Project Management vs. Operations Management vs.

Service Management

It is easy to get confused between projects and operations

because they share some characteristics, such as:

• Performed by People
• Both are performed by people, sometimes even the same people
PROJECTS • Planned
OPERATIONS
• Both require planning • Managed
• Budget, resources &
• Both require oversight and management oversight and management timelines

• Both operate and are constrained by a fixed amount of budget,

resources, and timelines

Project Management Operations Management Service Management

Unique & Temporary
Fixed One Time Budget
New Business Objective
Creates a Unique Product,
Service or Result
Permanent & Ongoing
Ongoing Budget to Run the
Business
No New Products Produced
Same Product, Aim to Keep the
System Running
Transactional These common characteristics make
Ongoing Budget to Run Normal
people confused. However, the
Services
differences between projects and
No New Products Produced operations can be clarified.
Defined Services

More Risk – First Time Initiative Fewer Risks - Repeated Low/No Risk

Outcome/Performance
Efficiency Intensive Service Intensive
Intensive
 PROJECT REQUESTS
“A temporary endeavor, with a definite
beginning and end, undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result.” PMI 1.2
1. A project is temporary in that it has a
defined beginning and end in time, and
therefore defined scope and resources.
• Once the final deliverable is achieved
the project will cease to exist because
its objective has been achieved.
DEFINITION
• A project has a definitive start and
end: It cannot continue forever.
• Resources, both people and financial,
assigned to a project are temporary.
The budget is limited. People are not
permanently assigned and once the
project is complete, they continue
with their previous assignment.
2. A project is unique in that it is not a
routine operation, but a specific set of
operations designed to accomplish a
single goal. The project produces a
unique product, service, or result.
• construction-related: a physical
structure
• research-related: a report
• service-related: a call center
Once a project is complete the products,
services or results are transitioned to
operations.
OPERATIONS REQUESTS
Operations are permanent in nature. They are
ongoing activities and follow an organization’s
procedures to produce repetitive results, with
resources assigned to do the same set of tasks
and produce a standard output.
1. An ongoing work effort is generally a
repetitive process because it follows an
organization’s existing procedures.
• Operations do not produce new
things, but they are necessary to
maintain and sustain the system
• The ongoing execution of activities
that produce the same result or
product repetitively
• Operations are used to run regular
business models, achieve the goals of
the business, and support the
business.
2. In the life of a product, there will be
many projects to improve the product
(e.g. new features, enhancements) and
these projects will come and go as
needed.
• The ongoing development of the
product will continue as usual,
although there will be refinements
that will be included in the product
throughout development.
3. Day-to-day operations are documented in
an operation manual
4. Day-to-day operations automated to as
great a degree as possible
SERVICE REQUESTS
“A request from a user for information,
advice, a standard change, or access to a
service.” ITIL
The purpose of the service request
management practice is to support the
agreed quality of a service by handling all
pre-defined, user-initiated service
requests in an effective and user-friendly
manner.
Often, users will require support from
the service provider in order to fully take
advantage of the products and services
on offer. A service request is defined as a
request from a user or a user’s
authorized representative that initiates a
service action which has been agreed as
a normal part of service delivery.
Service requests are not used in response
to a failure or degradation of service
(which are handled as incidents).
(source:
https://www.bmc.com/blogs/itil-service-
request-management/)
 PROJECT REQUESTS OPERATIONS REQUESTS SERVICE REQUESTS

N/A A request for a service delivery

ITS PMO Projects:
These are any types of projects that require technology. Such action.
projects should be submitted and managed via the ITS PMO process. • Example: Setting up single sign
These projects include, but are not limited to: on for a new application.

• Project Review Committee (PRC) Any technology project that:

A request for information.
1 - involves ITS and/or impact multiple units within Gonzaga
• A user needs more information
University or
to utilize a service, for example,
2 - align with two or more of the criteria below, independent of
“How do I grant access to our
the funding source
department SharePoint site?”
o Projects that are greater than $10,000.00 including
software costs, hardware costs, human resource costs
A request for provision of a resource
(internal and consultants) and ongoing costs (scale)
or service
EXAMPLES OF WORK

o Projects that are greater than 40 hours of IT effort

• Issuing a university owned asset
(scale)
such as a laptop.
o 2 or more University departments (scope and
complexity)
A request for access to a resource or
o Impact to University community (impact and strategic
service
alignment)
 Impacts multiple stakeholders • User requests access to Sitecore
 Area(s) impacted needs immediate and to edit the website
prioritized effort Feedback, compliment, and
 Protects University reputation & standing complaints
 Directly drives forward or supports the
University strategy • User submits feedback
• ITS Infrastructure Project - ITS for improvement of IT (complaint or compliment) on a
infrastructure service delivery or to “keep the lights on”. new website or a change made
Infrastructure in an information technology (IT) context refers to to Banner.
an enterprise's entire collection of hardware, software,
networks, data centers, facilities and related equipment used to (source:
develop, test, operate, monitor, manage and/or support https://www.bmc.com/blogs/itil-
information technology services. service-request-management/)
• Department Technology Project – Projects not meeting the
 PROJECT MANAGERS
The project manager is the person
assigned by the organization to
lead the team that is responsible
for achieving the project
objectives. (PMI)
At a high level, a project
manager is responsible for
planning, executing, and closing
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
projects. Typically, these projects
have a set start and end date,
with a defined scope and set of
resources that must be allocated
to bring about project
completion. It is the job of the
project manager to coordinate
these resources in order to
execute the tasks needed to
complete the project within time
and budget constraints.
A project manager’s
role regarding a specific project is
temporary – only for the duration
of the project.
OPERATIONS OR FUNCTIONAL MANAGERS
Operations management is concerned with
the ongoing production of goods and/or
services. It ensures that the business
operations continue efficiently by using the
optimal resources needed to meet
customer demands. It is concerned with
managing processes (PMI)
An operations manager oversees the
business processes to ensure the business is
running as smoothly and efficiently as
possible. Operations Managers are a key
part of any management team, as they
oversee the various departments in an
organization and help them coordinate with
one another to work towards shared
business goals.
An operations manager’s role is ongoing.
SERVICE OWNER
The service owner is accountable for the delivery of
a specific IT service and responsible to the customer
for the initiation, transition and ongoing
maintenance and support of a service.
The service owner is responsible for continual
improvement and management of change affecting
the service under their care. The service owner is a
primary stakeholder in all of the underlying IT
processes which enable or support the service they
own.
Working with business relationship management to
understand and translate customer requirements
into activities, and to ensure the ongoing service
delivery and support meet agreed customer
requirements.
Service owners represent the service across the
organization and serve as the point of escalation for
major incidents relating to the service.
At a high level, the service owner is responsible for
representing the service across the organization by
ensuring consistent, appropriate communication
with customers for service-related inquires and
issues, assisting in defining service models and in
assessing the impact of new services or changes to
existing services through the service portfolio
management process, and working to identify
improvement opportunities to the service.
 PROJECT MANAGERS OPERATIONS OR FUNCTIONAL MANAGERS SERVICE OWNERS

Responsible for the budget of the project Responsible for the budget of a whole N/A
that he/she is currently working on. It department and the cost associated with it. It
BUDGET

includes revenue that is generated during the includes salaries, costs of managing and
tenure of the project. maintaining their workplace, etc.

Responsible for making sure that the project Day-to-day management responsibilities, The expectations of users regarding
he is managing is on time. It includes and many of those tasks will take place in fulfilment times and costs should be clearly
business as usual schedule.
SCHEDULE

responsibilities like determining a delivery set, based on what the organization can
date, planning milestones and realistically deliver.
tracking progress. In short, he/she ensures
that all tasks stay on track and within
budget.

Accountable for overseeing the Responsibilities include recruiting team N/A

performance of their teammates on the members into the department,
project work that they are managing. If a onboarding new staff, and allotting people
STAFF MANAGEMENT

team member is a poor performer, it is the to projects according to their skills and
PM’s job to report performance issues to abilities. They are also responsible
the project sponsor and to the team for reviewing leave requests, dealing with
member’s supervisor. It is absences and other HR duties.
the responsibility of the operational
manager of that team member
to address the performance issue.
 Project Management and Operations Management Intersection Points:

There are instances when projects and project

Project Manager Operations Manager
management intersect with operations and
operations management. This can occur most
commonly when a need arises to significantly change Manage Teams Manage People
a component of business operations then the change
will often be managed as a project. Once the project Oversees Daily
Plan and Define Projects
has delivered the change, operations will resume Operations
focus on maintaining, operating, and supporting the
Coordinate and Oversee Identifying and
products or services produced as a result of the
Execution of Projects Addressing Problems
project. In addition, Project managers and operations
often collaborate at a project’s closeout phase to Developing Operational
Manage the Schedule
begin transitioning responsibility of any ongoing Policies and Procedures
maintenance and operations associated with the
product or service. Manage the Budget
Ensuring Regulatory
Compliance

Measure and Report Managing the budgeting,

Progress planning and reporting