Page 148 - DCAP609_CLOUD_COMPUTING

Unit 9: Collaborating on Project Management

9.3.1 The Three Constraints Notes

The three constraints in a project management triangle are time, cost and scope.

1. Time: A project’s activities can either take shorter or longer amount of time to complete.
Completion of tasks depends on a number of factors such as the number of people working
on the project, experience, skills etc.
Time is a crucial factor which is uncontrollable. On the other hand, failure to meet the
deadlines in a project can create adverse effects. Most often, the main reason for
organizations to fail in terms of time is due to lack of resources.
2. Cost: It’s imperative for both the project manager and the organization to have an estimated
cost when undertaking a project. Budgets will ensure that project is developed or
implemented below a certain cost.
Sometimes, project managers have to allocate additional resources in order to meet the
deadlines with a penalty of additional project costs.
3. Scope: Scope looks at the outcome of the project undertaken. This consists of a list of
deliverables which need to be addressed by the project team.
A successful project manager will know to manage both the scope of the project and any
change in scope which impacts time and cost.

9.3.2 Quality

Quality is not a part of the project management triangle, but it is the ultimate objective of every
delivery. Hence, the project management triangle represents implies quality.
Many project managers are under the notion that ‘high quality comes with high cost’, which to
some extent is true. By using low quality resources to accomplish project deadlines does not
ensure success of the overall project.
Like with the scope, quality will also be an important deliverable for the project.

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