Project Manager and the Systems Analyst

Project Manager and Systems Analyst: Contrast and Compare

In any organization, whether technically oriented or not, a project manager traditionally is responsible for the planning, coordinating, implementation and support of a specific project for organization. He or she delegates authority to other workers, and determines how the internal and external materials and finances allocated for the project will be deployed over the course of a project. Also, a manager of a project, once the project is split up into various groups will usually have to coordinate with the project's individual workers and/or teams, engage in constant trouble-shooting, and monitor the organization's budget.

A systems analyst often has the same 'soft' or personal skills as a project manager, such as the ability to analyze a situation, to delegate authority to different units, and to organize items so that they work to their maximum degree of efficacy. However, while a project manager usually applies these skills to people, to realize the goal of an organizational project, a systems analyst applies most of his or her attention to a technical system, and tries to understand why it works and why it does not work.

A good project manager at an IT company, in order to propose a particular project's approach, set realistic and immediate milestones, and to estimate the level of effort required by individual personnel, must have an understanding of the technology deployed, although not necessarily on the level of a systems analyst. Likewise, a systems analyst must have a good enough grasp of the worker's abilities to set realistic goals for the system, in its design and execution.