Define and Deploy an Enterprise PMO
Transform your disconnected silos into an interdependent portfolio network.
- As an enterprise PMO leader, you need to evolve your PMO framework beyond an IT-centric model of project portfolio management (PPM) to optimize communication and coordination on enterprise-wide initiatives.
- While senior leaders are demanding greater uniformity in strategic project execution, individual departments currently operate—to the detriment of the organization—as sovereign silos.
- You know that the answer is a more strategically aligned enterprise PMO framework, but you’re unsure of how to start building the case for one, especially when the majority of upper management view PMOs as support entities rather than strategic partners.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- An EPMO can’t simply be imposed on an organization. If it is not backed by an executive sponsor, then there needs to be an identifiable business value in implementing one, and you need to communicate this value to stakeholders throughout the enterprise.
- EPMOs add value not by enforcing project or program governance, but by helping organizations achieve strategic goals and manage change.
- EPMOs enable organizations to succeed on enterprise-wide initiatives by connecting the individual parts to the whole. They should serve as the coordinating mechanism that ensures the flow of information and resources across departments and programs.
Impact and Result
- Find the right balance between a command and control approach that dictates governance standards versus an approach that gives business units flexibility to manage projects, programs, and portfolios the way they see fit, as long as they meet certain reporting, process, and record keeping requirements.
- Effectively define the EPMO’s role, reach, and authority in terms of Portfolio Governance, Project Leadership, and PPM Administration. An organizationally appropriate mix of these three practices will not only ensure stakeholder buy-in, but it will help foster the right conditions for EPMO success.
- Build strong cross-departmental relationships upon soft or informal grounds by positioning your EPMO as your organization’s portfolio network, i.e. an enterprise hub that facilitates the flow of reliable information and enables timely responsiveness to change.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
10.0/10
Overall Impact
$471,249
Average $ Saved
53
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
California Earthquake Authority
Guided Implementation
10/10
$32,499
10
This call was very helpful is helping to understand how to approach building a foundation for the PMO team. Best part of call was the Project Intak... Read More
California Department of Health Care Services
Guided Implementation
10/10
$909K
95
Experience and tools.
Colorado Judicial ITS
Guided Implementation
8/10
$12,063
10
New Jersey Transit
Guided Implementation
10/10
$127K
20
Knights of Columbus
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
IMITS
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
I always get great insights, very helpful
Workshop: Define and Deploy an Enterprise PMO
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Gather Requirements
The Purpose
- Identify breakdowns in the flow of portfolio data across the enterprise to pinpoint where and how an EPMO can best intervene.
- Assess areas of strength and opportunity in your PPM capabilities to help structure and drive the EPMO.
- Define stakeholder needs and expectations for the EPMO in order to cultivate capabilities and services that help drive informed and engaged project decisions at the executive level.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A current state picture of the triggers that are driving the need for an EPMO at your organization.
- A current state understanding of the strengths you bring to the table in constructing an EPMO as well as the areas you need to focus on in building up your capabilities.
- A target state set by stakeholder requirements and expectations, which will enable you to build out an implementation strategy that is aligned with the needs of the executive layer.
Activities
Outputs
Map current enterprise PPM workflows.
- An overview of the flow of portfolio data and information across the organization
Conduct a SWOT analysis.
- An overview of current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Identify resourcing considerations and other implementation factors.
- A preliminary assessment of internal and external factors that could impact the success of this implementation
- The ability to construct a project plan that is aligned with stakeholder needs and expectations
Survey stakeholders to establish the right mix of EPMO capabilities.
Module 2: Define the Plan
The Purpose
- Define an appropriate scope for the EPMO and the deployment it services.
- Devise a plan for engaging and including the appropriate stakeholders during the implementation phase.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A clear purview for the EPMO in relation to the wider enterprise in order to establish appropriate expectations for the EPMO’s services throughout the organization.
- Engaged stakeholders who understand that they have a stake in the successful implementation of the EPMO.
Activities
Outputs
Prepare your EPMO value proposition.
- A clear statement of purpose and benefit that can be used to help build the case for an EPMO with stakeholders
Define the role and organizational reach of your EPPM capabilities.
- A functional charter defining the scope of the EPMO and providing a statement of the services the EPMO will provide once established
Establish a communication plan to create stakeholder awareness.
- An engaged executive layer that understands the value of the EPMO and helps drive its success
Module 3: Implement the Plan
The Purpose
- Establish clearly defined and easy-to-follow EPMO processes that minimize project complexity.
- Develop portfolio and project governance structures that feed the EPMO with the data decision makers require without overloading enterprise project teams with processes they can’t support.
- Devise a communications strategy that helps achieve organizational buy-in.
Key Benefits Achieved
- The reduction of project chaos and confusion throughout the organization.
- Processes and governance requirements that work for both decision makers and project teams.
- Organizational understanding of the universal benefit of the EPMO’s processes to stakeholders throughout the enterprise.
Activities
Outputs
Establish EPMO roles and responsibilities.
- Clear lines of portfolio accountability
Document standard procedures around enterprise portfolio reporting, PPM administration, and project leadership.
- A fully actionable EPMO Standard Operating Procedure document that will enable process clarity
Review enterprise PPM solutions.
- An informed understanding of the right PPM solution for your enterprise processes
- A communications strategy document to help communicate the organizational benefits of the EPMO
Develop a stakeholder engagement and resistance plan.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
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A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
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Guided Implementation 1: Gather requirements
- Call 1: Scoping call.
- Call 2: Assess current state and determine your needs to implement a strategic EPMO.
- Call 3: Define required EPMO capabilities.
Guided Implementation 2: Define the plan
- Call 1: Define the scope of your EPMO capabilities.
- Call 2: Determine the authority rights of the EPMO around each capability.
- Call 3: Prepare a stakeholder engagement plan.
Guided Implementation 3: Implement the plan
- Call 1: Clarify EPMO processes to ensure consistent and reliable flow of project data across the organization.
- Call 2: Establish roles and responsibilities for EPMO procedures.
- Call 3: Compile a best-of-class enterprise project management toolkit.
- Call 4: Review and select an enterprise PPM solution.
Contributors
- Kiron D. Bondale, PMP, PMI – RMP, Senior Project Portfolio & Change Management Professional
- John Steinmetz, Consultant, Process and Project Executive
- Eleven other parties participated in the creation of this research but wished to remain anonymous
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