California State University, Long Beach
Reach Higher: College of Continuing and Professional Education
 

IT Management
Certificate Program

This comprehensive program will provide you with knowledge and skills to effectively manage IT disciplines, teams, and projects, and to successfully communicate with technical staff, business customers, vendors, and various levels of management. It deals with technologies, business processes, project management, finance, and policies and procedures. The program has four modules: 1) Information Technology Management, 2) Information Technology Project Management, 3) Budget and Finance for the IT Professional, and 4) Developing Effective Business Cases for IT Projects and Investments. The four modules are interdependent, complement each other, and include hands-on exercises with real-life projects.

Who Should Attend?

  • Existing and prospective IT managers
  • IT professionals who wish to enter into management of IT departments
  • Non-IT managers who are responsible for managing IT projects
  • Individuals entering IT management from other fields
  • IT professionals who have fiscal planning and coordination responsibilities
  • Individuals involved in evaluating and/or approving IT investments, projects, and initiatives

You Will Learn:

  • How to manage IT departments
  • How to prepare and manage IT projects and budgets
  • How to make the business case for IT projects
  • How to budget and track IT projects

How Do I Complete the Certificate?

  • Complete all core modules.
  • Participate in all class projects.

3.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be provided upon request as a permanent record of one's attendance, if requested by the last class meeting.

Instructor:
Alex Azmi, DPA, PMP, manager and founder, CITM, has more than 20 years of professional experience in IT and project management. He is a member of the Project Management Institute.

Information Technology Management

This module will provide you with the practical business and management knowledge and skills you need to effectively manage IT organizations. An overview of IT project management strategic planning and technology trends in the industry are presented.

Topics Include:

  • IT management fundamentals and developing IT budgets
  • IT assets and infrastructure management
  • IT organization roles and responsibilities
  • IT staffing: levels, skills, and management
  • IT organizational design
  • IT trends and emerging technologies
  • Vendor selection and management
  • IT alignment with business goals
Instructor:
Alex Azmi

Information Technology Project Management

This module addresses the four major aspects of IT project management: technologies, procedures, organizations, and people. You will gain the knowledge and skills to successfully manage projects in the IT field such as enterprise applications, system and software development, infrastructure improvement, and hardware upgrades.

Topics Include:

  • Fundamentals of IT project management
  • System development life cycle methodology
  • Roles and responsibilities of IT project managers
  • Communications, scope, and expectations management
  • Developing IT project plans
  • IT project management: technologies, people, and procedures issues
  • Project cost, budget, and cash flow management
  • Quality control, quality assurance, and change management
  • IT Risk analysis and management
  • Managing IT project portfolios
  • Project management tools (i.e. software)

Budgeting and Finance for IT Professionals

This module will provide you with the skills and financial knowledge and skills for managing IT organizations. In addition, various methods for determining the benefits of IT systems and investment are introduced, including return on investment (ROI) analysis, payback period, net present value, and internal rate of return will be covered. You will participate in case studies and hands-on projects.

Topics Include:

  • Introduction to IT budgets
  • Alignment with business goals
  • Lease vs. buy analysis
  • Budget estimating techniques
  • Developing a business case for IT services and projects
  • Return On Investment (ROI) methodologies
  • Assessing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for IT investments

Developing Effective Business Cases for IT Projects and Investments

Business cases are used by management to make critical IT investments. Knowing how to develop and present a business case is an important skill for IT managers. This module includes real-life case studies and hands-on individual and group projects. You will receive a powerful project tool for calculating cost and benefits with a step-by-step process for developing, presenting, and gaining approval for business cases for IT projects and investments.

Topics Include:

  • Developing, presenting, and gaining approval for business cases
  • Essential and optional components of business cases
  • Best practices for business case development
  • Business tools for cost-benefit analysis
  • Financial metrics for quantifying the project value
  • Return On Investment (ROI) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  • Net Present Value (NPV) and Break Even Method (BEM)
  • Quantifiable and unquantifiable project benefits