US Focus: Financial IT turns to project management model
Stung by their failure to deliver large IT projects on time and on budget, financial firms have looked at other industries that run large projects with 18-24 month timelines and borrowed the idea of project management from them.. Several leading firms, including American Express and Citibank, have established a Program Management Office which is responsible for managing multiple IT projects.
Project managers in finance need to understand both the business and project management. Certification from an organization like the Project Management Institute is useful and can be gained through courses or awarded on the basis of work experience, says Harvey Plante, vice president at Financial Industry Technical Services in Denville, NJ. Skilled project managers know how to conduct business analysis, design specifications for an application, plan and manage development, supervise testing, and communicate with developers and the business clients.
Plante says a Program Management Office typically includes business analysts, project managers, and the program manager who is responsible for all the projects underway. Salaries for project managers can run $90,000 to $110,000, while the program manager can expect to be paid $140,000 and up.
Many current projects turn on developing compliance applications or ensuring that existing applications meet compliance requirements, says Joseph Sullivan, president of International Market Recruiters in New York. His clients are looking for project managers with business knowledge and the ability to talk technology, although they don't have to be techies. Firms want managers who have demonstrated their ability to get things done by developing departments or implementing new systems, he says.
"You need to bring energy to the work and take ownership," adds Sullivan. "Project managers need to command respect." A vice president level project manager can earn $120,000 to $150,000 plus bonus while a director can make $300,000 to $325,000 with bonus, he says.
To get a start, develop a skill that a project management group needs, and then apply for a position. "You don't need to be able to do it all, but if you have one skill they need, you can get started," Sullivan says.
Outsourcing projects also need project management
"As more of the actual commoditized programming work goes offshore, the need for very, very good project managers in the States increases," says Bob Deissig, a partner at The Ayers Group in New York. He is seeing a need for both classical application development project managers who can manage offshore resources and understand their implications in timelines and testing.
He also sees a demand for people who can run project management offices and are really experts in projects. Such experts are typically certified by some organization like the Project Management Institute. Not all firms require certification, and a certificate never takes the place of actual experience, but increasingly banks are looking for certification from institutes that promote formalized methodologies.
Pay levels vary widely because firms have such different levels of project manager and bonus structure, but Deissig figures the work probably pays in the range of system architects: $125,000 to $175,000.
Increasingly, says Simon Walker, associate director at the Partners Group in London, Indian outsourcing firms are providing sophisticated project management liaison in London, which means that London banks don't need their own project managers.
"Gone are the days of people going to India and project managing for a few days and flying back to London," says Walker. "Now the Indian firms will often have the project managers themselves. They try to make it very, very simple for their clients."
Banks do want their own project managers for mission-critical work, however Walker adds. "The banks want someone who knows the business inside out."
