Are you ready for EPM?

What does it take to get a room full of project managers excited? New TOYS, er, TOOLS!

Those of you who have followed the commentary and articles from the C/D/H Project Management consultants may already know where I’m going with this.

We usually write about what is important for both C/D/H and our clients. So you may also be able to identify the growth and maturity of project management capabilities within our firm as we walked you from identification of a need for more formal project management and governance in IT, to the formation of a PMO. It is no coincidence that this is the path we are also following at C/D/H.

C/D/H project managers are excited now about our next phase of improvement – deployment of a new Enterprise Project Management (EPM) tool. Getting here was not easy, so I want to share with you the preparations you must make to get ready for it.

First, we had to obtain stakeholder buy-in. EPM tools are not cheap – the E implies large, far-reaching tools with many features and functions. So, you have to convince the guys with the checkbook that the money and time will be well spent. Since these tools don’t necessarily generate revenue, you should focus on the cost savings and efficiencies that EPM will create.

Great examples of EPM benefits include:

Portfolio views of project metrics, which allow stakeholders to compare project performance data and react quickly to underperformers.
Optimization of resources, with tools designed to match skills with demand, and project future demand.
Capability to perform “what-if” analyses on projects in the portfolio.
Business process automation, which enforces standards and, thus, improves quality.

Then, with those stakeholders interested in something other than cost, you must obtain buy-in by promoting a completely different set of benefits. This is where organizations can differ most; culture must be considered in how this project is presented, and that will determine whether it is ultimately accepted. The PMO must lay cultural groundwork before deployment, to ensure successful adoption.

Culture changes to prepare for include:

Greater visibility and accountability: If you currently have very little reporting or tracking, an EPM tool will substantially increase the amount of information available to everyone who uses it. This could be a shock for users.
Standards and automation: Users may find it difficult to use a single method with EPM workflow engines and templates.
Time tracking: Users not used to tracking their time daily may find this a hard habit to develop.
Finally, don’t forget to turn a critical view inwards, at your own PMO, to be sure you are ready. Sure, you have the chops to pull this project off. But are your processes, knowledge and team mature enough to use this EPM tool successfully? Excited as you may be to take this next step, you must survey your own internal resources and abilities.

Characteristics PMOs must take into consideration before implementing an EPM tool:

Internal discipline: Is your organization marching to the same project-management drummer? If you’re not all using the same processes today, you may not be ready to standardize and automate.
Methodologies: Have your methods been standardized and generally accepted? These methods will be the foundation for your EPM tool. If your users don’t understand your methods, they probably won’t get the tool.
Basic project management skills: PMO’s train users on project management best-practices. If your users don’t have good training in estimating, scheduling and budgeting, you run the risk of getting bad data in the EPM tool.

Now that you’ve obtained the proper buy-in and assessed yourself, it’s time to start the project. Now you can write the charter and answer the tough questions about costs, benefits, impacts and readiness. Think about phasing deployment , bringing related groups of users online over time, learning as you – and they – go.

Bottom line: Enterprise Project Management is great – but make sure your organization is ready before you go for it. C/D/H can help you get there.