Oracle Corporation’s Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) Board – a group of senior executives, academics, and industry experts that looks at how C-level executives can successfully prioritize and manage the project portfolio – raised questions over the long-term value of project management offices and the way mobile technology can transform project management.
Mike Sicilia, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Oracle’s Primavera Global Business Unit, said, “The face of project management is changing. Economic fluctuation, evolving risk, and increasingly stringent regulations create new challenges for project managers. To meet these challenges and ensure the success of diverse projects across the enterprise, organizations must consider new and innovative methodologies and approaches that can inject innovation into processes.”
Illuminating these realities, Oracle brought together a group of business leaders who revealed insight into two evolving areas: the role of project management offices (PMOs) and the increasing real-time reach of mobile technology. Mr. Sicilia wrote a report consolidating the group’s findings, published in the PM World Journal.
The report contains some fascinating information. For example, the EPPM Board was unanimous in its view that, as a group, PMOs “tended to lack a detailed understanding of exactly how their organizations made money. So stated, they had little visibility into the business fundamentals behind a decision to launch a project. And, with that being the case, they were not always viewed as guarantors of strategic and financial project success.”
So if a central PMO, long considered an absolutely vital part of success in project-driven companies, is not the best fit for all firms, what is? The EPPM Board suggested decentralized PMOs, placing “project managers/standardization experts within business units, operating as ‘specialized’ PMOs. This approach enables each business unit to look at the risks and rationale behind a project, compare similar programs, and make decisions that best fit their particular group.”
The Board also discussed how mobile-enabled project management applications “deliver real-time information to C-level executives and drive even greater visibility.” And the instantaneous updates delivered straight to senior-level executives also reduce “the communication breakdown that often takes place when project managers do not want to deliver negative information regarding a project.” That’s a significant culture change!
There’s more great content in the article, which you can read here, courtesy of Oracle Corporation.
