Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) is often misunderstood to be simply a method of managing multiple projects. This misses out on the key benefit of PPM which is to do with aligning projects with the strategic goals and direction of the organisation. To assign the PPM function to the Project Management Office (PMO) is to severely limit the advantages that can be achieved from it.
The core mistake is to think that PPM is fundamentally the management of multiple projects. This definitely is not so. PPM is the management of the project portfolio so as to maximise the contribution of projects to the overall welfare and success of the enterprise.
PPM effectively bridges the gap that exists between the PMO and other business operations. It is about bringing projects into harmony with the strategies, resources and executive oversight of the organisation and it provides the structure and processes for project portfolio governance. It is not so much about doing projects right as it is about doing the right projects right. Projects that are out of line with the organisation’s strategic goals or that have excessive risk can waste precious resources and time.
The ability of managers and employees to stay strategic, i.e. focus is on advancing the organisation’s strategic goals, is vital for an organisation if it is to move forward as a single unit. If projects don’t advance those strategic goals (directly or indirectly) then they waste resources and energy. We can call such non-strategic projects ‘distracting projects’ because they misdirect parts of the organisation’s intent as defined at senior management level in the form of strategic goals. Distracting projects can be thought of as projects that negatively impact on the overall aerodynamics of the portfolio. They hinder the portfolio’s ability to move the company forward in the direction set out by senior management.
The earlier that an organisation can weed out ‘distracting projects’ the better. In fact, not starting ‘distracting’ projects at all is the ideal!
As an example of a company that successfully weeded out distracting projects consider the following the merger between HP and Compaq. During the first 90 days of the merger the global project management office stopped over 100 projects or programmes that were not aligned with the emerging strategy or made poor use of resources. This is a rather extreme example but one year after the merger they had achieved over $3 billion in savings. In a later blog article I will examine this merger in greater detail and look at the way HP implemented PPM throughout the organisation.
Communication
The integration of projects and other business activities cannot be achieved without good communication structures. Key information must be shared. Management needs to be able to clearly communicate what the strategic goals of the organisation are and the PMO needs to be able to provide visibility on how those goals are being pursued (directly or indirectly). What often happens is that both groups (management and the PMO) are off in their own worlds, working to do the best that they can pursuing their own objectives. What a waste!
PPM sets out to bridge the gap between these groups by providing two way communication. One of the best ways of describing what PPM is about is to say that it provides insight.
Management get insight into what is happening throughout the organisation in the pursuit of its strategic goals. The rest of the organisation gets insight into what direction management wants it to be moving in.
Technology
It has been said that PPM is largely about process, people and technology. The technology is vital to allow the communication to take place and provide good visibility into what is happening in the PMO. Serena Mariner provides portfolio, project, resource, demand and financial management for complete Project and Portfolio Management. Unlike other products whose bottom-up approach is difficult to implement, Mariner offers an approach that ensures rapid results and on-going incremental value. With packaged integrations to Serena ALM applications, Mariner provides complete visibility into the entire application lifecycle—from initial idea to application retirement.
For more information click on the link below or contact us to request a visit so that we can discuss the Mariner solution with you.
http://www.serena.com/products/mariner/index.html
Friday, September 21, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
What has changed that businesses need process management software?
The business environment in which we all operate has changed fundamentally over the last decade or so. The need for organisations to employ some form of process automation is greater than ever. So what are these environmental changes and how have they impacted businesses? In this article I will look at five environmental factors that every organisation must consider.
1. Globalisation
The Internet and email have made the world a much smaller place. This has had two profound effects on business. First, competitiveness has increased as greater numbers of companies are able to enter the most lucrative markets. You no longer need to be physically close to your customers to do business with them. A well designed Internet site can attract customers and manage the sale without the need for any personal interaction.
The Internet has also permitted the free flow of information. Information about company offerings and pricing are easily accessible to both customers and potential competitors! The net effect of all this free flow of information is that companies are becoming more homogenous. It is increasingly difficult to be dominant in a market from a cost leadership or differentiation strategy. Increased competition is driving down margins and increasing the flow of information so that any advantage gained from a differentiation strategy is soon eaten up. The only strategy left is to be more customer focused, or operationally excellent. RyanAir is a great example of a company which is doing this. The difficulty with being operationally excellent is that you need good processes that are strictly adhered to. This is something that is impossible without some form of automation.
A further effect of globalisation is geographically dispersed workforces. Increasingly we are seeing companies outsource entire business functions. To ensure that these outsourced groups are participating in the business effectively, a high level of communication and collaboration is needed.
2. Increasingly regulatory environment
Various debacles in the world of business from Enron to WorldCom have necessitated the introduction of tighter regulations on how organisations do business. Required periodic audits now interrupt businesses on a regular basis. Manually, such audits can take weeks to complete but an automated system can reduce them to a few hours.
3. Changing Labour Markets
Charles Handy introduced the term 'Portfolio Worker' to describe a way of working where individuals are mobile and move between organisations bringing their expertise with them for the duration of the project they are working on. While that prediction has not fully come to pass, it is increasingly the case that employees are staying for shorter periods in the one company and are seeking more flexible working hours and working arrangements. Where processes are embedded in employee's heads, the danger is that an organisation cannot learn from past experience. Processes need to be stored outside of individuals so that they outlast those employees in the organisation.
Employees that do stay with their organisation are also seeking more flexible working arrangements. These can include working from home one or two days a week or working hours that suit them. Obviously in an organisation where processes require immediate action from these employees, major bottle necks will begin to form. The good news is that these employees who seek more flexible working times tend to be willing to be contactable through their Blackberry, or equivalent, umbilical cords. Automated process management tools that can use these devices therefore, can overcome most limitations flexible working arrangements introduce.
4. More demanding customers
With increased competitiveness, customers have become more demanding. They are unwilling to tolerate issues getting lost in the cracks. They expect quick response times of 'minutes' or 'hours' rather than 'days' or 'weeks'. If they are not satisfied they will simply move to another supplier. All of these threats can be managed effectively with some form of automated process management system. No longer do companies need to depend on employee's remembering to keep issues open or to get back to customers with information or resolutions to issues raised. Instead automated systems can prompt employees to perform the actions necessary to enforce adherence to predefined processes.
5. Greater need for flexibility
Entrepreneurial Management is largely about managing change and being able to best position oneself to best take advantage of inevitable change. Many of the top business schools around the world have entrepreneurship management units or are offering modules in this up and coming discipline of management agility. 'Taking charge of change' necessitates having established, visible processes in place that can be quickly and easily modified. Unless these processes are managed by a tool, communicating changes can lead to confusion and mistakes.
Conclusion
The business environment has changed fundamentally in the last decade. Companies will increasingly struggle to keep up if their way of doing business (their processes) is not automated by software.
Serena TeamTrack is a web-architected, secure and highly configurable process and issue management system. It creates a clear process throughout the application lifecycle—from initial request to post-delivery customer support activities.
Thousands of companies around the world are using TeamTrack to manage processes across organizational silos and drive the highest levels of efficiency. With TeamTrack, you can control and automate any business process, manage issues throughout the lifecycle of your IT projects, and facilitate collaboration among all stakeholders across your enterprise and beyond.
For more information click on the link below or contact us to request a visit so that we can show you the power and advantages of TeamTrack.
http://www.serena.com/products/teamtrack/index.html
1. Globalisation
The Internet and email have made the world a much smaller place. This has had two profound effects on business. First, competitiveness has increased as greater numbers of companies are able to enter the most lucrative markets. You no longer need to be physically close to your customers to do business with them. A well designed Internet site can attract customers and manage the sale without the need for any personal interaction.
The Internet has also permitted the free flow of information. Information about company offerings and pricing are easily accessible to both customers and potential competitors! The net effect of all this free flow of information is that companies are becoming more homogenous. It is increasingly difficult to be dominant in a market from a cost leadership or differentiation strategy. Increased competition is driving down margins and increasing the flow of information so that any advantage gained from a differentiation strategy is soon eaten up. The only strategy left is to be more customer focused, or operationally excellent. RyanAir is a great example of a company which is doing this. The difficulty with being operationally excellent is that you need good processes that are strictly adhered to. This is something that is impossible without some form of automation.
A further effect of globalisation is geographically dispersed workforces. Increasingly we are seeing companies outsource entire business functions. To ensure that these outsourced groups are participating in the business effectively, a high level of communication and collaboration is needed.
2. Increasingly regulatory environment
Various debacles in the world of business from Enron to WorldCom have necessitated the introduction of tighter regulations on how organisations do business. Required periodic audits now interrupt businesses on a regular basis. Manually, such audits can take weeks to complete but an automated system can reduce them to a few hours.
3. Changing Labour Markets
Charles Handy introduced the term 'Portfolio Worker' to describe a way of working where individuals are mobile and move between organisations bringing their expertise with them for the duration of the project they are working on. While that prediction has not fully come to pass, it is increasingly the case that employees are staying for shorter periods in the one company and are seeking more flexible working hours and working arrangements. Where processes are embedded in employee's heads, the danger is that an organisation cannot learn from past experience. Processes need to be stored outside of individuals so that they outlast those employees in the organisation.
Employees that do stay with their organisation are also seeking more flexible working arrangements. These can include working from home one or two days a week or working hours that suit them. Obviously in an organisation where processes require immediate action from these employees, major bottle necks will begin to form. The good news is that these employees who seek more flexible working times tend to be willing to be contactable through their Blackberry, or equivalent, umbilical cords. Automated process management tools that can use these devices therefore, can overcome most limitations flexible working arrangements introduce.
4. More demanding customers
With increased competitiveness, customers have become more demanding. They are unwilling to tolerate issues getting lost in the cracks. They expect quick response times of 'minutes' or 'hours' rather than 'days' or 'weeks'. If they are not satisfied they will simply move to another supplier. All of these threats can be managed effectively with some form of automated process management system. No longer do companies need to depend on employee's remembering to keep issues open or to get back to customers with information or resolutions to issues raised. Instead automated systems can prompt employees to perform the actions necessary to enforce adherence to predefined processes.
5. Greater need for flexibility
Entrepreneurial Management is largely about managing change and being able to best position oneself to best take advantage of inevitable change. Many of the top business schools around the world have entrepreneurship management units or are offering modules in this up and coming discipline of management agility. 'Taking charge of change' necessitates having established, visible processes in place that can be quickly and easily modified. Unless these processes are managed by a tool, communicating changes can lead to confusion and mistakes.
Conclusion
The business environment has changed fundamentally in the last decade. Companies will increasingly struggle to keep up if their way of doing business (their processes) is not automated by software.
Serena TeamTrack is a web-architected, secure and highly configurable process and issue management system. It creates a clear process throughout the application lifecycle—from initial request to post-delivery customer support activities.
Thousands of companies around the world are using TeamTrack to manage processes across organizational silos and drive the highest levels of efficiency. With TeamTrack, you can control and automate any business process, manage issues throughout the lifecycle of your IT projects, and facilitate collaboration among all stakeholders across your enterprise and beyond.
For more information click on the link below or contact us to request a visit so that we can show you the power and advantages of TeamTrack.
http://www.serena.com/products/teamtrack/index.html
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