PRINCE2® and PMBOK®: Friend or Foe?

PRINCE2 is a best practice document and principle-driven framework, while the PMBOK framework is a body-of-knowledge framework, including an extensive toolbox of techniques and processes needed to master any project.

During the course of our business, we are often asked which international project management standard to deploy—their pros and cons, and how they work in conjunction with other standards or frameworks.

In this white paper, we reflect on two major international project management standards, PRINCE2® and PMP® (the PMBOK® Guide). The PRINCE2 2009 edition and the PMBOK® Guide 5 are both internationally-recognized project management standards. In this case, international means global recognition, i.e., having a large membership base, being a proven framework, body of knowledge or best practice, and having a large number of certified professionals around the globe. An international project management standard is a step-by-step process—a project management “cookbook” or set of good practices that can lead to delivering projects successfully.

Standards describe how to conduct the planning, delegating, monitoring and controlling all of the aspects of project management in order to manage the constraints, including costs, timescales, quality, scope, risk and benefits. We believe that the two approaches are, in fact, complementary – friends, not foes! – and that they can offer project managers a powerful tool for successful project completion, especially used in combination with each other.

More information on project and program management courses is available in the ITpreneurs Course Catalog.

Need more information? Please contact ITpreneurs.