Summary of differences between PRINCE2 and PMBOK approaches
By Rod Hutchings MAppSc MAIPM MACS
Employment perspective. In general, if you are applying for a position with a UK/European based Company PRINCE2 qualifications rate higher than US based qualifications PMP because of the differences in culture and approach to Project Management. Whereas if you are applying for a role with a US based Company (many IT Vendors), PMP is more likely to be preferred. With Australian companies, there is a mixed preference and some also recognise the RegPM certification.
(PRojects IN Controlled Environments) PRINCE2 Advantages There is no equivalent PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) pre-project process to PRINCE2’s ‘Starting up a Project’(SU), so there is no discussion of what or who should be in place at the beginning of a project, nor of how to go about getting it if it is lacking.
PRINCE2® (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) offers a complete change control approach, whereas PMBOK just talks of the need for it. PMBOK says little about configuration management, and certainly offers no link between it, the Configuration Librarian role and change control.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) only talks about a Project Plan, whereas PRINCE2 offers Stage and Team Plans and discusses the advantages of breaking the Project Plan down, e.g. for easier planning and better control.
(PRojects IN Controlled Environments) PRINCE2 offers standard roles for its project management team.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) only covers the creation of a WBS, and does not compare to the PRINCE2 Product-based Planning technique in terms of the latter’s Product Descriptions and Product Flow Diagram. Nor is there any real detail in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Planning process to take a plan through to a network plan and a Gantt or bar chart.
The Product Description is far more positive about what information should be provided to the producer of a product. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) offers only vague advice.
PMBOK Advantages. The PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) covers procurement.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) covers the actual procurement, pre-assignment or negotiation for team members for a project in some detail. PRINCE2 does not cover this.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) identifies needs to be covered in human resource management.
Figure 1 below shows the knowledge areas and processes of the Project Management Institute's Guide to PMBOK and Figure 2 below shows the comparable PRINCE2 content and usage.
http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/comparing/intro.htm
Figure 1 - Project Management Institute's Guide to PMBOK
Figure 2 PRINCE2 diagram
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