Which PPM Functions Really Create Value?

 

Situation: You are asking yourself, "What do I really need from PPM software?"

I've been asked this question a lot lately.  So I thought it deserved to be addressed here, in a way that hopefully the asker can relate to. The answer of course, is "it depends".  It depends almost entirely on the maturity of your organization.

Even for something as important as "doing the right things" (PPM), most of us feel like we really only need a few key functions. With this in mind, software vendors have spent the last few years creating simple SaaS applications to serve our needs - each of them focusing on limited views of the portfolio that should be just enough to facilitate decision-making to accomplish mostly near to medium-term goals. Despite most of us having some similar basic needs, we still customize whatever we end up implementing. Since a lot of that customization ends up happening (i.e. - is funded) when the software is first bought, we end up optimizing the software for the needs we have NOW, versus longer term considerations.  Then we consider the PPM Project done.  Later, when PPM is less of a hot button at your organization, it becomes harder to have the system evolve as the company matures. 

So let's talk about the things companies generally want. I'll begin with a list of PPM functions from MS Project Server 2010. It a set of information management areas which are fairly comprehensive, yet their value probably varies a lot based on what your immediate needs are:

• Demand Management - Intuitively capture all requests within a central repository, and manage them using governance workflow

• Portfolio Selection and Analytics - Objectively prioritize, optimize, and select project portfolios that best align with the organization’s business strategy

• Resource Management - Proactively and reactively manage resources throughout the project life cycle

• Schedule Management - Easily create and communicate both simple and complex project schedules

• Financial Management - Control and measure project and portfolio financial performance

• Time and Task Management - Simplify the collection of time and task status updates from team members

• Team Collaboration - Better connect disparate teams to share information and drive collaboration

• Business Intelligence and Reporting - Effectively measure project performance and gain visibility and control across all portfolios

• Administration, Scalability and Extensibility - Streamline administration and effectively extend the solution to meet unique business requirements

How much do these matter to you?  If you are really having a problem "doing the right things", the prioritization might look like this:

1. Portfolio Selection and Analytics 

2. Business Intelligence and Reporting

3. Demand Management

4. Financial Management

5. Resource Management 

6. Schedule Management 

7. Time and Task Management 

8. Team Collaboration 

9. Administration, Scalability and Extensibility 

I often hear from organizations where project management itself is not part of the corporate culture, then time and task management are at the top of the list.  Almost universally, senior management would like everything fixed immediately by the new system - so most people are just trying to implement all of these functions.  Unfortunately, the functions are just the means of getting there.  Implementing functions individually doesnt really help.  It's how they comes together to form a complete system that creates the value you are looking for.

So you might be thinking, "it depends", isn't very helpful.  The key to getting the most value out of your PPM solution is understanding the PPM maturity of your organization and using that as a guide to rolling out new technology and processes.  It's more about looking at where your company is and what you can accomplish when, changing the focus of your efforts as the organization matures.

Gartner, some time ago, laid out a roadmap for doing just that.  It is available here on gantthead for your reading pleasure. You'll find that the maturity levels are not a direct match with the function, but rather imply that you focus your efforts in certain areas at different points in time.  There are dozens of other resources here on gantthead, a few of which I've listed below. Hopefully these will help guide you ithrough your PPM journey.

Also See:

• Effective Portfolio Management Implementation Tips by Andy Makar
• details on planning for and implementing Project Server, Portfolio Strategy wtih Project Server 2010  by Tim Cermack
• an exhaustive list of over 130 PPM functions, you can find a terrific selection matrix on Projects At Work