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In North America, the Project Management Institute's PMBOK (project management body of knowledge) has been widely accepted as a best practice guide to project management (see http://www.pmi.org) The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (http://www.ieee.org) has accepted the PMBOK as its best practice standard for project management.
IT professionals were only a small fraction of the initial membership in the Project Management Institute. Today, those responsible for "corporate projects," typically IT projects, are a solid majority. But the PMBOK is not the only game in town. PRINCE (Projects in a Controlled Environment) was introduced in 1989 by the UK government (see http://www.ogc.gov.uk/prince2) PRINCE focused specifically on IT project management. PRICE2, introduced in 1996, provides a more general project management methodology.
There are interesting differences between these two approaches. PMBOK is really a collection of project management best practices. It is applicable in a wide range of settings. PRINCE2 is a much more specific way of managing projects; it's one particular best practice methodology. PRINCE2 would typically be adopted by an organization. And in such an organization, PRINCE2 certification can be important.