Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
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Partners In Time
Aaron is the former editor of ProjectsAtWork.com
An overwhelmed government PMO serving southeast Michigan transformed itself into a cutting-edge IT operation, even while weathering budget cuts, by adopting a governance framework, taking control of its project data, and partnering with its internal customers.
In Oakland County, Michigan, a single, centralized IT department develops, integrates and maintains technology programs for 82 county divisions and departments, 140 public safety agencies, 4,4000 county employees, and 61 cities, villages and townships. That translates into a lot of projects. Indeed, in the late 1990s, it clearly had become too many projects. The 200-person IT group was overwhelmed with a backlog of 900 work orders, and many customers had lost confidence in its ability to provide services on time, if at all.
That's when OaklandCounty embarked on what would become its most important project of all — a business process reengineering initiative that transformed the culture and restored faith in the IT department. There is no backlog today. The foundation of this remarkable turnaround is a master planning and leadership framework that gives all those internal customers an active role in project prioritization through a Technology Leadership Group.
Spearhead by OaklandCounty's project management office, the multiyear transformation has included the development of a project management …
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