Core Project Disciplines

Chapter 5: Project Disciplines and Roles

Project disciplines are specialised fields encompassing knowledge, skills, and communities relevant to enterprise IT project delivery. These range from Program Management to Implementation Management, offering a comprehensive array of technical, managerial, and strategic competencies standardised as best practices. Governed by frameworks like PMBOK for project management and Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) for business analysis, these disciplines are interconnected, each playing a critical role in executing large and complex IT initiatives.

Key Project Disciplines

Included among these disciplines are:

Programme management
Project management
Project analysis
Scheduling
Project assurance
Risk management
Compliance management
Solution architecture
Business analysis
Organisational change management
Process analysis
Data architecture
Data analysis
User experience and user interface design
System architecture
System design
System analysis
System development
Environment management
Release management
Test management
Implementation management

Note 1. In enterprise IT projects, solution architects represent the enterprise-wide IT, business, and data architecture. They ensure that system architectures align with the organisation's strategic goals and that each system integrates seamlessly into the broader enterprise ecosystem.

Note 2. System refers to application-specific infrastructure, interfaces, databases, and reporting.

Integration and Overlap of Disciplines

Core competencies in these disciplines remain consistent across delivery models, though roles may shift to adapt to different frameworks. For instance, the traditional Project Manager in Waterfall may evolve into the roles of Scrum Master and Product Owner in Scrum, with project management expertise distributed across different responsibilities.

Supportive and Post-Implementation Disciplines

While some disciplines are directly involved in the hands-on delivery of enterprise IT projects, others support the project during initiation or after completion. These include:

Enterprise IT architecture: Structures IT infrastructure, solutions, and services to align with strategic goals, ensuring scalability and integration.
Business Architecture: Bridges business strategy and technology, aligning business processes with strategic objectives.
DevOps: Enhances collaboration between development and operations, improving the speed, efficiency, and quality of software delivery.
Incident management: Restores normal IT operations swiftly to maintain service delivery and minimise downtime.
Security management: Ensures data integrity, confidentiality, and availability throughout the project lifecycle.

Role Adaptations Across Delivery Models

The following sections will examine how roles, titles, and responsibilities evolve across Waterfall, Scrum, SAFe, and Hybrid models, using project disciplines as a foundational element.