Jennifer GoltsbergSenior Project Manager| American Tower CompanyWestford, Ma, United States
Is there research on software project outcomes when a company employs a vendor to assist with implementation?
Quick context: I'm involved in helping my company select a new Project Portfolio Management software. We're evaluating whether or not to hire a 3rd party to assist in rollout but was looking for research that shows the impact of having a partner or not having a partner.
Success with a PPM solution is less about the tool implementation and more about the behavior changes required to get the desired value of it.
I'd suggest that unless that skill set is already in house, having coaching assistance from a partner who has helped leadership teams to introduce consistent, objective methods of managing their portfolios would be valuable.
As far as the tool implementation goes, it really depends on the level of complexity of the tool, what your intended usage is, and whether you are looking at configuration or customization.
It is possible that Gartner might have provided some data on this in one of their recent reviews of PPM solutions.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Well, I am in agreement with most of the comments written by Kiron above. Just to comment my personal experience I was in both sides of the desk. Recently we run this type of things and I was in charge of that with an internal team. Previously, we did the same but with an external team. The key here is not the software. The key is the defined process. Some organizations acquire a software but they are acquiring the process the software supports because they do not have something defined. In this case they are buying a problem instead a solution. But just if it is the case then is better to take the whole project with the same company that sells the software. Saving Changes...
try project online or financial force from Sales Force. You may need some customization
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1 reply by Jennifer Goltsberg
Dec 07, 2021 8:11 AM
Jennifer Goltsberg
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Thank you all! I really appreciate your insight. You've given me a lot to think about.
Saving Changes...
Jennifer GoltsbergSenior Project Manager| American Tower CompanyWestford, Ma, United States
Dec 05, 2021 2:17 PM
Replying to Krish Nathan
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try project online or financial force from Sales Force. You may need some customization
Thank you all! I really appreciate your insight. You've given me a lot to think about. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Jennifer
selecting and implementing a PPM SW is not the same as solving business problems thru PPM processes and it also requires much more invest, moneywise and in convincing people to use the SW.
The last PPM SW selection I participated in (hesitating) took 9 months, we RfIed 20+ vendors, got 6 proposals and presentations and finally decided to continue to use excel.
The requirements started to come from executive management, then project managers, then forked into agile (Jira) and ERP (MSP) teams, and finance gave their input to connect to SAP where they monitored the projects, HR had their say in how staff data could be used or not.
For every vendor, heavy tweaks for interfaces and functions would have been necessary, so which vendor could support became another criterium. In the end, implementation would take more than a year, with many open ends and licensing cost would be significant, so the business case was not longer viable.
It is OK to run the PPM processes manually if you have around 50 projects in the core portfolio.
Thomas
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1 reply by Milena Ilieva
Dec 07, 2021 12:20 PM
Milena Ilieva
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Thomas,
Love your statement that there was a decision to continue using excel instead of a new tool...
My experience with implementing several PPM tools is that we always ended up using excel to get quickly new reports with new KPIs. Sometime the tools may not be customisable so quickly be the vendor or it may not be possible to get customisation needed.
The integrations that you mentioned are normally not considered until later when the PPM tool is already in use. Having integrations with other company tools (finance, HR are important ones) can save a lot of time and efforts, increase data transparency and correctness. We realised the need of integrations after implementation of the PPM tools, and of course used excel to meet the needs.
Just wanted to comment based on my experience.
Milena
Saving Changes...
Milena IlievaProgram Manager Global accounts| VMWareVienna, Austria
Dec 07, 2021 8:53 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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Jennifer
selecting and implementing a PPM SW is not the same as solving business problems thru PPM processes and it also requires much more invest, moneywise and in convincing people to use the SW.
The last PPM SW selection I participated in (hesitating) took 9 months, we RfIed 20+ vendors, got 6 proposals and presentations and finally decided to continue to use excel.
The requirements started to come from executive management, then project managers, then forked into agile (Jira) and ERP (MSP) teams, and finance gave their input to connect to SAP where they monitored the projects, HR had their say in how staff data could be used or not.
For every vendor, heavy tweaks for interfaces and functions would have been necessary, so which vendor could support became another criterium. In the end, implementation would take more than a year, with many open ends and licensing cost would be significant, so the business case was not longer viable.
It is OK to run the PPM processes manually if you have around 50 projects in the core portfolio.
Thomas
Thomas,
Love your statement that there was a decision to continue using excel instead of a new tool...
My experience with implementing several PPM tools is that we always ended up using excel to get quickly new reports with new KPIs. Sometime the tools may not be customisable so quickly be the vendor or it may not be possible to get customisation needed.
The integrations that you mentioned are normally not considered until later when the PPM tool is already in use. Having integrations with other company tools (finance, HR are important ones) can save a lot of time and efforts, increase data transparency and correctness. We realised the need of integrations after implementation of the PPM tools, and of course used excel to meet the needs.
Just wanted to comment based on my experience.
Milena
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1 reply by Thomas Walenta
Dec 07, 2021 1:27 PM
Thomas Walenta
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Hi Milena
thanks for sharing your experience. This is the main value this community can provide. Share more!
Yes, we understood too that integrating finance and HR would be a second or third stage after the core rollout, same to a reporting engine.
We just tried to look ahead what the tool should be capable of and who could implement this.
Thomas
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Dec 07, 2021 12:20 PM
Replying to Milena Ilieva
...
Thomas,
Love your statement that there was a decision to continue using excel instead of a new tool...
My experience with implementing several PPM tools is that we always ended up using excel to get quickly new reports with new KPIs. Sometime the tools may not be customisable so quickly be the vendor or it may not be possible to get customisation needed.
The integrations that you mentioned are normally not considered until later when the PPM tool is already in use. Having integrations with other company tools (finance, HR are important ones) can save a lot of time and efforts, increase data transparency and correctness. We realised the need of integrations after implementation of the PPM tools, and of course used excel to meet the needs.
Just wanted to comment based on my experience.
Milena
Hi Milena
thanks for sharing your experience. This is the main value this community can provide. Share more!
Yes, we understood too that integrating finance and HR would be a second or third stage after the core rollout, same to a reporting engine.
We just tried to look ahead what the tool should be capable of and who could implement this.
