I have been assigned the task of conducting a Project Portfolio Software offerings research. The need for a project portfolio at our company stems from:
- Managing our annual planning process via excel spread sheet
- Lack of a corporate portfolio management system
- Time consuming data collection from different resources
- Lack of centralized resource tracking
I wanted to touch base with you to see if anyone has already conducted some research on the vendors in this area and also on the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for these vendors. If so, are you willing to share OR provide me some direction in terms of the vendors, reference materials…etc?
Thanks for your help and it’s much appreciated
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I have consulted with and advised many companies on solutions in the same league as this discussion. In many cases, my suggestion has been a very flexible environment providing high return on investment and an easy to use tool available for everyone from the executives on a governance group to the project team members. eProject provides that view today and their next product due out soon will provide an even higher return for PPM and resource management. The environment is flexiable enough to allow you to score each propective project and view all scores in a rolled up scorecard. Each project can have as many scoring criterium as necessary to make a good choice for initiation. You can move the selected projects into an active, collaborative environment for management, coaching, review and all facets of project management. Everything is done in the open in an easy to use environment. Teams want to use this tool as it really boosts their productivity. The more information coming from the team, the better information is available to Governance for future decisions. Check the solution out at http://www.eproject.com. You can also join the new discussion community I have created for people to discuss project management topics called the eProject eLounge. Once you have joined, you will be able to join in on our forums, blogs, upload and download files, search for jobs and other items. I really hope it grows into an interactive environment for project management excellence. Please check it out today at http://elounge.eproject.com. Saving Changes...
(Disclaimer: I work for this company) Automation Centre has a Web based application suite, TrackerSuite.Net ( http://www.TrackerSuite.Net ) which includes integrated modules for project management, time and expense reporting, purchasing, CRM, invoicing, HR and reporting. If you'd like to make an evaluation, a demo site has been created where you can log in and test-drive the applications. Automation Centre also offers collaborative project management solutions for Lotus Notes ( Tracker Suite - http://www.TrackerSuite.com ) and Microsoft Outlook ( TrackerOffice - http://www.TrackerOffice.com ). Saving Changes...
Senior Advisor to the CEO| PMISterling, Va, United States
There'sa terrific, vendor agnostic, and free, PPM software evaluation tool available on Projects@Work. Saving Changes...
Aditya ChinniSr Project Manager| JELDWENKlamath Falls, Or, United States
Shyam,
Yours is very interesting question. Long time back I did similar kind of study and following are my top choices:
The software from the behemoth …. MS Project PPM (I like MS Project client version for all my projects. Server edition is the best choice to go when you have several client installations)
=PMP Prep course (online, class or self-study) with 35 PDUs or contact hours.
=We also offer 35 or 10 PDUs toward continuing your PMP certification.
=Please refer our location 11Concepts.com for more information. Saving Changes...
Greg TilleySenior Manager| VCSonlineSt. Louis, Mo, United States
Hi Shyam,
Let me first give full disclosure (note that not everyone who replied to your request has done so, which is misleading in my opinion). I work for VCSonline, a company that provides the VPMi Professional and VPMi Express solutions for project, program, resource and portfolio management. I would of course like you to consider our product as one of your solutions, however I think you need to take this in a couple steps.
First you need to do some research on different websites to learn more about the products these companies offer and their existing clients. Some sites are not very forthcoming about their products, others will provide a wealth of information. You can read into that however you want. After doing your homework, get a short list together and let these vendors know your requirements. They can save you hours of time. Don't ask for yes or no answers on requirements. Ask for proof. Say no if they want to schedule long demos with you before responding. The first step is to simply get feedback on your requirements. Go from there.
I will caution you against Gartner and Forrester as places for information. One reason is that they have a very limited scope of solutions that are covered. They provide coverage on the very biggest (and most expensive) solutions. Quite honestly, if you agree to attend their very expensive annual conferences, you will likely be rewarded with a place in their Magic Quadrant. Be wary of this. They are in the business to make money as well, so it ends up being a quid pro quo. I hope this rather candid response is helpful. Saving Changes...
PMI Team Member
