SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 GETTING BANG FOR BUCK FROM ENTERPRISE PROJECT MANAGEMENT. Authored by: Eoghan Young

Transcription

1 SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 GETTING BANG FOR BUCK FROM ENTERPRISE PROJECT MANAGEMENT Authored by: Eoghan Young

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Is there bang for buck from EPM? Smart Spending Right People Right Time Controlling the Chaos Leverage the Learning In Closing... 3

3 1 IS THERE BANG FOR BUCK FROM EPM? For most of us, the game changer that leads to an enterprise approach to project management is the sheer volume of projects. As demand ramps up it is common sense to have a centralized way to manage what gets done, when and by whom. It saves time, money and effort. But yet establishing an enterprise project management approach is seen as a cost driver to the company and proving its value is often hurdle number one. In our experience there are four common areas where significant savings are to be had: 2 SMART SPENDING Making a short list of long demands while keeping the company happy is not magic its enterprise project and portfolio management. Out of the gate EPM brings very real and measureable value to organizations by prioritizing projects in line with the strategic objectives of the business. No longer is it a case of who shouts loudest, or what technology is the coolest - EPM provides an objective and systematic review of all projects proposed against a set of rational criteria. Criteria that include how each project relates to the company s strategy initiatives, what areas of the business will profit from it, what are the man hours, costs, timeframe and associated risk factors. Only after this systematic review are decisions made about what s in and what s out. Such an approach ensures that a company s portfolio of selected projects is in synch with the overall strategy and that money is spent where it will deliver the most value. 3 RIGHT PEOPLE RIGHT TIME Resources are always scarce - allocating the wrong people at the right time or the right people at the wrong time to projects costs money. EPM can negate this issue because all projects are managed centrally, there is complete visibility into what resources are needed where, when and for how long. Project teams can address staffing requirements and easily view available resources and skill sets across all projects. Capacity planning and resource levelling makes it easier to determine whether a company is over or under-allocating resources and whether they have the skill sets needed to get the job done.

4 The end result is that the right people are assigned to a project at the right time and for the right duration and companies get the best ROI from their resources. 4 CONTROLLING THE CHAOS Projects know no boundaries - regardless of where a project starts it generally runs horizontally across the enterprise, impacting many areas and functions. Cross functional projects, not managed by a Project Management Office (PMO) function are often poorly executed deadlines are missed across departments, duplicated efforts applied, budgets overshot and timelines missed all because there is no governing body that sees all, knows all and manages all. An EPM approach comprising an empowered PMO function controls the potential chaos and significantly saves euros and cents as missteps and redundancies of efforts are avoided. 5 LEVERAGE THE LEARNING When projects are managed in an ad-hoc way the golden nuggets of learning about what worked and what didn t are lost. This leads to project insanity running projects the same away as before and expecting a different result. A sound EPM approach facilitates communication, collaboration and learning across projects and project teams. It systematically measures what worked, captures best practices and adapts approaches to ensure that the next project is better than the one before. The on-going learning - captured, disseminated and put into action by a Project Management Office drives savings today, tomorrow and well into the future. 6 IN CLOSING From our first-hand experience, every business will find savings and value from deploying an EPM approach and these saving will come from each of the four areas outlined about. The specifics will vary from company to company but the saving and bang for buck are there to be had. Here at Storm we are passionate about EPM and we are proud to be Ireland s only company selected for Microsoft s Virtual Technical Solutions Professional Program for Microsoft Project and Project Server based solutions.

5 We'd like to see if we can help you understand the bang for buck an EPM approach will deliver to your business so call us on or me directly at eyoung@storm.ie.