Digital transformation has been a major theme for CIOs and CTOs over the past few years. The trend has helped them secure attention at the highest levels, facilitating some significant – and much needed – changes enterprise-wide.
In many organizations, though, the digital revolution has felt more like a war. Many enterprises are resistant to change, especially on the enterprise level. To combat this mindset, CIOs and CTOs have begun to realize that the Project Management Office (PMO) can serve as a powerful catalyst for change. It can change behaviors, increase stakeholder support, and provide valuable insight into the adjustments needed to reach organizational goals.
Why is Digital Change So Important?
Digital change is all about streamlining and improving processes by leveraging technology. The processes can be internal, external, or both. It’s all about expediting the fulfillment of business objectives – and, in some cases, positively impacting the market as a whole.
As technology advances, expectations continue to rise. Customers, vendors, and employees demand personalized, intuitive experiences that can only be achieved by leveraging the latest technologies and innovations. If you refuse to keep up, competitors will happily take your customers and employees – and your position in the marketplace.
Five Ways to Drive Digital Change with the PMO
The PMO has been fueling transformation for decades. It has the organization, experience, and knowledge to alter behaviors and incorporate best practices. Unlike other sections, the PMO can cross departmental lines, find common goals, and then realign operations.
The PMO can stimulate and inspire change through:
- Planning. Although Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) practices are tactical by nature, new management platforms allow the PMO to stay strategically aligned – prioritizing projects in accordance with organizational objectives. These platforms are also scalable so that the PMO can grow with the business.
- Support. Digital initiatives must be managed enterprise-wide, which means that buy-in must come from the top. The PMO knows what data executives are looking for and how they want to receive it. With C-level support, cultures can be shifted from the top down.
- Insight. With Big Data and the IoT, it’s critical to focus on the metrics that matter to your organization. With PPM expertise and new, easy-to-navigate tools, the PMO can effectively analyze and report on the data that will help you understand how your enterprise works – and give you insight into its future.
- Management. With the proper insight, the PMO can manage resources and optimize operations. Do you have a skill or resource gap? The PMO can let you know. Your enterprise will become more agile, responsive, and productive with visibility into project – and pipeline – health.
- Adoption. Few people love change – except when it benefits them directly! With customizable, dashboard-based PPM tools, employees will feel empowered and become more engaged in the digital change process. They will adopt new techniques faster, and they will more readily support new initiatives.
The Tools to Make It Happen
To drive transformation, the PMO needs the right tools. Microsoft Project Online is a robust platform that enables the comprehensive management of both programs and portfolios. It makes collaboration easy for today’s dispersed workforces, and its intuitive interface, delivered through Office 365, makes training quick and easy.
Projility’s proprietary Hammerhead suite works with Project Online, leveraging its power to enhance analytics and reporting. Hammerhead is a Business Intelligence (BI) tool. It features flexible, on-demand dashboards that give insight into key metrics and performance indicators. It also offers a PPM data warehouse to boost Project Online’s connectivity with other management applications.
With Project Online and Hammerhead, the PMO can truly drive digital change enterprise-wide – encouraging employees to embrace the transition and propel transformation.
Projility provides expert solutions for effective change. We offer enterprise portfolio and project management solutions based on Microsoft Project Server and Project Online, with tailored dashboard reporting, analytics, and decision-making tools via our Hammerhead technology. Projility also implements professional services automation systems established on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Project Service, and presents cloud-based strategies, migrations, and hosting solutions through Microsoft Azure. Contact us for more information.
