© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Driving Change With
Microsoft EPM Solutions
David Luper, MBA, PMP, MCP
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Sequence Advisors: Who Are We?
Agenda
Case Study: Using Microsoft EPM Solutions to
Drive Business Transformation
Business Transformation
Why an EPM Solution?
Wrap Up
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Implemented Project Server 2003 / 2007
at over 40 companies in 10 industries,
including manufacturing, professional services,
information technology and pharmaceuticals
Great team with high skills, deep knowledge
and project management expertise
Complete platform experience,
including SQL Server, SQL Reporting Services,
SharePoint Portal Server
and the Project Server stack
Flexible and versatile
to adapt to client’s methodology
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Case Study
Background
Problem Statement
• One of the largest
combination natural gas
and electric utilities in the
United States
In response to economic
trends and customer
needs, the company
initiated a business
transformation effort to
better serve its customers
and optimize the use of
business assets.
• ~20,000 employees
focused on the company’s
primary business: the
transmission and delivery
of energy
• Provides natural gas and
electric service to ~15
million people in a 70,000
square mile service area
The effort needed to
model best practices and
showcase the results of an
integrated program.
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Solution
Results
The company is currently undertaking a
major business transformation—one that
will significantly restructure its operations
Goals
· Fundamentally improve service
· Increase efficiency of product delivery
The company has projected significant
savings based on the business
transformation effort – over hundred million
dollars
Investment
· Over 1000 employees and contractors
· Over 35 initiatives
· Hundreds of millions of dollars
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Hundreds of millions invested, and over
$ 100 million in cost savings at stake
EPM enables meaningful performance measurement
and improvement:
51% of all projects
come in over
budget or run past
the original deadline
(Standish Group
CHAOS Chronicles
2003)
15% of all projects
fail altogether
(Standish Group
CHAOS Chronicles
2003)
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
33% decrease of
Project Manager
administrative
overhead
(Nucleus Research
ROI)
8% increase in staff
utilization
(FluidIQs Case
Study)
20% decrease in
schedule variance
(FluidIQs Case
Study)
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Case Study
Background
Problem Statement
Solution
• One of the largest
combination natural gas
and electric utilities in the
United States.
In response to economic
trends and customer
needs, the company
initiated a business
transformation effort to
better serve its customers
and optimize the use of
business assets.
• Microsoft Project Server
2003
• ~20,000 employees
focused on the company’s
primary business: the
transmission and delivery
of energy
• Provides natural gas and
electric service to ~15
million people in a 70,000
square mile service area
The effort needed to
model best practices and
showcase the results of an
integrated program.
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
• SQL Reporting Services
• SharePoint Portal Server
Together with industry best
practices in:
• Project management
• Program management
• PMO development
Goal: To provide real data
around schedule, scope,
cost, risk and vendor
management.
Results
1000
Users
Management
Views
100
Users
Ad Hoc
Reporting
100 – 250
Projects
LOB
Systems
SQL Reporting
Services 2003
Program Metrics and
Tracking
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
SharePoint
Portal Server
Document
Repository
Risk and
Issue
Mgmt
Schedule
Standards,
Templates, and
Training
Project
Management
Consulting
Program Metrics
and Reporting
Project
Diagnostics
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Developed scheduling standards that were manageable by
a disparate group of PMs
Directly supported PMs in developing dynamic schedules,
but avoided overwhelming with details
Met with teams to evangelize on the benefits of web-based
updates, views, and automated reports
Delivered training sessions on an ongoing basis to make
time-entry possible in a fluid “roll on, roll off” environment
Proved out “integrated work planning” approach
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Evolved over time as the program’s project
management maturity increased
Started with simple Schedule and Work Effort
Variance reports to give program leads early
indicators of issues
Expanded dramatically as the program moved
into IT-heavy projects
Deployed and supported a comprehensive
set of schedule, scope, and cost metrics;
Currently reviewed by company officers
monthly, and by Program PMO weekly
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Metrics Reports
Program
Overview
Detailed
Productivity
Detailed Earned
vs. Burned
Availability
Resource
Utilization
Schedule
Performance
Critical Milestone
Report
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Integrated
Program View
Financial Metrics
Risk and Issue
Dashboard
Tasks Not
Started
Tasks Not
Finished
Over-Allocated
Resources
Under-Allocated
Resources
Projected vs.
Actual Effort
Milestone Planned
vs. Actual
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Reporting Infrastructure Enabled Program and Project Management
Proactively identifying risk areas
in projects and programs
• Identify potential areas of schedule slippage within sub-programs and across the entire
program
Identifying and addressing staffing capacity issues before
impact on project and program performance
• Focus on schedule maintenance within the context of resource allocation
• Forced teams to evaluate their planning and develop risk mitigation strategies
Assessing project and program performance
in order to gauge Portfolio health
• Metrics reports delivered fact-based information on schedule and effort
• Became incorporated into monthly Executive Dashboard used by company officers to
manage the program
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Provided full-time support
to Program PMO to train
Program Leads, PMs,
and teams in the use of
the EPM Solution
Hired and currently
training company
resources to take
over consultative
and support roles
Provided direct
“make-it-happen”
assistance to
programs on their
integrated work
plans
This is hard work! The client invested
in cultural and behavioral change.
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
Prepared the
Integrated Program
View monthly and
interpreted the
results
Facilitated crossprogram project
management
Case Study
Background
Problem Statement
Solution
Results
• One of the largest
combination natural gas
and electric utilities in the
United States.
In response to economic
trends and customer
needs, the company
initiated a business
transformation effort to
better serve its customers
and optimize the use of
business assets.
• Microsoft Project Server
2003
• Data-driven decision
making
• SQL Reporting Services
• Proactive instead of
reactive program
management
• ~20,000 employees
focused on the company’s
primary business: the
transmission and delivery
of energy
• Provides natural gas and
electric service to ~15
million people in a 70,000
square mile service area
The effort needed to
model best practices and
showcase the results of an
integrated program.
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
• SharePoint Portal Server
Together with industry best
practices in:
• Project management
• Program management
• PMO development
Goal: To provide real data
around schedule, scope,
cost, risk and vendor
management.
• Realization of the fact
that project management
is core to the company’s
ability to effectively reduce
operating costs and
improve customer service
Fact-based decision making is critical to
successfully managing large numbers of
projects and programs
Program and project metrics developed
from Project Server provide huge
credibility—when backed up by real data
This is hard work and companies must
commit to the investment to be successful
© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft,
and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation.
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© 2007 Sequence Advisors. All Rights Reserved