AVO Chief » Project & Portfolio Management
Project Portfolio Management Basics
Your Company Needs Portfolio Management if… Million-dollar projects, which may or may not match the company’s objectives, are being awarded to business units headed by the squeakiest executives Your company currently has weak IT governance structures which means that business executives don’t have clear ideas of what they’re approving and why The CIO ends up selling projects that should be generated and sold by line-of-business heads If the company doesn’t build good business cases for IT projects or it doesn’t do them at all; and there are redundant projects. A strong portfolio management program can turn all that around and do the following: Maximize value of IT investments while minimizing the risk Improve communication and alignment between IS and business leaders Encourage business leaders to think … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management
How to keep control when working with outside vendors
There was a time when the majority of IT tasks were kept in house but today even network security tasks can be handled by outside vendors. So obviously the potential of losing control of a project handled by an outside vendor is a very real possibility. These problems can be especially frustrating to the project’s leadership. This doesn’t have to be with a little bit of planning and follow-through. For example, attention to creating and executing a well thought out contract can make all the difference in asserting the control needed to be successful. Here are some key areas to keep in mind: Whenever possible, include terms and conditions in the contract the delineate how the vendor can be rewarded if it completes the contract early, but penalized if it completes … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management
Validation for Life Sciences
Validation A unique and very important part of the Life Sciences development lifecycle is validation. Validation requires documented verification that a process will produce accurate results as per the predefined specification. For this to work you need to know in advance that what you describe will function as detailed. And there are usually plenty of details to cover. In fact, validation impacts practically every area and phase of an automation project for life sciences companies. Most companies base the engineering effort required to create validation protocols and documents on the GAMP guidelines. These documents incorporate the requirement, design, implementation and test and verification phases. The documents that make up these phases will ensure validation compliance of the completed system implementation. They usually include at least some of the following: User Requirement Specification Design Spec Functional Specification Technical Specification Coding … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management
Why the AVO Method works for companies going Agile.
When it comes to software development a lot of companies still use a methodology that has been around for a long time and that is the waterfall method. Before, months or even years went into strict planning of every detail, finalizing requirements, developing the design, then construction and then finally testing only to find out that markets had changed and therefore business requirements had changed and the product’s value was only a fraction of what it should have been and in some cases needed major re-work or even needed to be shelved completely. For many business today the market moves even more frenetically than ever and therefore strategies need to be far more dynamic. And of course with these challenging economic times for many companies the point may no longer be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Product Management, Project & Portfolio Management
Why Project and Portfolio Management is Important in a Down Economy
You Only Need One Reason… There are many benefits to Project Portfolio Management but you really only need one reason to explain why PPM is necessary and that is because…the absolutely last thing you want to do in a down economy is waste money. May the Best Project Win! The benefit of portfolio management is that it can help your company focus in on the projects that are most worth your effort and budget dollars. Project portfolio management software such as Compuware’s Changepoint or CA’s Clarity PPM can help prioritize projects, track progress of projects and manage demand from the business for IT resources. Then project Management can help your company execute those projects efficiently through improved communication, coordination and collaboration. Count the Project Costs and Benefits. Remember, If you don’t have any idea of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management
What is best approach to Mobile Deployment?
As always the best approach to deploying a solution depends on your specific environment and needs. What I will cover in this blog at a high level is some basic issues to consider when deciding on your approach. One of the first decisions that will need to be made is whether you need a strategic approach or whether a tactical approach best fits your needs. A strategic approach would best address complex scenarios where scalability will be an issue in the near future or where you need to show significant ROI. The tactical approach is one where strategic approach is not possible due to time limitations or technology restrictions. Basically if you need to deliver a solution now because you have to meet a hard date and don’t have the ability, time or resources to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management
How to make your projects successful with AVOs?
Most of the IT world seems to follow one of two camps of development methodologies. They either accept a very long-term yet sometimes rigid Waterfall method or a very flexible yet sometimes unscalable Agile Method. I have devised a methodology that can handle either/or or best of both. This methodology is built on AVO’s (Agile Value-based Objectives) and provides the benefits of Rapid Release Appplication Development along with the strategic benefit of scalability. This article will discuss at a high-level how long-term planning can be combined with tactical actions to deliver faster and more successful project results. First of all, long-term strategies must be defined. These Strategies are then broken down into more flexible and achievable AVO iterations or releases while still keeping the long-term objectives in mind. These objectives of course represent … Read entire article »
Filed under: Project & Portfolio Management