Most of the IT organizations are very well versed with Project Management techniques of projects in Software Solution space (Application Development and Maitenance). Today most of the organizations are looking for end-to-end solutions, which may include projects like IT Strategies, IT Infrastruture, Business Process Management, Knowledge Management, Infrastructure Management etc. The PM challenges in this space are different. Let us discuss about the challenges like scope, estimations, risks etc in the Business Solution space Saving Changes...
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Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Srinivasa, good point. I was recently at a PMI chapter meeting in Texas and was quite surprised, pleasantly, to see how many attendees outside of IT were present. What a wonderful foundation and accomplishment PMI has brought and continues to bring to the business community. Issues you mentioned like scope, estimating, risk management, and others are being addressed in a similar fashion both within and outside of IT. But quite frankly, it seems that we are seeing less and less interest in a single end-to-end solution for the entire company and more and more a focus on an architecture-based approach for enterprise project management; one that enables different practictioners to follow and use differing PM processes and tools best suited for the project effort at hand. In this context, project management continues to emerge and mature as a pertinent and valuable core competency of the company, not just an activity that is confined to project managers in the IT department. At the risk of being accused of being too Microsoft centric, or insane, I would truly like to see a subset of MS Project functionality bundled in Microsoft Outlook as an enhancement to the Tasks List. To some, maybe many, that might sound ridiculous, but we continue to see a number of folks manage their project efforts within Outlook via Email, Calendaring, and Tasks list. Wouldn't just a little bit of de facto standard project-oriented functionality on a de faco standard platform be nice? For these business orented casual project managers, it might ease the jump into other PM products when that time comes. Any thoughts? -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Mark,
What is meant by "architecture-based approach for enterprise project management" that you are referring to?
Any pointers? Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Anil, an "architecture-based" approach to EPM is an approach that seeks to use common enterprise technology components, applications, and features, rather than implement an end to end application. Both approaches are perfectly acceptable. There are many EPM solutions on the market that have elegant feature sets, technology components, and application programming interfaces for integration. Large, centralized, project office organizations and IT software development organizations are well suited to effectively use and quite able to financially justify the cost of these solutions. The Gartner Group tracks the leading EPM vendors and their solutions in their EPM Magic Quadrant reports. However, many firms do not want to commit to or invest heavily in a complex end to end application platform for EPM. In view of their immediate needs and priorities, they would rather seek to fully use and extend upon their existing IT infrastructure and applications. For these firms, an architecture-based solution is often preferred where many de facto standard technologies and products that the firm already has, knows, and likes are used. Microsoft Office EPM can be viewed as an architecture-based solution; 1) the project management products include Project Server and Project Professional. 2) the enabling technologies include Windows Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server. 3) functional user products include Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, etc. 4) server applications can include the customer's existing or choice of line of business and financial applications such as Great Plains, SAP, PeopleSoft, etc. and 5) enterprise project management processes for project management (PMBOK, SDLC, GTM, etc), program management, and portfolio management can be developed in-house or purchased from vendors to facilitate and provide guidance in enterprise project management. An architecture-based approach can be evolutionary, cost effective, and supportive of natural or programmatic OPM maturity. Many view Microsoft Office EPM as a leading architecture-based approach. Is Microsoft Office EPM the best solution for everyone? Clearly not. But for many firms, being able to extend upon and use IT infrastructure that has already been paid for and that users already know is a compelling advantage. And many times, this is more compelling than a list of EPM vendor product features, functions, bells, and whistles. For the average organization, and especially smaller IT department that is seeking to implement EPM while staying within the realm of de facto standard infrastructure, technologies, and products, an architecture-based approach can offer cost effective, immediate, and lasting advantages. Anil, I tried my best. I hope this clarifies what is meant be an "architecture-based" approach. Best regards..! -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks Mark. Appreciate your response. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Anil, by the way I forgot to mention, I really like many of the enterprise PPM packages that I have worked with over the years - Niku, Planview, and many others as well as the PM modules of of the leading ERP packages. They just get better and better. It is hard to say exactly where the line is (size of organization, number of projects, CMM/OPMM levels, etc.), but it does seem that for many organiations if you are one one side of the line the end to end PPM solutions are of significant value, are cost effective, and offer lasting improvements; yet if you are on the other side of the line an end to end PPM system may not make a significant difference, may be a bit expensive, and may not significantly improve project results of the organization over the current state of things. What do you think..? Saving Changes...
