PRINCE2 [project management method]

PRINCE is one of the leading project management methods around today. In fact it is the only method which is available in the public domain. It is owned and developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), which is responsible for providing best-practice advice to government. PRINCE was originally intended for the management of public sector information technology (IT) projects. However, since its introduction in the 1980s, PRINCE has come a long way. It is now effectively a de facto standard for project management with widespread use in both the public and private sectors, furthermore it has been used on many non-IT projects. In 1996, CCTA launched PRINCE2 following a two year development programme on the method. PRINCE2 covers the concepts and processes of how to organise the people and activities on a project, how and when to plan, monitor and control the project, and what to do if things don´t go according to plan. Over 150 public and private sector organisations were involved in the development of PRINCE2, each bringing their own experiences and ideas into the method. One of the major differences in the new version is that the method is not specific to IT, the approach now looks at the management processes for all types of projects