interested in using ESM for project management, submit a request to learn more. Department who adopts ESM for project management will need to identify a department PPM Lead who can provide department-specific support, which includes training and rules for your area, as well as project intake.
In this article:
Get Started
All projects begin in the discovery phase with the creation of a business case, otherwise known as a Project Request. Project Requests are the responsibility of the sponsoring department to complete.
Project Request
Project Management
Need additional help or have issues
For support, requests may be submitted anytime using the appropriate Enterprise Service Management service. Requests generate a Ticket which will be worked in order received and urgency by IT Employees with the knowledge and permissions to assist with the request.
For immediate assistance please review the Contact Us page for the appropriate support group.