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PMBOK vs PRINCE2

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Anonymous
How does the use of PRINCE2 compare to the methodology and recommend practises of the PMBOK??
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Mulchand Gala Fort Washington, Pa, United States
What is PRINCE2?
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Frank Patrick Boonton, Nj, United States
Be careful, Anon.

PMI's PMBOK Guide is not a methodology nor a comlete list of "recommended practices." It is merely one organization's view of the various processes associated with project management and a buffet table of tools and techniques that might address those processes. As such, it is up to the reader to assemble their own PM meal, which may or may not taste that good, depending on the insight and intuition of the chef.

I'm not too familiar with Prince2, but my limited awareness of it strikes me as similar to Critical Chain-based project management as an approach to most of those processes that is put together in a coherent and consistent manner.

Sort of a gourmet meal by a 5-star chef rather than a hapazard pile of food pulled off of a smorgasboard.

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John Zachar Product Dev Manager| Association for Project Management (APM) Brackley,, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Prince 2 is a project management methodology published the CCTA (Central Computing and Telecommunications Authority) in England, and is a mandated PM method for all govenment agencies (sic) in England. The CCTA has just changed its name to OGC. I have used it, and I like it. Of all the methods I've used over the years (and remember here that we are talking project management method - not (product) development method, it is by far the best that can be purchased off the shelf.

It is product (deliverable) based, and full of common sense. One of the first paragraphs of the manual states something like ". . . if you don't need this part, then don't use it . . ." There are obvious gaps in the manual, for example it mentions estimating by saying that there are lots of good places to go for information about estimating, so we won't discuss it here. It is full of ideas, checklists, templates, etc., all with the caveat that 'use it if it is apropriate'.

More information can be obtained from www.ogc.gov.uk/prince

There is an A4 (about letter size for you American chaps) 4 ring binder that contains the manual for about Fifty Pounds Sterling. check out the web site mentioned above. If there are problems, there is a link from www.citi.co.uk
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scott spence London, United Kingdom
For those interested in PRINCE 2 this site may be of interest. PRINCE 2 has come along way since this thread started in May 2001, and is popping up in almost all IT Project Management job descriptions in the UK. Rumour has it that Australia and some parts of Europe (in particular The Netherlands) are beginning to use it more and more.


http://www.noggon.com/p2/


Cheers


Scott


PS as with regards to its comparison to PMBOK I am afraid I am not much help!
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scott spence London, United Kingdom
File attached 
In addition I thought that since I can upload files I would post this pdf (200 Kb) of the PRINCE 2 processes. I hope it is of use - be sure to use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4 or greater.


It outlines the processes of PRINCE 2 with colour coding and hyperlinks to
further descriptions. I have also 'themed' the processes for quick recall.



Cheers


Scott

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