Journyx Project Management Blog

You probably have overheard these words: software as a service. You may even have nodded knowingly despite not knowing much more than that they’re more easily digestible as the acronym SaaS (rhymes with the thing that holds your evening martini).

It’s pretty easy to get swept up in technology debates about what constitutes SaaS–is it the same as cloud computing or different? But you know what? You don’t need to know what it is; you just need to know what it does for your growing business. As for what it does, we’ll answer that question with another: What if you no longer had to spend thousands of dollars a year on communications gear, computer software and overall internal IT management? read more

Most of us have heard that IT projects as a whole have a very high rate of failure. TechRepublic has a new blog post up on 10 ways PMs can avoid catastrophic mistakes throughout the process:

1. Learn from other’s mistakes
2. Do your research first
3. Have a plan
4. Follow standards and use templates
5. Communicate and coordinate with others
6. Allow enough time
7. Reuse proven code
8. Use checklists
9. Test, test, test… and carefully review your work
10. Test again with a third party

It seems that anticipating mistakes (learn from others, do your research, have a plan) and thinking about how to avoid or react to them (testing, communication) is half the battle. What else would you add to the list?

Over at TechRepublic’s IT Leadership blog, Rick Freedman has written about the importance of not only focusing on projects in themselves, but also to understand the core business strategy that fuels the portfolio. He writes:

Here are my three best practice tips for keeping the overall project strategy in mind:

* Participate: The best scenario is one in which IT has a seat at the table as corporate objectives and strategies are being devised. Even if you aren’t invited to the strategy meeting, you can still contribute by posting your ideas and opinions in forums, suggestion programs, user committees, online communities, and various social media outlets.

* Study: Learn what directions your organization is thinking about taking in the future. Many enterprises have internal communication programs that are set up to ensure that all associates have a clear idea of the overall corporate strategy. Publicly traded companies must report to the SEC, and these reports are gold mines of data about the strategies, challenges, and risks associated with the company’s market, competitive position, and product mix. So are analyst opinions, which often cut to the heart of the challenges with a company’s strategies. In addition, trade magazines are one of the deepest sources of data on the risks, concerns, and opportunities in a particular vertical market, and they provide budding corporate strategists with plenty of great ideas about what the competition is doing and about what IT can bring to your firm.

* Think strategically: IT professionals and project managers who can think past their project and can see the entire context of the organization’s portfolio and strategy, are enabled to make the right decisions at every level of the project, from selecting the right components to pilot in a prototype or early iteration, to determining which projects should live or die depending on their overall contribution potential.

CIO published the findings of a Forrester Report in a new article, “The 10 Key Capabilities of Next-Generation Project Managers.” Forrester interviewed IT and project management professionals in order to learn what the future of project management will look like. Here are the top 10 capabilities they found:

1. Emotional Intelligence
2. Adaptive Communication
3. People Skills
4. Management Skills
5. Flexibility
6. Business Savvy
7. Analytical Skills
8. Customer Focus
9. Results-Orientation
10. Character

Another important finding is that project managers must be willing to embrace agile methods in the future in order to keep up with IT and software development trends. According to Forrester Analyst Mary Gerush,

In an Agile software delivery environment, the traditional command-and-control approach of project managers is counter-productive. [...] Instead of defining roles and making sure team members are following project management processes and procedures to a T, next generation project managers need to focus on improving collaboration and removing obstacles and distractions so that project team members can get their work done on time and on budget.

For more information on how to integrate agile and project management, check out the newest article by our CEO, Curt Finch, entitled “How to Create an Agile PMO.”

Today’s information technology organizations are responding to the most treacherous recession in memory. Their actions range from classic belt-tightening to innovating and improving value-added services in their organizations. A primary value-adding strategy for the most effective organizations is to further improve project management.

In view of this strategy, the project management software industry’s future looks especially promising. During the global recession, industrial countries around the world devoted billions in economic stimulus funds for infrastructure and other projects. This has created considerable demand for project management software.

Read more at InfoWorld.

Your project teams are already using collaborative and social networking tools, whether your organization embraces them or not. They’re using these tools to build relationships, share information, and collaborate. This presents a great opportunity for improved project success. While many corporations struggle to find ways to live with the social/business networking and collaboration trend, project teams can thrive on it.

While many collaboration and networking tools exist, there are three that merit strong consideration by project teams: Microsoft® SharePoint®, Facebook, and LinkedIn®. These tools can help create an environment conducive to informal learning, team collaboration, and information access and decision making. But these benefits won’t happen organically. It’s up to project managers to take these collaboration and social networking tools and mold them into a powerful project management function.

Read the rest of this article by Dr. Karen McGraw, CEO of our partner, Cognitive Technologies, at PM World Today.

Let’s take a look back at some warnings and tips about best project management and technology implementation practices from the past few months.

• IF you do not manage project scope effectively, THEN you will have low customer satisfaction.
  ProjectTimes – Why Should You Manage Scope and Customer Expectations?

• IF you choose a solution that requires too much manpower, THEN you increase overhead and lose productivity.
  Making Your Business Tools Work For You

• IF you decide to purchase a PPM solution without due diligence, THEN you might spend too much for little reward.
  The Savvy PPM Buyer

• IF you do not check customer references thoroughly, THEN you could be hoodwinked by a dubious vendor.
  Validating Customer References

According to a popular song, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.” Words of wisdom in popular culture. We often want to bite off more than we can chew, especially when we see exciting new technology. Yet think of it this way: Would you give your grandmother an iPhone 3G for Christmas if she has never touched a PC before? It might be an incredible piece of technology that can hold her photos, her shopping lists, her favorite music … but if she cannot figure out how to turn it on, it’s not much use, is it?

Likewise, many companies get excited about business technology. Software vendors promise to solve all of their problems with the click of a button. And, to be fair, the tools they provide might be able to do just that. But if your organization is not mature enough to handle it, you might as well put the software right up on a shelf immediately after purchase. It will not be rolled out, it will not be used, and it will be a total waste of money. For example, are you looking for a complex, sophisticated PPM solution while your team members aren’t even tracking time to tasks yet? Are you hoping for the latest cutting edge resource management technology, but you can’t even say who will be available to work on your project next month?

All of us have to crawl before we walk, though we can often forget this.

- April Boland, Journyx Communications Coordinator

Back in July, Kristen Caretta wrote a fabulous article over at Search-CIO about having purchased a 160-piece kitchen set only to find that she never used most of those tools and could have purchased something much simpler and more affordable. She goes on to say that many companies do the same thing when looking at PPM solutions – they spend time and money on an enormous tool and years later find that most of the functionality is untouched.

Come to think of it, we probably all have stories of times when we got excited and made an unwise, impractical purchase. The good news is that with project management software, you don’t have to. There are solutions out there that address the core basic needs every organization has without trying to sell you $1 million worth of add-ons. You just have to know where to look.

e-Builder is a software company that develops web-based, capital program and project management solutions. The company’s flagship product, e-Builder Enterprise, helps facility owner/operators, and the architecture, engineering, and construction companies that serve them address the challenges associated with the planning, design, construction, and operation of complex capital projects. The company recently released version 7 of their product, with new functionality such as the structured workflow engine, a business process automation tool.

Recently, e-Builder was selected for Constructech Magazine’s list of 50 Hottest Companies for 2009 and Buildings Magazine’s list of Top 100 Products.