The company I work for has a new CIO. He has expressed an interest in doing things in a new and different way as long as it will save the company real money. We currently don't have a PMO and all of our IT projects are done in a less than coordinated fashion.
I can easily come up with the reasons to establish a PMO for the IT division, but I am scratching my head to find anything that can document the kind of savings I know a PMO would bring. (Should we see a 1%, 5% or even a 10% (or more) savings?)
I would want to do the things the "right" way by having some consultants come in and prepare a baseline of where we stand in relation to our competition as well as retain some consulting services to insure that the PMO got off to a good start. Again, generalized numbers for this kind of thing are hard to come by.
James, about half the Fortune 500 companies now use PMO offices to manage their IT projects. The cost savings can be had through tighter IT/business alignment and monitoring, and established processes and standards, also, assuming of course you also have a strategic plan in place and thus, a portfolio management approach. As a starting point, I've attached an Acrobat file that will help stimulate thinking and help you further define your requirements. Saving Changes...
Frank WintersPhotographer and ConservationistSandwich, Ma, United States
Hi James,
When you say PMO are you referring to a Program or Project management office?
Project management offices generally are support offices that enable companies to save via economies of scale, coordinated use of resources and shared practices. Program management offices are more powerful in that if they are implemented correctly they tie into the business planning process and that facilitates both improved alignment and portfolio management.
Project offices enable companies to save something in the 10 - 15% range. Program management offices can save much more because they enable the identification of unnecessary and/or redundant projects and programs. In addition Program Management Offices identify opportunities to create more revenue and/or profits for the company through systems development that is aligned with the strategic and tactical business plans.
To avoid confusion its helpful to call Project Management Offices Project Support Offices (PSOs) and use the PMO acronym to refer to Program Management Offices.
I think that I will bypass a full blown business case and present a one page executive business case asking for a formal project to study what exactly would be involved in setting something like a Project Management Office up. This way, if there is no interest at all, I haven't blown several weeks worth of work. I think that eventually saving 10-15% on projects will grab enough attention to get the funding for a study.
