IT Project Management -- what tech should a PM be most familiar with?

I would add that a working knowledge of software repositories helps. Since you say you know SharePoint, you should already be aware of how document versioning works. This is similar to the way most software repositories work. Also, consider using your Sales background to your advantage, especially when it comes to Requirements Planning. This can be tricky for many Development teams, as getting requirements often involves building a rapport with the Business team and/or end users. The technical parts can all be taught, but being able to effectively communicate and build trust takes skill.

So where can I start? You need to know everything right now! Kidding. I would suggest if you're in an organization begin by selecting the technologies along the SDLC process your teams are working with and learn, mentored on, those. It helps if you have other technical people around you. Asl questions. As you gain some knowledge expand along the process learning more and more as you go along. One thing I've seen is that some PMs with little IT / Technical experience learn enough through their own efforts that they can successfully set in on requirements, or design/dev sessions, with QA teams and understand where they are heading. Eventually, you'll be able to ask questions because PMs need to ask questions.

Use code generation tools. In case there is the possibility that code is automatically generated from the design, this possibility must be exploited.

As an IT manager it is almost better if you don't know the technology as you will end up being dragged into the "doing" and not the "management". You do need to understand the system development lifecycle, the dependencies between the all the moving parts and a sound knowledge of how to manage the techies. Experience will also let you detect those catch 22 situations that can come up, we need A completing before we can start B but A needs part of B to be completed before it can complete. eg Some things are iterative, you need to consider legacy data and data migration issues before you can finalise design but data migration needs to understand what the data migration issues will be under the new design!

There is no easy answer and there are lots of types of IT projects, hardware/infrastructure, COTS implementations, SOE rollouts, System upgrades, bespoke development projects, in house vs outsourced, etc etc all requiring different knowledge bases.

From my experience at least most IT PMs have limited or no technical IT knowledge and are unable to do any of the jobs of the project team members.

I have recently heard about a lady that has starter her career in IT Project Management with absolutely no IT experience of any kind and no project management experience, she just had a Master's degree in project management with outstanding academic results. Probably the academic results counted for the hiring.

Her colleague (which I know) didn't tell me but I think she was hired as a project management intern before she was given her first project to manage. Her colleague also told me that she manages the least important and least complex projects from the department.

The conclusion is that for employers the technical knowledge is not important when hiring IT PMs. You probably only heave to learn at the most basic level the activities the project teams are doing so that you can monitor and report the progress. You also need to learn at the basic level the terminology the experts are using in order to understand what they are telling you.

Not all the IT projects involve software development, the majority probably don't, so you may have to learn at the basic level things related to operating systems, servers, networks, etc. Also understanding things from the IT user perspective would help.

Nowadays software development is mostly following agile principles (e.g. like Scrum), self-organization is the preferred working mode. Therefore, technical knowledge becomes less important for the project manager. Rather his/her understanding of team organization and processes become more important. My advice for a new project manager, if he/she has no technical background is to focus on management and organizational topics. Understand the pros and cons of waterfall vs. agile vs. lean. Studying the latest PMBOK with its agile appendix give also a kick-start.

As an IT manager it is almost better if you don't know the technology as you will end up being dragged into the "doing" and not the "management". You do need to understand the system development lifecycle, the dependencies between the all the moving parts and a sound knowledge of how to manage the techies. Experience will also let you detect those catch 22 situations that can come up, we need A completing before we can start B but A needs part of B to be completed before it can complete. eg Some things are iterative, you need to consider legacy data and data migration issues before you can finalise design but data migration needs to understand what the data migration issues will be under the new design!

There is no easy answer and there are lots of types of IT projects, hardware/infrastructure, COTS implementations, SOE rollouts, System upgrades, bespoke development projects, in house vs outsourced, etc etc all requiring different knowledge bases.