Cost Management vs. Quality Management

¶ … Management & Quality Management

Cost and Quality Management in CIS Project Development

Project management in CIS (Computer Information System) is a task that requires skills and strategies to achieve a successful end product. This involves the application of techniques in the different project stages and activities. It allows an organized process of development, enabling results into functional systems, applications, and software. CIS project management includes resource management, development team management, project requirement management, cost management, and quality management.

Essential to CIS project management components that must be considered are the cost aspects necessary during and after the phases of development, as well as the quality procedures that should be undertaken to ensure an effective and efficient system product. It is essential to utilize such project management components, which serve as strategies, to achieve a functional system that conforms to user and client requirements.

Cost and quality managements, which are two of the critical elements in a CIS project, go hand in hand. When constructing a project, there is always the process of determining the vital resources a system will need to use when delivered to client. Such may include the most applicable operating system for a project, the database solution, or the necessary hardware requirements. Deciding for these factors is associated to cost management because there are a number of similar products in the current IT market, whereby they have differing market price. This type of project management is called cost management. A good cost management approach prepares diverse possibilities of different cost strategies. This includes not only the financial aspects, but also the elements of development time and human skills that are required and necessary for the development of a CIS project.

Almost always, in cost management, one of the most important strategies being focused on by project development teams is cost reduction. Being able to reduce the amount of financial spending is a factor many project management procedures consider and aim to achieve. An accurate knowledge of a project for development may allow a more efficient planning and establishment of strategies for cost management. For instance, determining and carefully understanding the full system flow of a CIS project may facilitate the process of deciding for the necessary software and hardware the system will be implemented with. Along with the success such may bring in cost management, it may also embrace related aspects in CIS quality management.

While cost management is an important management strategy, quality management must not be set aside. As vital as cost management, it is an aspect that presents the end product (i.e. system, software, application) of a CIS project. Hence, to be able to produce a satisfactory and client-approved system, quality must always be considered as first in the line of management strategies of a CIS project development.

A total quality management ensures the effectiveness, functionality, efficiency, and high-standard quality of a project's objectives. It aims for a benchmarked product scaled from the highest standard of both the project development team and the client. An effective quality management is important because it serves as the yardstick of the services provided by every business organization. Sometimes, a poor end product of a project is a result of a poor quality management.

The globalization of information technology has produced a wide array of businesses and organizations that cater to the diverse IT needs of many companies worldwide. Thousands of IT companies are now in the business of developing application software and systems for other companies. Hence, in terms of CIS project management, cost and quality management become two of the most important components because of the tough competition in the current IT market.

While focusing on the aspect of minimizing the costs in developing systems and software, attaining a high quality of the end product must also be at the heart of a CIS project development. A good cost management is ineffective if there is a poor quality management. This is especially true in cases of a CIS project development. The development cost of a system is considered expensive and ineffective, despite of the minimum financial, time, or human aspects that may have been spent on it, should the end product does not conform with client and user requirements.