Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
PMO can stand for both. An organisation doesn't need to have either, or could have one or the other. Project Management Offices and Program Management Offices don't function in the same way. The P3O standard from APMG might help you understand the difference a bit more. The PMOSIG would also be a good place to ask your questions. Saving Changes...
I guess different organizations call it differently. We have PgMO (Program Management Office) and we also have PMO (Project Management Office) at our place. While PgMO looks at the Strategic Initiative Program (with multiple projects) for the entire organization, the PMO on the other hand is looking at specific projects that belong to a specific business unit. In this case we have one PgMO and multiple PMOs (for different business units).
The are also instances where PMOs are created just to look at specific project. They are temporary and would be dissolved at the end of that project. In our case, some of the resources would come from the PgMO, which is, in this case, a permanent setup within the organization.
You may also check out many articles on this topic. I am just giving you an example of how it is at my work place. Saving Changes...
