The Difference Between an IT Project Manager and Business Program Manager

Businesses still struggle with distinguishing between the roles and responsibilities of IT project managers and business program managers. 

The confusion is natural given both are involved in managing stakeholders, risks, resources, time, budget, and other similar aspects. However, their level of involvement and engagement differ greatly.

A misunderstanding here can have dire consequences—some businesses struggle to hire the right candidate with the right skill set. And, if they do get the right skill set onboard, they are unable to define roles and responsibilities for them.

This creates ambiguity in the accountability for project lifecycle, affecting the overall delivery of a project and leading to wastage of resources. To prevent this, we present you the differences and similarities between IT project managers and business program managers:

Despite several contrasts the roles are not disjointed islands; they share a cohesive relationship that is vital to the success of a project and the overall business goal. Based on a Gartner report (full content available to Gartner clients only), we have curated a list of collaboration scenarios between IT project managers and business program managers. 

1. When technical issues must be escalated to the senior management for resolution or customers in case the product needs changing. In such scenarios, an IT project manager would report to a business program manager. They can co-report to the stakeholders or customers.

2. In case there is a need to allocate/reallocate resources among different IT projects to optimize resource capacity and capability.

3. If there is a need to prioritize/deprioritize projects and there is resource- or expertise-crunch, an IT project manager can move in between projects and work with a business program manager to align as per the program priorities.

4. Sometimes, a business program manager may take assistance of an IT project manager to manage program schedules and scope so as to achieve business objectives in time.

A small business may not always have the resources to hire both kinds of managers at once, so here are two tips for small business leaders to help them make the right decision:

1. Gauge the skillset of your team: If you have a technically mature team—the team is technically sound and capable of handling customer requirements to develop products—then you can appoint a tech spokesperson within your team. He/she can act as a team-lead to coach and mentor team members. Then, opt for an overall business program manager instead of having an IT project manager along with a business program manager.

2. Evaluate the budget: If you do not have enough budget to appoint both kinds of managers, you can train someone within the team with sound technical knowledge to handle the team responsibility for IT projects. You can focus on hiring a business program manager with good communication skills and domain knowledge for providing strategic inputs to the team and help your business grow.