After graduated from my university major " planning and project management " i now work as a PMO Head officer in a software organization, My obsession in project management made me thirsty to learn everything about it and i like that alot, The only obstacle i am facing right now is the lack of understanding the business environment of an IT technical background knowledge by its functional means and systematics, My query is should i gain actual knowledge in the IT Field related to software development so i can understand this particular industry that i'm working on by assuming that i would be an IT project manager in the future.If yes, what kind of certifications i can get ? and is it a requirement for the project manager (or any related positions to project management; such as project coordinator, PMO, etc) gain that knowledge ? Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Nov 20, 2019 5:01 PM
Replying to Adrian Carlogea
...
Maybe the comparison was not too good but what I meant to say is that when you have a cross-functional group responsible for performing an activity the leader must be someone with a lot of experience in one of the relevant functions.
The above does not happen always in project management and that's why in my opinion a PM that is not a specialist in one of relevant lines of work of the project is not the real leader of the team.
Still many companies don't care about the technical background of the PMs but because such PMs can't truly lead people they are being paired with technical leads/project technical managers who are responsible for the technical decisions at the project level.
I do not disagree with this at all Adrian. Cheers ! Saving Changes...
David HillPrinciple Consultant| DLH One, LLCWashington, Dc, United States
Nov 17, 2019 7:19 PM
Replying to Adrian Carlogea
...
Yes but those experts are going to make critical decisions that impact the success of the project and you as a PM have absolutely no control over them.
In the above circumstances you can still manage projects but you will have a lot of critical issues beyond your control. From my experience a lot of projects went overbudget because the experts have either made decisions that proved not to be good or they were unable to finish the work on time. The PMs were unable to do anything about this.
If the PM does have domain knowledge, will he be able to make better technical decisions than the other experts? Maybe yes, maybe no but at least he would be in more control over the project.
The real issue here is not whether the PM understands the technology, but whether the PM understands the project responsibilities and communicates them to the SME. As the project manager one must have the ability to get project management information from the SME. Keeping projects on schedule is not just a matter of getting the work done it is also a matter of good scheduling, proper communication, and a deep understanding of how to get the PM information you need from the SME. I have successfully managed dozens of projects for which I had little or no domain knowledge. Some of these project had multiple domains. There is no way a PM could be expected to be an expert in all domains. Reliance on domain knowledge simply limits the PM's ability to attract projects in other domains. I am currently managing a project in the Stormwater Management (civil engineering) domain and another in the Commercial Driver License/Commercial Motor Vehicle (transportation) domain. If domain knowledge were a requirement to manage the projects, I would not be around long. My primary background is in IT and Electrical Engineering.
I am here to report that not only are we on time, on budget, and meeting expectations/requirements, but I am also getting accolades along the way for helping to make the path clearer and more obtainable. Saving Changes...
David HillPrinciple Consultant| DLH One, LLCWashington, Dc, United States
Nov 18, 2019 8:58 AM
Replying to Steve Ratkaj
...
I hate the term "experts", and honestly, throughout my 30 year career as an engineer involved with project management I can say I have met only a handful of people I would classify as experts. As such, it is my opinion, to dramatically increase the odds of success in a project, the PM must have extensive experience in that domain. This is just simple common sense. Would you want a PM to manage a ship building project with no ship building experience? Would you want a PM to manage a dam building project with no such experience?
I would suggest reading "The Path Between the Seas" by David McCullough for insight as to what happens when one has no such experience.
Keith Novak - you get it! The PM must be an expert in Project Management, then he/she can be successful managing these and all types of projects. Saving Changes...
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace CorpsYaounde, Centre, Cameroon
Gaining knowledge in the domain of your project endeavor is a good thing to so. It facilitate the execution of the project Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
From a PMI, Agile, and PMO maturity perspective, the real differentiator for project managers in software environments is not technical specialization, but domain literacy. Understanding how value flows through software delivery, from idea to deployment, enables better decisions, more realistic commitments, and earlier visibility of risk.
In practice, this literacy strengthens governance and tailoring, especially in Agile or hybrid contexts, where control is achieved through transparency and feedback rather than documentation alone. For PMOs, it shifts the focus from enforcing process to enabling outcomes, without undermining the role of technical experts.
This balance, strong project management discipline combined with contextual understanding of software delivery, is where project managers and PMOs can genuinely increase organizational maturity and long-term value. Saving Changes...
Community Champion
