The State of Project Portfolio Management

August, 2013

Eclipse PPM, a leading Project Portfolio Management software

provider asked members from its community to participate in this

State of PPM survey to gauge current PPM needs, challenges and

plans to overcome such challenges.

This survey contained brief multiple-choice questions, which were

completed online by 64 respondents. Those surveyed were non-

clients of Eclipse PPM and came from a variety of job backgrounds

and industries.

SURVEY INTRODUCTION

Project Manager

VP/Director IT

C-Suite

Mgr. IT

Other

Manager

Mgr. PMO

18%

64%

9% 9%

C-Suite

CEO CIO COO CTO

INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED

Business Services

Colleges & Universities

Computer / Technology

Facilities Management &…

Finance / Banking

Government

Healthcare

Insurance

Legal

Manufacturing

Mining

Non Profit

Other

Retail

Telecommunications

SIZE OF ORGANIZATIONS

For the purposes of this survey, the size of the organization has

been based on the annual revenue.

Over $1 bil.

$500 mil. - $1 bil.

$250 mil. - $500mil.

$50 mil. - $250 mil.

$0.0. - $50 mil.

To determine the estimated level of IT project and general project

management demand across each organization, both the

number of employees in IT and the number of project managers

on staff were tracked.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CAPACITY

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

0

1 to 10

11 to 20

21 - 50

51 - 100

101 - 150

150+

0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 - 50 51 - 100 101 - 150 150+

Number of PMs on Staff 9 40 4 11

Number of employees in IT 0 8 12 5 7 4 20

DOES THE ORGANIZATION HAVE A

PMO?*

*Project Management Office

No Yes

Although an organization may have a specific department or

PMO for project and portfolio management, the overall decision

making capacity concerning their work is unlikely to sit within this

department.

THE ROLE OF THE PPM DECISION

MAKER

C-Suite

Director

IT

Other

PM

PMO

The good level of knowledge is a reflection of the PPM Industry

growth over the past few years, with more and more people now

becoming familiar with these practices and methodologies.

PROJECT PORTFOLIO

MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE

Below Average

Average

Good

Excellent

WHERE THEY OBTAIN THEIR

PPM KNOWLEDGE

6%

9%

13%

13%

14%

17%

23%

25%

38%

45%

47%

Specific industry conferences

Other

Specific industry bodies

PM or PPM vendors

PM or PPM conferences

PM or PPM (physical) networking groups

Gartner, Forrester or any other research…

PM or PPM groups online

Subject matter experts

Search engines

PMI

No matter whether or not an organization had a dedicated department

for project management and governance, all organizations faced

multiple challenges, which suggests that such a department isn’t the

only solution necessary to alleviate these challenges.

KEY PPM CHALLENGES

39%

45%

47%

50%

56%

58%

Lack of project and portfolio visibility

Managing uncertainty in resource availability

Un-unified governance and guidance

Prioritizing Projects

Managing project risks

Managing resource capacity and planning

DO YOU HAVE A PPM TOOL TO

ADDRESS CHALLENGES?

No

Yes

HOW SUCCESSFUL A PPM TOOL

HAS BEEN OUT OF A RATING OF 5

1

2

3

4

5

REASONS FOR LACK OF SUCCESS WITH A TOOL

For those who rated their level of success to be low, therefore

rating it 3 or less, they sighted numerous reasons for their lack of

success. The top reasons included:

Inconsistent or proper use of the tool

Lack of dedication to the effort

Lack of upper management support / understanding

Processes are not standardized

Software is too cumbersome for the number and type of

projects

PLANS TO ADDRESS PPM

CHALLENGES

13%

17%

23%

30%

34%

55%

Other

Introduce a PMO

Implement a PPM tool

Focus on addressing change management

Provide resources with more training

Implement PPM processes

ROADBLOCKS TO ADDRESSING

CHALLENGES

9%

10%

16%

17%

20%

28%

Other

Lack of knowledge on how toaddress these challenges

Lack of authority

Lack of executive support

Lack of understanding within theorganization about PPM

Budget

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Many organizations now recognize the need for both a project

management office, as well as the importance of a PPM tool

These two solutions will not solely address the common PPM

challenges, but perhaps need to be paired with PPM processes

and relevant training for resources

Both processes and training would also address the three biggest

challenges indicated by the group; managing project risks,

managing resource capacity planning and having un-unified

project management and governance

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

As budget and a lack of understanding within the organization

were indicated as the two highest contributing factors as to why

these challenges had not been addressed, we still have a way to

go in educating more people about PPM. This in turn may give

further support for increased budget within this area

When comparing these results to larger industry studies one key

outcome differs. Whilst this study determined that a dedicated

department for project management and governance or a Project

Management Office (PMO) was believed to be a major solution,

other research didn’t reflect this same belief about a PMO.

DISCOVER THE KEYS TO PPM SUCCESS

Recorded Webinar – Keys to PPM Success

Eclipse PPM customer, David Rice, Project Planning Coordinator, Information Services

PMO, showcases Baystate Health’s (IS division) implementation of a Project Portfolio

Management (PPM) methodology and how they executed change management practices

to make the initiative successful.

View the webinar and learn how you too can be successful in implementing project

portfolio management practices.

Go to: www.info.eclipseppm.com/baystate-health---keys-to-ppm-

success-webinar/

ABOUT ECLIPSE PPM

Eclipse PPM is Project Portfolio Management tool designed to assist

the Leadership Team, PMO Directors, Project Managers, Resource

Managers and Resources to deliver better business results through

improved project and portfolio visibility, project prioritization, resource

management and risk management. The Eclipse PPM solution

provides a combination of process, PPM software and partnership to

deliver improved business results within 30 days.

For more information visit www.eclipseppm.com