Looking for a project and portfolio management (PPM) tool that is truly configurable, flexible and won’t cost the earth? Look no further then, as the next installment of my “5 Reasons Why…” PM-related product overview series focuses on Project Portfolio Office (PPO).
Designed by project managers to assist project teams within organizations of any size and across all industries, PPO is well known for its ease of use and short implementation time, and can even be evaluated free-of-charge for a 30-day period. For these reasons, and I'm sure for at least the “5 Reasons” I'm going to cover below, the PPO solution is currently being used on more than 35,000 projects across the globe, including companies such as Deloitte, UTi, Sasol, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SABMiller, Europcar, Scandinavian Airlines and British Telecommunications.
Here are my personal five key reasons that I think you should take a close look at PPO:
It’s a True SaaS Product. This means that there is no requirement for CAPEX, database licensing, third party components or even hardware. Aside from this, you wouldn’t need to enter into a long term contract either - users can subscribe to PPO and cancel the entire contract within 90 days if need be. Subscriptions are managed on a real-time basis and you’d only receive a bill at the end of each month for the number of active users during that month. The PPO SaaS model also provides free, unlimited support and training to all users via a 24-7 support portal, and frequent upgrades to all subscribers free of charge.
Note: there were 100 enhancements in 2013 – all free, of course.
Scalable and Flexible. PPO accommodates every aspect of project portfolio management and the management of a project portfolio. Think of the project management building blocks like the stones at the base of a pyramid of success; planning, resources, milestones and reporting all form part of this reliable foundation, giving you the ultimate flexibility and scalability. The system continuously guides the governance and methodology required for the achievement of overall project success goals.
Gives Good Governance. We all know that project office managers are tasked with the creation and implementation of the project management framework, methodology or governance needed to successfully deliver projects. PPO is not only methodology independent but is configurable enough to allow for one or multiple project lifecycles, templates and other tools to be displayed and available to the entire project community, providing you with greater consistency and compliance to governance. As a project manager, you’d be able to measure the status of compliance against the methodology automatically, and even automate the governance and gate process of projects with online approvals. All project documentation is also stored and available within PPO, meaning reduced project office administration, compliance and governance time.
Collaboration is Key. Whether you’re a project sponsor or a team member, PPO gives you a platform for collaboration, translating into greater project success. As a team member, you can raise updates on tasks, issues and risks, providing the project sponsor, owner and manager with real-time alerts and greater visibility on the status of the project. All resources can also access and manage the project documentation and contribute to both the lessons learnt and knowledge repository. As a project manager, you’d also be freed up to manage more projects or focus on the management of the project, as your entire project team is contributing to the upkeep of the risk, issue, action, lesson and task logs. Sponsors, owners and project managers are be closer to the “ground” and can take action quicker, thanks to the improved visibility of project statuses.
It’s All About the Reporting. Doesn’t everyone want to reduce reporting time? PPO allows you to do just this, with weekly dashboards for sponsors and owners that are available in real time and in a consistent format across all projects. Risk and issue logs, task reports and timesheets are also accessible in numerous formats to the entire project team, management and project office 24/7. What does this mean? A massive reduction in the time and effort spent reviewing, managing and consolidating project status reports into programme and portfolio level reporting; how can you argue with that?! In addition, PPO’s e-mail engine allows reports and dashboard to be automatically pushed to the project community, meaning that progress reports don’t need to be obtained from all project managers in order to generate portfolio reports and dashboards.
Ready to see for yourself?
For more information on PPO, click through to www.projectportfoliooffice.com/tryppo, where you can register for a free 30-day evaluation or have a look at the company’s 90-second explainer video here: http://bit.ly/YAyZ8C.
Designed by project managers to assist project teams within organizations of any size and across all industries, PPO is well known for its ease of use and short implementation time, and can even be evaluated free-of-charge for a 30-day period. For these reasons, and I'm sure for at least the “5 Reasons” I'm going to cover below, the PPO solution is currently being used on more than 35,000 projects across the globe, including companies such as Deloitte, UTi, Sasol, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SABMiller, Europcar, Scandinavian Airlines and British Telecommunications.
Here are my personal five key reasons that I think you should take a close look at PPO:
It’s a True SaaS Product. This means that there is no requirement for CAPEX, database licensing, third party components or even hardware. Aside from this, you wouldn’t need to enter into a long term contract either - users can subscribe to PPO and cancel the entire contract within 90 days if need be. Subscriptions are managed on a real-time basis and you’d only receive a bill at the end of each month for the number of active users during that month. The PPO SaaS model also provides free, unlimited support and training to all users via a 24-7 support portal, and frequent upgrades to all subscribers free of charge.
Note: there were 100 enhancements in 2013 – all free, of course.
Scalable and Flexible. PPO accommodates every aspect of project portfolio management and the management of a project portfolio. Think of the project management building blocks like the stones at the base of a pyramid of success; planning, resources, milestones and reporting all form part of this reliable foundation, giving you the ultimate flexibility and scalability. The system continuously guides the governance and methodology required for the achievement of overall project success goals.
Gives Good Governance. We all know that project office managers are tasked with the creation and implementation of the project management framework, methodology or governance needed to successfully deliver projects. PPO is not only methodology independent but is configurable enough to allow for one or multiple project lifecycles, templates and other tools to be displayed and available to the entire project community, providing you with greater consistency and compliance to governance. As a project manager, you’d be able to measure the status of compliance against the methodology automatically, and even automate the governance and gate process of projects with online approvals. All project documentation is also stored and available within PPO, meaning reduced project office administration, compliance and governance time.
Collaboration is Key. Whether you’re a project sponsor or a team member, PPO gives you a platform for collaboration, translating into greater project success. As a team member, you can raise updates on tasks, issues and risks, providing the project sponsor, owner and manager with real-time alerts and greater visibility on the status of the project. All resources can also access and manage the project documentation and contribute to both the lessons learnt and knowledge repository. As a project manager, you’d also be freed up to manage more projects or focus on the management of the project, as your entire project team is contributing to the upkeep of the risk, issue, action, lesson and task logs. Sponsors, owners and project managers are be closer to the “ground” and can take action quicker, thanks to the improved visibility of project statuses.
It’s All About the Reporting. Doesn’t everyone want to reduce reporting time? PPO allows you to do just this, with weekly dashboards for sponsors and owners that are available in real time and in a consistent format across all projects. Risk and issue logs, task reports and timesheets are also accessible in numerous formats to the entire project team, management and project office 24/7. What does this mean? A massive reduction in the time and effort spent reviewing, managing and consolidating project status reports into programme and portfolio level reporting; how can you argue with that?! In addition, PPO’s e-mail engine allows reports and dashboard to be automatically pushed to the project community, meaning that progress reports don’t need to be obtained from all project managers in order to generate portfolio reports and dashboards.
Ready to see for yourself?
For more information on PPO, click through to www.projectportfoliooffice.com/tryppo, where you can register for a free 30-day evaluation or have a look at the company’s 90-second explainer video here: http://bit.ly/YAyZ8C.
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