Enterprise Project Management Office Advantages

Enterprise Project Management Office Advantages
By John Filicetti

Designing and implementing solutions and services in today’s environment or even managing change in today’s environment is more complex than ever before. With multiple hardware and software vendors, as well as a diverse range of partnerships and alliances, today’s infrastructure landscape is as complex as it has ever been. Trying to manage projects for multiple divisions or groups adds more complexity to the management team. Unresolved issues, lack of consistent training, or miscommunications can delay projects for weeks and months and can turn into lost revenue, a lost competitive advantage, and an unhappy client.

A dedicated Enterprise Project Management Office provides the oversight to deliver all projects on time and on budget by managing, controlling and reporting on all project schedules, scope, and resources while watching the cost, change, and quality. The Enterprise Project Office provides expertise tailored to our business requirements while taking responsibility for all projects included in our portfolio. An Enterprise Project Office provides the extra focus and resources that complex projects demand.

Enterprise Project Management Office

The focus of the Enterprise Project Office is to provide a conduit for communication, coordination, and training for all projects in the corporate portfolio and be the center of excellence that supports project managers in the implementation of the functions required to achieve successful projects. The Enterprise Project Office is staffed by project professionals with the goal of providing support to project teams to consolidate project resource plans, financials reporting, project schedules, change, risk and quality information to deliver projects on time and on budget.

The Enterprise Project Office offers project management tools, support, mentoring, project portfolio management, and quality assurance. The Enterprise Project Office provides economies of scale not found in a single project team and offers a single point of contact for all information on the projects in the corporate portfolio. The Enterprise Project Office keeps critical projects on time and within the budget by providing accountability and support at every stage, from planning to acceptance. The Enterprise Project Office identifies and resolves issues before they add time to already short time to market pressures. The Enterprise Project Office provides expertise tailored to business requirements along with the extra focus and resources that complex projects demand maintaining project momentum by contributing in these areas:

• Consolidated Administrative Support – Enterprise Project Office personnel can make the lives of project team members easier by assuming administrative chores for project scheduling, report production and distribution, project management software operation, and maintaining the physical or virtual project “War Room” along with project documents or ensuring document consistency. The Enterprise Project Office receives, consolidates, and distributes information for all projects in the corporate portfolio.

• Providing Project Management Consulting, Mentoring, and Training – The Enterprise Project Office personnel will oversee the operations of each individual project and project manager; offering mentoring, support, and training as needed. Advanced training can be coordinated or provided by the Enterprise Project Office and each project will undergo periodic Quality Assessment Reviews during project milestones and at closeout. The Enterprise Project Office can coordinate with a project management-training provider to certify Washington Mutual Certified Project Managers.

• Resource Allocation – With limited resources, it is critical to have the right people at the right place doing the right jobs. The Enterprise Project Office is in a position to assign the project managers and project team members to match project needs with specialized skills, availability, and geographic needs as well as balance the workload of project managers and project team members. By doing so, the Enterprise Project Office ensures resources are being used efficiently throughout all projects.

• Project Coordination – Using corporate objectives as a guideline, the Enterprise Project Office will coordinate across departments and divisions to communicate project charters and ensure duplicate projects are not initiated.

• Vendor Management – Many details need special attention when purchasing hardware, software, and services from any vendor. The Enterprise Project Office provides objective accountability to identify and resolve issues that can delay the specification and delivery of the right equipment to the right place at the right time. The Enterprise Project Office has the authority to hire and fire contractors, assign the contractors to particular projects, and manage contractor issues centrally.

John F. Filicetti, PMP, MBA
John Filicetti is a Sr. Sales Engineer/PM-PMO-PPM Consultant with a great depth of experience and expertise in enterprise project management, project management methodologies, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Project Management Offices (PMOs), Governance, process consulting, and business management. John has directed and managed project management teams, created and implemented methodologies and practices, provided project management consulting, created and directed PMOs, and created consulting and professional services in such areas as project portfolio management, Governance, business process re-engineering, network systems integration, application development, infrastructure, and complex environments. John has enjoyed many years as PMO Director for large corporations in the Seattle area and leads the PMO Roundtable discussion group and forum.