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Solution BriefMicrosoft® and Project Solutions Group –

Delivering Enterprise Project Management Solutions

Supporting the PMO with Enterprise Project Management ToolsProfit from Project Management

An enterprise can greatly improve productivity with a central Project Management Office (PMO), but a PMO without supporting technologies cannot completely deliver results. PMOs are tasked with selecting and prioritizing projects, allocating staff and other resources to those projects, and monitoring the portfolio to maximize value. Yet managers often lack visibility into critical project data for making informed decisions about projects and resources. Nor do they have the ability to identify at-risk projects before those projects get behind schedule, over budget or both. Many organizations also lack efficient project management processes, resulting in an ad hoc ability to deliver. Finally, team members lack the tools and methods for efficient collaboration, negatively impacting productivity.

To improve project management practices and reduce the risks associated with poorly managed portfolios, organizations require a solution that provides visibility into critical project data, automates routine tasks, and improves collaboration among team members. They need integrated technologies to support the PMO that are easy to use and supported by training to ensure processes are successfully enhanced.

Build an Effective PMO

An Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution can provide the tools that enable informed decisions, streamlined workflow and target a consistent approach. An EPM solution also provides a framework for managing projects, resources and costs across the organization by automating common tasks; improving reporting capability; and connecting people, processes and information. To gain maximum benefit from an EPM solution, however, organizations must plan and implement the technology, the methodologies and the training to ensure the solution is fully optimized.

The Project Solutions Group’s (PSG) EPM Solution helps organizations build more effective PMOs with a unique blend of technology, processes and training. PSG combines deep technical knowledge, functional project management capabilities, and practical training expertise to help project

teams optimize performance. Project Solutions Group’s end-to-end solution leverages the Microsoft® Office EPM platform to help organizations integrate tools with PMO processes to gain visibility, reduce risks and improve productivity.

Gain Insight into the Portfolio

Visibility across the enterprise is crucial to delivering project portfolio management. PSG’s EPM solution makes this possible via executive dashboards that provide real-time status information on projects and resources.

An effective PMO helps organizations:Align projects with the strategic goals of the organizationMeasure and monitor projects for better visibility and estimatingInitiate and execute projects consistently across the organizationTrain project managers and team members to deliver projects on time and on budget

With the EPM solution, automated tools enable executives and project managers to streamline the project reporting process. With instant access to this data, organizations can monitor progress, compare the status of multiple projects in a single view, identify potential problems, and make informed decisions. Projects can be measured for improved estimating and efficient resource allocation. This insight also helps organizations determine which projects to approve, prioritize, fund and staff, as well as measure project performance against KPIs throughout their lifecycle to ensure effective execution.

Reduce Project Risk

By integrating PSG’s EPM Solution, organizations can proactively control project management risk with critical data and reporting tools. Reporting allows for the analysis of historical information, enabling the organization to better estimate and measure projects against baselines. Projects can be aligned with the strategic goals of the organization and prioritized accordingly. This information ensures resources are distributed properly and projects are initiated and executed consistently across the organization. Using benchmarks and key organizational metrics, project managers and executives can identify projects that are at risk and take proactive steps to keep projects on track.

Aligning your people, your work, and your priorities

Solution Brief

Improve Enterprise Productivity

PSG’s EPM solution automates tasks, updates and notifications to help give team members more time to produce value-added work, while improving communication, streamlining workflow and reducing duplicated efforts. Collaborative tools allow team members to share project information and documents. Templates and guides help ensure consistency and adherence to established processes and methodologies.

Yet enabling technology is only part of the equation. PSG provides expert training for project managers and team members in the use of tools and processes to help deliver projects on time and on budget. By establishing a predictable project management approach, organizations can improve productivity by executing more projects with a consistent set of tools and resources. PSG also helps determine which project management methodology is right for a particular organization’s unique needs. As part of the EPM solution, PSG can help evaluate, select and adapt industry-standard methodologies, or develop a customized solution.

PSG can deploy the solution at several different levels to meet an organization’s needs. From Proof of Concept to Pilots and complete Enterprise Deployments, PSG ensures customer satisfaction by establishing critical success factors before initiating the solution, and measuring success against those factors upon completion.

PSG EPM Solution: Proven Capabilities

PSG helps organizations build effective PMOs based on the project management and collaboration capabilities of the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management platform. These Microsoft productivity, collaboration, and enterprise server applications provide proven tools and a familiar interface that enables project participants to create and update project plans and schedules, manage resources, report project status, and store, share and manage project deliverables.

Project Solutions Group and Microsoft: A Strategic Alliance

Project Solutions Group is a national consulting and training company whose mission is to increase the performance and profitability of clients through the development and deployment of effective project management solutions. PSG’s PMP-certified consultants and trainers help organizations plan,

manage and execute projects that align with their business objectives.

The Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management platform is a leading project management program that helps a variety of users — from general-knowledge workers to expert project managers — easily create and track project plans, manage schedules and resources and share and analyze project information.

Benefits of Enterprise Project ManagementA survey of 1,868 executives, project managers and consultants revealed:

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1. 82% found enterprise project management increased the likelihood of delivering project success

2. 73% saw an increase in customer satisfaction levels due to project management

3. 75% see project management as a strategic discipline

4. 58% of Project Managers have no formal training5. 68% report increased productivity as a result of

project management6. Companies see an average of 6% increase in

profits due to enterprise project management (Ingram)(Source: Center for Business Practices, 2002)

Next Steps

To learn more about building an effective PMO with the Project Solutions Group Enterprise Project Management Solution, request a free 2-hour Solutions Seminar at PMO@projectsolutionsgroup.com. To learn more about Project Solutions Group and its Enterprise Project Management training and consulting capabilities, visit http://www.projectsolutionsgroup.com. For more information about the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management Solution, visit http://www.ms-answers.com/epm/.

© 2004 Project Solutions Group (PSG), Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Project Solutions Group and the Project Solutions Group logo are registered trademarks of Project Solutions Group, Inc. Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other products

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Solution Brief

and services referenced herein are trademarks of their respective companies.

Aligning your people, your work, and your priorities